Innocent girl brunch banter, a drunken bonfire with the neighbor, and good old Tinder created this love story. Ashleigh went out with her friends for a midweek brunch when someone brought up the subject of men on dating sites with fish photos. (Hot topic, by the way.) So out of curiosity and the love of “social experiments”, Ashleigh and her friends proceeded to download Tinder to embark on their fish photo social experiment journey. The first 3 men proudly displayed their fish photos, but one particular man stood out to the group of girls as one of them proclaimed, “He’s cute.” Ashleigh agreed and swiped right, forgetting about the app and going back to their meal not long after. As Jeff tells it, the neighbor was sick of him hanging out by himself, so Mike (the neighbor) downloaded the app for him and set it up (thanks, Mike!) choosing the infamous “fish photo”. Then one drunken night at a bonfire, Jeff swiped on Ashleigh, messaged her, and the rest is history. Ashleigh forgot about the app until about a week later and went to delete it until she saw a message from the “fish photo guy” and decided to reply but not without having some fun with it. Jeff says he had never had to text so much in his life, but it was worth it. Ashleigh agrees she made Jeff work for it, of course. After spending hours talking that first night, Ashleigh challenged Jeff to keep her interested over the next 3 days (she had three 16-hour shifts (which, if you don’t know, she’s not allowed to have her phone with her at all for those 16 hours, so that was part of the challenge) in order to get her real phone number. He waited for her to get out every night at 11 p.m. just to talk to her for those 3 days. Then, after 3 weeks of patiently waiting for Ashleigh to not be so busy, Jeff asked Ashleigh to go on their first date, drinks, (chicken wing dip that Ashleigh made him eat all by himself), and Spirit Halloween. Where they share a love for Halloween. It has become a tradition for them every year (Ashleigh may go overboard at the store, but I think Jeff secretly loves it). That’s probably why Jeff asked Ashleigh to spend the rest of their lives together on Halloween 2024 in private (as requested by Ashleigh). They knew this was the endgame, and Jeff wanted to ask his favorite person to marry him on his favorite day of the year; she just didn’t know when or where. Jeff says he knew he was in love with Ashleigh during one of their many nights dancing around the kitchen (one of their favorite things to do). He knew he would spend the rest of his life with her. Ashleigh knew she would spend the rest of her life with Jeff when, during one of their many dances at The Millstone, he asked, “If I asked you seven years from now to marry me, would you?” Her immediate response wasn’t a resounding “no” like many times in the past at the thought of marriage. Instead, she playfully said, “Ask me again in seven years.” But we didn’t make it to 7 years because here we are just 3 years after that moment. Not only is Jeff marrying Ashleigh, but he is also gaining a daughter, Kaylee. Not at all what he imagined for his life, but he wouldn’t have it any other way. PLOT TWIST - if you read this far.. Recently, we went through some major life changes. No longer wanting to be burdened by wedding planning as life was stressful enough, Ashleigh & Jeff made a big decision (after Ashleigh so meticulously had all the “Save the Dates” ready to be sent out .. In an intimate ceremony on March 29th, 2025 Ashleigh & Jeff exchanged vows and officially tied the knot. Now as husband & wife they want to invite you to join them on vacation for a vow renewal with all their family & friends then party the night away. Nothing fancy, just our loved ones and a reason to celebrate!