Ashley has been a friend of mine for a loooooooonnngggg time. Like, a really long time, if you didn’t pick that up. She would come to Jackson from Florida every summer to spend it with her dad and our families would spend nearly every weekend up at Jackson Lake camping. For many summers during my childhood, she would be the only other kid connection I would have for weeks at a time. So, obviously, we were great friends. I’ve kind of known Mike for about as long, but not nearly as well. Mike and Ashley were high school sweethearts and really epitomize it. I was broken-hearted that I couldn’t attend their wedding. Not only was she the first of my friends to tie the knot, but looking at the pics it looked like a blast. Alas at the time, a plane ticket from Boston to J-Hole was not in the cards. Anywho, not only are they a gorgeous couple, but they’re really great for one another. I got to see both of them (together!!!) this past Christmas and it made me so happy. Ashley is a total goof, which is a breath of fresh air sometimes.
Name: Ashley and Mike
Age: 28 (29 on June 4th)
Occupation: Affiliate Marketing Manager for FramesDirect.com
Wedding location: Jackson Lake Lodge, Jackson, WY
Wedding Date: 9/3/2006
Length of engagement: We got engaged on July 20th, 2005 and married on Sept 3rd, 2006…so…..over a year, ha ha
Tell me about your wedding: Rev. [Paul] Hayden performed our ceremony. Having a religious figure of some kind was not a requirement for either of us. I wanted some kind of “Christian” something or another and we felt our grandparents needed and would appreciate more religion in our ceremony. Therefore we chose the hip and cool Rev Hayden.
We did not write our own vows. I’m not good at expressing my emotions and, honestly, prefer not too publicly. I did request to have the word “obey” removed and I wanted my name to be said first in the “I now pronounce you Mr. and Mrs. Ashley and Michael DiPrisco” part. Thinking about that now, almost 5 years later, that seems silly. {Ed.’s note: Not silly … and I’m totally doing the same thing.} At the time, however, I think I was having a “I don’t want to lose my identity” moment.
We also chose not to have an aisle to walk down. Being a tad nontraditional (I didn’t wear a veil either and let’s be honest, we were already living together) we had the family and bridal party enter in from the side.
Being from the same town and having too many years of bad history on my side of the family, we avoided any kind of Bride and Groom’s side seating. Instead we had 3 sections with 2 walkways. My bridesmaids also chose to wear stilettos. It wouldn’t have been very nice of me to ask them to walk off of the pavement, through the grass and up the grassy aisle. Although, maybe the lodge would have given us a discount for aerating their lawn with the girls’ heels.
What was your favorite part of your wedding? Honestly, I don’t think I can narrow it down to just 1 part, thing or event… as cheesy as it sounds, it was perfect.
The majority of our families were able to be there and everyone was in good health. The weather was absolutely perfect. My parents were extremely generous during the entire process and it turned out to be a wonderful event.
I am glad we decided to have a receiving line. We went back and forth about whether or not to do it, but I’m glad we did. We had a chance to thank everyone for coming and that was important to us.
What disasters did you avert … or not avert and how did you deal with it? Weather was good – thank God. We didn’t have a backup plan for rain. Everyone was also on their best behavior. 😉
Was there anything you would have done differently, or do you have any regrets about how something went? No regrets but yes, we would do a few things differently. First, I would have a different dress…or a better bustle. I loved the way my dress looked but it was heavy, hot and my bustle (1 button) broke right after the ceremony. Just bad planning on my part.
What was your biggest challenge in planning? It was very challenging to plan a wedding from afar. We were living in Mississippi and planning a wedding in Wyoming = crazy. I headed to Jackson 6 weeks before the wedding to finalize some details and the wedding turned out better than we could have imagined, but it was challenging.
What lessons did you learn from planning or from the wedding itself? I learned that I LOVE to plan stuff. Ya ya, big surprise. I’m not sure that I learned any lessons but I did learn things I didn’t know before. An example would be that everything is negotiable if you have the time and energy to negotiate.
Sorry I don’t have any deep and inspirational lessons to share. {Ed.’s note: Pffft.}
What was your biggest “holyamazeballzI’mfreakininlove!” moment? Ha ha, can one have such a moment at the ripe age of 16? To layer on the Velveeta again, I think the moment I first knew we’d date for a while was during our first kiss. Not only was he super-hot but he could kiss too! Ok, so I guess that would be lust.
Other than that specific moment I have several other events that just solidified and grew my feelings for him. When he went off to basic training after high school graduation he wrote me a letter every day. A real letter, on paper, sent through the mail. That is just crazy. (here you go making me all uncomfortable by getting personal and digging into feelings) One letter also had a pressed flower that he picked from a field they had to do pushups in. I will admit that I teased him about being such a cheese ball but deep down I still can’t believe he’d notice a flower while doing pushups and then mail it to me. I mean, who does that in real life? That’s only stuff you see in sappy girl movies like The Notebook.
Another “wow he’s a great guy” moment was during his first deployment to the Middle East. He surprised me by flying in my best college girlfriends for the first weekend of his deployment. Again, who does that? He’s the one leaving home for 77+ days, on a deployment to the 120+ degree dessert to live with dudes and eat chow hall food while “defending freedom” and he’s planning fun things for me. Freaking amazing.
More than anything though he continues to amaze and impress me with his unwavering sense of right and wrong and regard for others.
What were your top 5 favorite things about your wedding? The Groom, family and friends, the location/ venue, the band and the open bar.
Top 5 least favorite? Our flowers attracted bees during the ceremony, my bustle, Mike could only be there for 48 hrs. I can’t think of anything else.
What was the worst piece of wedding advice you received? I didn’t really get too much advice. More stories that started with, “when I got married…..and we did…..”. I really didn’t mind hearing other people’s ideas. Either way, we were going to put our own spin on it.
The worst wedding day question/comment: “When will we hear the pitter patter of little feet?” I mean really people!?! Can we please get married first before you throw out the kiddo question? Someone give me a glass of wine or something. Damn. {Ed.’s note: Arrrgh!!! Right?!?}
Ashley's little sis giving a speech.
The best? After the rehearsal dinner everyone went into the bar at the lodge and we continued the party. One of my bridesmaids, Gillian, turned to me and said, “You need to put your glass of wine down and go to bed.” She was so right! She saved me from being tired and hungover on our wedding day. I didn’t want to leave but am thankful she could tell me that and that she did.
If you’ve been married for more than a few years, what have been some challenges? Oh boy… here we go….
No really, I wouldn’t label them as challenges. I’d say more like things we’ve learned, accepted or changed. (how’s that for a diplomatic start?)
One thing that was challenging for me was sharing space when we first moved in together. Being an only child for a good portion of my life, I’ve never had to share a bathroom. So I guess my taking up the entire counter and leaving a small and — in my opinion — unnoticeable, pile of clothes behind the door isn’t a good thing. Humm, my jammies like it behind the bathroom door.
I also don’t see why the dining room table has to be used only for dinner. It’s right near the entryway and is a great spot to leave my purse, car keys, sunglasses, scarf and whatever other layers I want to remove while entering the home. Makes sense to me.
So for me, it has been an eye opening experience to realize that I may be a bit of a clutter bug. At least in the common space of the home…..which I guess is now the entire home.
If Mike were writing this I’d imagine he’d say a challenge was:
1) How much stuff a girl has and 2) how most of it is in the closet which leaves only a few inches for his clothes.
Now that we’ve been living together for almost 6 years, those things are what we laugh about.
What from your wedding vows/ceremony still holds the truest? Oh girl, I don’t remember our vows. Should I go watch our wedding dvd and get back to you?
Prolly the “to love and cherish” part. 😉
Any other bits of wisdom? Not sure you could call it wisdom. Maybe advice. I’d say just have fun with one another. If you can laugh and have a good time together the rest will all work out. Most of all, be nice to each other. It’s the one person who knows you best and is there for you. Don’t take that for granted.
Random Acts of Wedding 
[…] based in Bozeman, Mont., is an old friend. In fact, she’s Ashley‘s cousin and we used to play together and go camping. When I found out she is now a wedding […]