Late-Term Role for Obama: Groomsman in Chief

President Obama was a groomsman at the wedding of Marvin Nicholson and Helen Pajcic in Jacksonville, Fla. The groom is a White House aide and the president’s golfing buddy. Credit Chris Torres/6 of Four Photography

Marvin Nicholson asked his golfing buddy to be a groomsman in his wedding.

That normally would not be a big deal, or even out of the ordinary. But Mr. Nicholson has spent the last eight years as the White House trip director and a personal aide to the president, who happens to be his golfing buddy.

Shortly after President Obama’s star-studded farewell party on Jan. 6 at the White House, he boarded Air Force One with a soon-to-be wedding officiant, Secretary of State John Kerry. They arrived early that morning in Jacksonville, Fla., to take part in the evening wedding of Mr. Nicholson and Helen Pajcic.

Obama was a groomsman at his staff’s wedding.

The bride, who according to her LinkedIn profile is a special assistant at the federal Education Department, and the groom both worked on Mr. Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. Steve Pajcic, the bride’s father, is a Jacksonville lawyer who first played host to Mr. Obama at his home there for a fund-raiser in March 2007.

“It was really the most beautiful wedding, with or without the president, who was charming,” said the couple’s wedding planner, Lorna Meehan of Amelia Weddings and Events. “Everybody in the room loved the couple, and that’s what weddings are all about.”

Mr. Obama, who attended the wedding without his wife, Michelle, was photographed standing alongside three groomsmen and a ring bearer during the ceremony. All wore black tuxedos and black bow ties, with one exception: The president wore a black necktie. As best we know, no one complained to the groomsman in chief.

Source: NYTimes