Ashley and Chris were fantastic. It was truly a pleasure to capture their wedding and spend time with their friends and family in Portsmouth, RI at the beautiful Glen Manor House. It felt like a little slice of Europe at the Manor and it is right on the water! What a gorgeous backdrop for a stunning bride!
How did you two meet? We met at work just about five years ago. We kept our relationship professional for the first few weeks. At a couple of different events held after work, we started chatting- and I think it’s safe to say that we both fell pretty hard, pretty quickly. 🙂
What is your favorite place to go to dinner? Legal Harborside is this cute little restaurant on the water in Boston’s Seaport District. We both LOVE the ocean but there aren’t many beaches close to where we live- being at this restaurant makes us feel like we’re further from the city and closer to a sandy beach somewhere in Maine or Rhode Island. We usually sit at the bar to avoid the long line of folks waiting to be seated at tables, and we usually start every meal with a few oysters. When the weather is nice, we try and make it a point to walk along the water and take it all in. It’s our favorite place to do date nights for sure!
What was the proposal like? Chris had me convinced that we were traveling to Montreal for a long weekend to celebrate the July 4th holiday. When it comes to vacation planning, we usually split the responsibility, but he had been adamant about taking the reins on this one (he told me he had a couple of surprises planned). I thought, “How sweet is he!” and gladly let him do all of the planning. Hours before we left for the airport, he asked if he could help me pack. Since A) we always pack for ourselves and B) he knows that I pack a week in advance of any trip, I sort of just laughed it off. Little did I know, that it was all part of his bigger plan (he had purposely held off asking the question until the eleventh hour to try and prevent me from getting any ideas about what it could mean). He insisted that I replace the shorts, tees and sandals in my bag with clothes that would keep me warm in 55 degree temps. Mind you, it was about 80 degrees in Montreal at the time, so I was utterly confused about what his surprises could possibly be.
As we approached the terminal, Chris asked, “So you know we aren’t going to Montreal, right?” Any person probably would have made that assumption, but not me. We’d only be away for three days so we couldn’t travel far!
Two minutes later, we approached the ticket counter with a sign behind it that read “Iceland Air”. I nearly fainted. No one in my life had ever surprised me like this. No one in my life had ever made me feel so special. My heart was full of so much love and gratitude for this thoughtful, generous, loving man. I learned that he had been secretly planning this trip for months.
We took a red eye flight and I didn’t sleep a wink. I kept asking him questions and looking through a book about Iceland that he had packed. We landed, went straight to the hotel, and an hour later we were on an all day excursion. That night, we had a romantic dinner in Reykjavik. I thought there was a chance he would propose, but the day came and went, so I learned to let go of that idea and just enjoy taking in all of the beauty with the love of my life by my side.
The next day, I learned that Chris had planned a second excursion to the Blue Lagoon. This was a destination I’d wanted to visit for as long as I could remember. He and I had seen images of it in a travel magazine a couple of years prior and had talked about how much we both wanted to go. When we arrived, the folks working there brought us up to a private room, where there were chocolate covered strawberries and other goodies that I can’t remember because all I could focus on were those chocolate covered strawberries. I told Chris that it had been such a great weekend, and he asked “Can it be this good for the rest of our lives?” as he brought out the ring. I cried for about 30 seconds before Chris asked “Is that a ‘No’?” I realized I hadn’t said yes yet because I was crying so much, and I didn’t want to say “Yes” to his latest question, so I just blurted “Yes I will marry you!”
Before that moment, I never knew it was possible to feel so much happiness all at once.
Venue: Glen Manor House || Photography: Kivalo Photography || DJ: Bill Bibeau || Florist: Robin Hollow Farm || Brides Shoes: Kate Spade || Grooms Suit: BLACK by Vera Wang || Cake: Fatulli’s Bakery & Deli || Makeup: Christina Kaian