‘We were standing under the heart’: Kansas City couple ties the knot under iconic FIFA Fan Fest heart

KSHB 41 reporter Olivia Acree covers portions of Johnson County, Kansas, including Olathe and Lenexa. Share your story idea with Olivia.

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The final whistle during the FIFA World Cup 26 quarterfinal in Kansas City was one couple's wedding bells.

Felicia Hess, an employee at Populous who spent years helping plan FIFA Fan Festival Kansas City, traded in her jersey for a dress as the tournament's run in KC came to a close. She walked down the aisle beneath the iconic heart that became a symbol of the city's love for the global tournament.

"It was really special," Hess said.

While most fans celebrated the end of the city's World Cup adventure, Hess prepared to enter the next great adventure of her life.

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"I was really walking down the aisle, and we were standing under the heart," Hess said.

Her now-husband Christopher Wynne said the moment hit him all at once.

"It kind of hit me all at once that like, oh my gosh, this is the woman I get to marry," Wynne said. "Even more cool and more special to be able to do it in this massive monument that the city that I grew up in put together."

Hess spent years working on the Fan Fest — not knowing she was also, in a way, planning her own wedding.

"I mean, way better than wedding planning," Hess said.

The two are die-hard soccer fans. Their relationship started at the Sporting KC training facility, and Wynne proposed at the Parade of Hearts. But the couple had not yet figured out exactly how to incorporate their love of the sport into their wedding.

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"We were always going to have soccer as a part of our wedding. We just were trying to find the right way to do that," Hess said.

As the tournament flew by, what started as a joke from coworkers began to feel like a real possibility.

And Wynne was ready to make it happen.

"I'm tired of not being married to this woman; let's do it," Wynne said.

The joke turned into what may be the most iconic Kansas City wedding photos of all time — the couple tying the knot beneath the Fan Fest heart.

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"Heart is synonymous with Kansas City," Hess said.

Now the newlyweds are waiting to find out whether the landmark that anchored their new life together will find a permanent home in the city.

"It would just make me extremely proud," Wynne said.

KC2026 announced last Friday that organizers are working out the cost to make the heart permanent and are determining a location. They said it could go somewhere else in the region, but that it will live on in some form.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

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