--- --- # President Obama Tops Off His Term As a Groomsman in His Friend's Wedding by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Jan 10, 2017 7:38 PM UTC by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Jan 10, 2017 7:38 PM UTC [President Obama](http://time.com/4621362/barack-obama-best-dad-moments/) may be preparing to [bid farewell](http://time.com/4629511/president-barack-obama-farewell-speech-watch/) as president, but he has a few official — and unofficial — duties as leader of the free world to finish up first. On Saturday, President Obama served as a groomsman at his personal aide and golf partner, White House trip director Marvin Nicholson’s, [wedding](https://www.theknot.com/us/helen-pajcic-and-marvin-nicholson-jan-2017), The Washington _Post_ [reports](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/01/07/obama-attends-longtime-aide-and-golfing-partner-nicholsons-wedding). Nicholson and his wife Helen Pajcic, who works on policy at at the Department of Education, tied the knot at a private home in Jacksonville, Fla. Just as President Obama stood by Nicholson’s side on his wedding day, Nicholson has been there for Obama throughout his tenure. The _Post_ reports that Nicholson helped plan trips for the president and often kept him company by playing golf or cards during flights. First Lady [Michelle Obama](http://time.com/4626173/michelle-obama-hope-final-first-lady-remarks/) didn’t make the trip down to Florida. The president was instead flanked by Secret Service guards who also kept in line with the black-tie attire requirements and wore tuxedoes. See below. \[[Washington _Post_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/01/07/obama-attends-longtime-aide-and-golfing-partner-nicholsons-wedding), [_The Cut_](http://nymag.com/thecut/2017/01/president-obama-served-as-groomsman-at-aides-wedding.html)\] President Obama: Groomsman At Wedding Photo ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4630535/president-obama-wedding-groomsman/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4630535/president-obama-wedding-groomsman/"},"headline":"President Obama Tops Off His Term As a Groomsman in His Friend's Wedding","datePublished":"2017-01-10T19:38:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:40:04.214Z","description":"He was groomsman-in-chief","url":"https://time.com/4630535/president-obama-wedding-groomsman/","keywords":["Newsfeed","U.S.","Florida","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4630535/president-obama-wedding-groomsman/","name":"President Obama Tops Off His Term As a Groomsman in His Friend's Wedding"}}]}] ```