Savvy Weddings: Jeanette Glaze & John Coleman
Jeanette Glaze and John Coleman’s road to the altar started unconventionally—with a concussion.
The pair met the weekend they moved into college at the University of Missouri – Kansas City 10 years ago and had been dating since their freshman year. Then over Labor Day weekend 2016, John hatched a plan to propose: He would fill the day with fun activities and pop the question. Things did not quite go to plan.
When John, who works evenings, arrived at the couples’ home early in the morning the day he planned to propose, he woke up Jeanette, who had been asleep on the couch. She had passed out earlier in the week and was now suffering from a concussion. Jeanette was cranky and in pain.
John sat her down in the dining room and asked what was wrong, and she said she just didn’t feel well. He got up, then came back and proposed.
“He goes, ‘So now do you feel better?’ And I was like, ‘No, I don’t feel better! My head still hurts!’ which is not what he was expecting me to say,” Jeanette laughs.
With head wounds healed, the couple began planning their nuptials. Jeanette knew she didn’t want to stress over planning.
“A word that I kept using when it came to planning—and it wasn’t even just being stress-free—I wanted everything to be simple,” she explains. “I just wanted something very classy.”
The dress she ended up finding fit the bill. With something fitted in mind with a low back or backless, and absolutely no lace, she rounded up her mother and now mother-in-law to go to a Black Friday sale at Savvy Bridal last year. After elbowing her way to the rack of dresses that would fit her petite frame, she grabbed one that met all her criteria.
The Champagne gown checked all the boxes on her wish list and didn’t wash out her fair complexion. It also had a timeless, elegant look that fit her vision of the day.
The venue also played a major role in creating the right aesthetic for the wedding. Jeanette and John settled on Noah’s Event Venue in Overland Park because it offered a high degree of customization, from the linens to the main ballroom’s design, which they chose to decorate with Edison bulbs for a soft, romantic feel. It also boasted patio areas.
“We wanted to do an outdoor ceremony because when we first started dating—and since then—being outdoors is important to us,” Jeanette says.
The couple tied the knot on Oct. 13, 2017, in a ceremony attended by family and friends.
“It felt like a family reunion, and being able to bring everyone together was a lot of fun, and just being able to see smiles on everyone’s’ faces,” Jeanette says. “Everybody was happy the whole time.”
Helping ensure the day ran smoothly was Miranda Ritter of Belle Journee, who they brought on as a day-of wedding coordinator.
“She helped us with things we didn’t even think we were going to need help with,” Jeanette says.
Beyond working with a coordinator, Jeanette encourages other couples to focus on what will make them happy, not what other people want or expect. For example, they chose to do a dessert table with a variety of options instead of having a big cake, and when the caterers they met with kept proposing traditional fish, chicken and steak options, they asked Mud Bugs Mobile’s Chris Jones to develop a more flavorful menu, which included a satay bar with swordfish, steak and chicken as well as crab shooters.
Jeanette says, “People told me afterward, ‘Your wedding was very different but it was really fun.’”
