Ashley & Marc || Monastery Event Center

The Proposal

of

Ashley & Marc

Mar and I had started dating in the summer, and then we went to different colleges. I attended the University of Kentucky, and Marc was at the University of Cincinnati. We took some time apart while at college to find ourselves, but I moved back to Mason after school. We ended up reconnecting, and we have been happily together ever since then. In high school, we both dreamed of having a pug one day. Three years ago, we got a pug puppy and named him Mac. Like any other afternoon, we took our dog, Mac, for a walk along the bike trail and got some Hawaiian ice along the way. We both love going to the Loveland bike trail, and we decided to walk Mac first and then pick up some Hawaiian ice on the way back. While walking, Marc popped the question. He had a photographer join us and take photos along the way. Then, after all the excitement, we got the Hawaiian ice and headed back to our house. All our close

Ashley & Marc’s

Wedding Day

Before getting engaged, I have dreamed of getting married at the Monastery event center. So when we were touring different venues, each one we looked at, I always compared it to there. So when we went to sign up for the next available date, it was not for two more summers. Being a teacher, it was important to me to get married during time off, so we signed up for that date. Little did we know that pandemic would be in the middle of this. We were lucky on our wedding day because that was the week that Governor Dewine let go of the mask/social distancing mandates. It was the day we both had dreamed of since signing up at the Monastery 2 years ago. The morning of the wedding, the girls got ready at the Monastery guest house across the street, where Leyla Reizk and Alli Gonzalez from Brideface came to help us with our hair and makeup. After finishing getting ready, Marc and I had our first look on the front steps at the Monastery. I had been so nervous the whole morning, so it was relieving to see him finally. After that, we took some group photos; we headed on a party bus to Eden Park. Afterward, we returned, and our pug, Mac, came to take some pictures with us at the Monastery. When it came to the ceremony, Mark McFadden played music during our ceremony. The team at the Monastery helped to ensure that our ceremony and reception were flawless. After our ceremony, the reception was also at the Monastery event center. We went outside to the courtyard for the cocktail hour while the Monastery and our florist flipped the room. It is incredible how quickly they can do that! They transformed the room into the space of our dreams. We ate excellent food from the Monastery, enjoyed cake from Tres Belle, and danced the night away.

Ashley’s

Bridal & Formal

Experience

My Mom ended up running into the owners of Bridal and Formal. She told them about me getting married and hadn’t looked for a dress yet. They made an appointment with Randy, and I was able to try on his new line of dresses. While I was there, Randy, my bridal consultant, and the owners of B&F were so friendly and helped me narrow down exactly what I was looking for in a bridal gown. I had never tried on dresses at that point, so I had no idea what exactly I wanted for my gown. We went through ball gowns, fit and flares, a-lines, mermaid style dresses. Every type of wedding gown style that was available at the store I tried on that day. It was not what I had anticipated liking when I tried on my dress. I had pinned millions of ball gowns, and a-line style dresses to my dream Pinterest board. But with a little convincing, I tried on a fit and flare style dress that Randy had released in his new collection and was in love. It had a detachable skirt that I wore for my ceremony. Randy and the Consultant assisted with finding a veil that worked perfectly with both the dress and the skirt. After finding my dress, we even took a video saying, “Ashley, are you saying yes to the dress?” It seemed silly at the time, but it is so fun to look back and see the memory from that day!