Amanda
- Dec 29, 2017
- 2 min read

In The News: John & Jen in STL Magazine

Updated: Aug 27, 2018

https://www.stlmag.com/Weddings/jen-and-john/

Courtship: Jen Yemm met John Ghafoori when he took a job at the Yemm family business, Heritage Trade Show Services, several years ago. “We worked alongside each other for four years before we started dating,” Jen says. “We were both in other relationships, and they both ended around the same time.” When John heard that Jen was thinking about leaving the company, he asked her out. The two grabbed a beer at Urban Chestnut in March of 2015, and Jen had a feeling he was “the one” that night. “I know it’s cheesy,” she says, “but we were playing darts, and when John went to give me the dart, our hands touched, and it made my heart skip a beat.”

Proposal: In February of 2016, Jen walked in the front door of her and John’s South City home—“sweaty, wearing workout clothes after coaching my niece’s soccer team”—to find the living room filled with balloons. A note was tied to each one with an inside joke that the couple shared. “I was shocked,” Jen says. “I dropped the groceries that I was carrying and just started peeking in and reading all the little notes.” As Jen weaved through the balloons, walking toward John at the other end of the room, her eye caught the note on the final one: “Will You Marry Me?” Beside it was an engagement ring dangling from the same ribbon. John was down on one knee by the time Jen could say, “Yes!”

Ceremony & Reception: Jen and John got married on December 3, 2016 at the Marriott Grand Crystal Ballroom. Their reception was at Lumen, a contemporary venue with the same owners as the Caramel Room, marked by floor-to-ceiling windows, hardwood floors, and a stainless steel bar. The décor of the reception reflected Jen and John’s passion for the outdoors. “We didn’t really have a theme,” Jen says, “but we aimed to include a lot of greenery. The idea was for a low-key, laid-back feel that was still elegant.” The couple chose to work with a color palette of blush, champagne, ivory, and evergreen. Although the reception went seamlessly as planned, Jen did make one last-minute change: “The night before the wedding, I got nervous about walking in heels—so I wore my sneakers instead,” she says, laughing. “But my dress totally covered them, so nobody could tell!”