Willy McLaughlin of Kearney, Mo. surprised long-time partner Jenny Wilmott with a proposal at Yankee Stadium earlier this year. By Courtesy Jenny McLaughlin
Brides usually hope to make a splash on their wedding day.
Few, though, do it quite as literally as diehard Kansas City Chiefs fan Jenny McLaughlin just did.
After 19 years and two sons together, Jenny and Willy McLaughlin eloped on a Florida beach last week. It was a small affair for the Kearney, Missouri couple. Barely lasted 30 minutes.
Everyone but the bride wore Chiefs gear.
The groom wore a Patrick Mahomes jersey and shorts.
Diehard fans Jenny and Willly McLaughlin, center, of Kearney, Missouri eloped to Florida last week where they got married in a Chiefs-themed wedding. Sydney Roessling Sydney Roessling Photography
The stepfather of the bride wore a Chiefs Hawaiian shirt, ala Andy Reid.
One son rocked a Derrick Thomas jersey, No. 58.
They made a colorful picture in all that red under an azure sky on the white sands of a St. Augustine beach.
Jenny thought she heard a couple of people yell out: “Chiefs!”
The photographer taking the wedding photos, a — cough, cough — Steelers fan was awed by her subjects.
“I feel like Chiefs fans are like Steeler fans. They are everywhere,” photographer Sydney Roessling told The Star. “I love their dedication to their team. Reminds me a lot of Steeler Nation.”
Chiefs fans Jenny and Willy McLaughlin eloped last week on a Florida beach. Sydney Roessling Sydney Roessling Photography
Jenny shared the big news with a photo and a couple of sentences on the Chiefs Chicks Facebook page.
“We had a mini Chiefs-themed wedding on the beach this morning. Together almost 19 years with our two boys,” she wrote, eliciting nearly 900 emoji responses.
“Love this!! And the throwback DT jersey!!!!!” one fellow fan wrote.
Jenny, 44, works for HNTB engineering company in Kansas City. Willy, 51, who worked for Adient automotive seating company until earlier this year, is home with the boys — William, 11 and Michael, 7.
The bride with her “best men,” William and Michael. Sydney Roessling
This Chiefs love story began when the couple met at Gator’s, a bar and grill in Platte Woods where Jenny used to work.
“He would come in there with his boss and eat and drink,” she said. “He was a lot of fun, very funny. Handsome, tall. I really liked how tall he was. He’s 6 foot 7.”
Willy cheered for the Chiefs growing up in southeast Nebraska. He’s got a Chiefs arrowhead tattooed on his right leg.
Jenny, a Parkville native. said her family “has been Chiefs fans way longer than I was born.” Two uncles on her mom’s side worked for the Chiefs back in the ‘70s and ‘80s as equipment assistants.
One now works for Budweiser and helps stage the beer company’s tailgates at Arrowhead.
Her mom and stepdad had season tickets. For away games they’d have parties with friends, then go to the airport to watch the team come home. The family knew Chiefs royalty, too.
“Being from Parkville, Bill Grigsby (longtime Chiefs broadcaster) lived there and so my mom knew them pretty well,” she said.
They’ve passed that love to their sons, who this week started back to Pop Warner football. “That’s our life for the next few months,” she said.
Michael’s favorite Chiefs player is Isaiah Pacheco. William is a fan of George Karlaftis but his all-time favorite Chiefs player is Christian Okoye.
So of course her wedding colors were going to be Chiefs colors.
Willy’s proposal in the spring surprised her.
They took the kids to New York City over spring break in March and went to a Yankees game. As they were leaving, Willy got down on one knee, right there on the concourse. William filmed the moment.
The best part? With all those people waking past, “nobody paid attention,” said Jenny. “It felt very private.”
Mom would now have the same last name as the boys. The bride is the former Jenny Wilmott.
“Once we got engaged I didn’t feel there was any reason to wait,” she said. “We’d been together so long. And, I didn’t want anything huge.”
So they decided to elope while on vacation to Florida, a regular destination because Jenny has family there.
“It was definitely going to be on the beach,” she said. “Living in Kansas City you don’t get to see the beach all the time.”
Willy and Jenny McLaughlin at their Chiefs-themed elopement. Sydney Roessling
She started planning two weeks before they left Kansas City with a huge assist from Simply Eloped, a company that coordinates elopements.
The whole affair was low-key. No music. No bridal bouquet. Jenny ordered her wedding dress from Amazon, a white gown with long, lacy sleeves that cost $175. Her mom tied the corset top as tight as she could.
And boy did it make Jenny sweat under that Florida sun. She’s forever grateful to Roessling for making her look “fresh and clean” in the photos.
They didn’t tell her mom and stepdad that vacation was really an elopement until they got to Florida. Clearly her parents didn’t pick up on the clue when Jenny told them to pack Chiefs gear.
They got married on Friday, July 11, a hat tip to their sons’ ages of 7 and 11.
The only guests other than Jenny’s parents were her uncle and his wife who live in Florida. Uncle wore a Willie Lanier jersey.
The darn muggy, hair-frizzing Florida humidity was an unwelcome guest.
“The boardwalk to get to the beach from the parking lot was really long,” said Jenny. “It felt like it was two miles long. And so I was just ready to go married, to be honest.”
The McLaughlins on their big day in Florida. Sydney Roessling
After the ceremony they decamped to their condo where the newlyweds changed into “Mr. and Mrs.” T-shirts before their bridal lunch at The Reef, an oceanfront seafood restaurant in St. Augustine.
The newlyweds, Willy and Jenny McLaughlin. Courtesy Jenny McLaughlin
A honeymoon?
“I think that was probably it,” said Jenny. “We haven’t talked about anything else right now.”
(Um, is there a honeymoon suite at Arrowhead?)
“I’m always a fan of my clients thinking out of the box when it comes to capturing who they are. It makes the story telling behind the lens come to life,” said Steelers fan Roessling.
“Jenny and Willy’s love story is intertwined with their love for the Chiefs and I love being able to have captured their love for one another and their team on their special day.”
But in the spirit of something old, something new, the bride made her a promise.
“I told her ‘I’m going to make you a Chiefs fan,’” Jenny said.