Our Ashley is getting MARRIED!!!!!

Happy news here at Private Weddings and Events...Our Ashley is getting married!!!! We are so happy for her and her fiance Sam. She is planning a Winter 2019 wedding and she will be taking you along for the ride in a new series of blog posts about her planning!!! Here is the first installment!!
Enjoy!!!!

Always the Wedding Coordinator, Finally the Bride
Is he? Oh wait…..he is definitely proposing right now!
The title to this post was inspired by the exact thought going through my head as my boyfriend was standing in front of me, trembling, a perfect diamond in his hand, with snow falling and my family and closest friends standing around me giggling and filming the moment for all eternity on their cell phones. I’ve known my now fiancé (woah, fiancé!) Sam for about two and a half years. He was a student, then employee, at a local EMS company that frequents the diner where I also work. At first I wasn’t at all interested in dating anyone, never mind a fast talking EMT, fluent in the language of sarcasm, from a little bit of everywhere, but mostly from Missouri. But he grew on me and after pestering him for a solid, and I mean SOLID, few months I got him to ask me out (ladies and gentlemen-he’s cute but not overly aware). We spent our first date drinking cool craft beer he’d packed, at a pond trying to, and failing miserably, catch fish. We spent our second date in his second home, the emergency room, after my brother split his head open playing soccer. He’d been awake for 36 hours minus a few naps at that point and still refused to cancel on me, even if our location had changed to a bay in the ER with my bleeding teenage brother. I knew right there in that emergency room I’d marry him someday. This story takes its turn at my 30th birthday, my sweet, kind, loving and incredibly nervous boyfriend was asking me to be his wife. I think I was so excited and overwhelmed by emotion I actually forgot to say yes for a few minutes! Once I remembered I had to accept (poor guy was sweating that one out!) and he placed the perfect ring on my finger, we headed off to finish celebrating my birthday and our engagement and call loved ones! As soon as the news went on social media we immediately began fielding questions about colors and dates and bridal parties and showers. People kind of assume, not entirely incorrectly, that because of working in the wedding industry that I must have had the entire event planned already down to the color of stationary font and that Sam is totally fine with me calling all the shots. I’ve gotten a really good idea these past five years, I’ve met a ton of amazing professionals who have become friends and I have a fiancé who is cool with making decisions about what he wears and what we eat and leaving the rest up to me. The more questions I was asked the more I realized I just wanted to relax and be engaged. I love helping in the planning process and seeing an event come together. I just found myself wanting to sit and stare at my ring and be excited. To any just engaged couples, I know the questions can seem overwhelming but just sit back and take it all in for a little while. There is plenty of time to hammer out the details and there are professionals to help you every step of the way - believe me we can help! Just remember the one person you love more than anything just asked you to do life with them, to be your partner in whatever comes your way, your always teammate and the person who will be in your corner no matter the battle. I look forward to blogging our experience of wedding planning and sharing it with everyone. Next up the beginning steps of planning a wedding and making sure my fiancé doesn’t invite the entire EMS and fire community to our wedding, as much as we’d both like to have them!
xoxo ​ASHLEY