Wedding Planner Ashley Weds in Berta
We wanted to chat with Ashley a bit more about her wedding for a few reasons:
1.) she looked STUNNING in her Berta gown
2. she is a wedding planner so she can bring a different perspective than many of our brides who are new to the wedding process.
Tell us your love story! How did you meet and how did you get to a proposal?
Aidan and I met on Tinder actually! We both swiped right and he had a quirky pickup line about drinking wine, so he instantly got brownie points. Our first date was at a Wine Loft in our hometown, Naples, Fl. You know when they say, “You know, when you know?”, well we definitely knew instantly that God had brought the two of us together for a reason. A year and a half later Aidan proposed in front of our family and closest friends at Hamilton Harbor Yacht Club in Naples, FL., it was such a dream!
When you started planning your wedding what did you envision? How close did the actual wedding get to that vision?
My sister and I own a Wedding and Event planning company in Naples, FL, so its both a blessing and curse to plan your own wedding with ALL the different ideas and trends that go on in the industry. We had always had a vision of exactly what we wanted. All of our family and closest friends, a romantic ceremony and reception setting and an amazing band! How close did we get to that actual vision? I think we were spot on!
What were a few things that were important to you as a couple to include (or not include) in the wedding?
It was very very important to Aidan and I that we had an Unplugged Ceremony. That is something that we both discussed right away after getting engaged. Ensuring that everyone was present at that moment was very important to us. We never liked the idea of all your guests having their phones, ipads, etc in their faces.
How did you decide on the location?
Naples, FL is the only place that has 2 Ritz Carlton hotels. One of The Ritz Carlton’s is right on the beach here and it was a no brainer that this was such a beautiful venue for our wedding. The Ritz has an in-house team that makes your wedding planning process seamless!
“I think I need to come up with a couple good excuses to put the dress back on?! Chic Parisien made everything so stress-free! ”
Let's talk dress! Give us all the deets!
BERTA! BERTA! BERTA! Oh my gosh, my dress was such a dream! I had always dreamed about my wedding dress having all the SPARKLE and let me tell you that is exactly what my dress was, SPARKLE SPARKLE SPARKLE. I think I need to come up with a couple good excuses to put the dress back on?! Chic Parisien made everything so stress-free!
How did your family, friends, etc play into your wedding planning and wedding day?
My sister and I own the Wedding Planning company together, so she was a huge part of our wedding planning. My family and I have always been so close-knit, so everything that involved wedding planning, they were always a part of! There was not a detail that they did not know about!
What's one specific memory you have from your wedding day that you don't think you'll ever forget.
One specific memory from our wedding day that we will never forget is having to move our Ceremony from outdoors to indoors due to the rain that day. We had a cold front move through right around our Ceremony time and had to move to our plan B the day before the wedding. Let me tell you……our plan B was SUCH A DREAM. We had the room pipe and draped, all the florals, and tons of candlelight to make it super romantic and intimate and we also had The Ritz include a stage for Aidan and me to exchange our vows on! It was truly breathtaking.
How did you decide on your hair and makeup look?
I knew for sure that I wanted my hair to be down, and to go with the beautiful dress I wanted to keep it more of a classic look. I didn’t want to look back at my wedding pictures in 10 years and say “What in the world was I thinking?!”. I wanted to keep my makeup classic as well, I am definitely not a fan of smokey eyes, so I decided on a more natural look and added a little blush on the eyes to go with that.
Was there one vendor you used that you wish everyone knew about?
VIDEOGRAPHY!!! Our day went by so fast and we are so excited to know that we have a video to relive our magical day over and over again. We used Fidelis Films based out of Naples, FL and they were so amazing. We can’t wait to see our video!!
Where did you go on your honeymoon and what was the best part?
We went to St. George Grenada! We stayed at the Sandals Resort there and it was absolutely beautiful! The fresh salt air and the clear blue water was so Zen! The best part of our honeymoon was being able to do absolutely nothing! To just relax and listen to the waves crash every day, someone bringing you your Pina Coladas and having no worry in the world Whew! I’m really missing that right now!
