In art, as in life, love usually triumphs. As a send-off for all of this summer’s Kansas City newlyweds, we found 10 famous onstage weddings (from the world of opera, theater, and ballet) that end in bliss. Enjoy!    Rossini: The Barber of Seville   The lovely Rosina is not just the “ward” of cantankerous old […]

It’s a near certainty that any wedding planned during the past few years has involved challenges that would have taxed the minds of the finest screenwriters during the glory days of Hollywood.  We like to imagine that true love conquers all. Prior to the pandemic, wedding planning was often chronicled in the media as a […]

Hadley Winslow Burnham and Michael Lewis Reintjes were married on October 16, 2021, at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Redemptorist Catholic Church in Kansas City, Missouri. The bride is the daughter of Elizabeth Burnham of Duxbury, Massachusetts, and the late William Burnham, Jr. Hadley is the granddaughter of William Wheeler, Jr. of Duxbury, and the […]

Heather Nicole Parrish and John Patrick Jandl were united in matrimony at Akiin Beach Tulum in Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico, on April 23rd. The bride is the daughter of Heidi and William Parrish of Venice, Florida. Her groom is the son of Ann and George “Rusty” Jandl of Prairie Village, Kansas. The groom’s parents hosted […]

Elizabeth Phillips Starr and Captain Edward James Gallagher, United States Army, were married on December 30th at Country Club Christian Church in Kansas City, Missouri. The bride is the daughter of Alicia Noonan Starr of Kansas City and the late John Starr. Elizabeth is the granddaughter of Wilmagene and Lewis Noonan of Leawood, Kansas, and […]

“The giving of love is an education in itself.” – Eleanor Roosevelt In the English language, love is a word that has many different dimensions. It is uniquely personal, as no experience with it is exactly the same, and yet it is an experience that we all strive to understand better. Love is the foundation […]

                    Featured in the July 9, 2022 issue of The Independent.

Doctors Kelley and Douglas Thompson of Mission Hills, Kansas, are pleased to announce the engagement of their daughter, Emily Nicole Thompson, to Dr. Brandon Ray Bachar, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Bachar of Olathe, Kansas. The bride-to-be is the granddaughter of Donna Romans of Kansas City, Missouri, the late Mr. Glen Romans, and […]

Wedding gifts have varied over the years as much as brides’ hair styles and dresses have changed. Need we remind our dear readers that dowries used to be the only thing that made a wedding happen – or not happen – in many an instance? It was commonplace for a bride to come equipped with […]

Sometimes a single sartorial decision can bring about life-altering consequences. Brian Keith Gamble could not possibly have known, when he donned his 2015 Crestwood Red Mid Basketball Shoes for the flight home to South Carolina on Christmas morning 2015, that he’d be meeting a dazzling ballet dancer later that day.  And Kansas City Ballet Company […]

Aja Mackenzie James and James Matthew Radel were united in matrimony on May 7th at the Loews Kansas City Hotel. The bride is the daughter of Licia Clifton-James and Sylvester James, Jr. of Kansas City, Missouri. Aja is the granddaughter of Florene Clifton of Kansas City and Melva James of Las Vegas, Nevada. Her groom […]

Mr. and Mrs. William John Aliber of Mission Hills, Kansas, are pleased to announce the engagement of their daughter, Julian Carr Aliber, to Peter Griffin Dolle, the son of Mr. and Mrs. William Lodge Dolle III of Cincinnati, Ohio. The bride-to-be is the granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Patton Kline of Mission Hills and […]