Couple vying for N.Y. wedding

OREM — Not many brides have to worry about the color of their flowers clashing with the lush red carpet at a New York City movie premiere.

But if Katherine Johnson, 20, and her fiance, Matthew Brown, 23, get their wish, that's one small detail they'd be happy to overlook.

Johnson and Brown, students at Brigham Young University and Utah Valley State College, respectively, are one of four final couples competing in the Made of Honor wedding contest — all hoping for the grand prize of an all-expenses-paid wedding and honeymoon.

Sponsored by Columbia TriStar Marketing Group Inc. and The Knot Inc., the contest coincides with the premiere and release of "Made of Honor," a new romantic comedy starring Patrick Dempsey.

If the couple get enough votes this week, they'll be flown to New York City on April 22 to be married on the red carpet — Brown in a tuxedo and Johnson in a Selia Yang wedding dress with a bridal bouquet and both wearing Damiani diamond wedding bands.

After the ceremony and the press circuit, winners can take their six-day honeymoon trip to Paris and Venice, and plan how to spend their $10,000 cash gift.

Brown said he's actually more excited about the gift card to Bed, Bath & Beyond.

"Here's my $3,000 gift card, give me four shopping carts," the cooking aficionado said, dreaming of all the Calphalon cook sets he could buy with three grand.

Plus, the extra $10,000 would help pay off student loans and tuition for the Scottsdale Culinary Institute, where Brown was just accepted.

"This is more than luck," Arizona-native Johnson said. "This is us getting blessed."

It's been a rush for the couple, who said they've never done anything like this before.

"I never win anything," Johnson said. "I'm like the unluckiest girl. To be in the top four, I'm really excited."

But she admits she was skeptical at first, especially when Brown told her he was entering the contest because of a flashing ad he saw on the Web site Facebook late one night in mid-March.

Sure, he could send in a quick essay about when he knew he and Johnson were meant to be together. He described a day in December, when they were swinging on his porch swing, buried under a pile of blankets. Everything just seemed perfect, he wrote, and falling in love had been so easy.

Once the judges were convinced, it was on to round two, where they had to submit a video.