The health and safety of our guests have always been a priority. In light of COVID-19, we have made the difficult decision to scale down our wedding and tie the knot in a private ceremony. Thank you for your love and understanding. We will miss you greatly and hope you will celebrate with us and toast from afar on October 24, 2020. Stay tuned for pictures from our intimate ceremony!

We met through the dating app Bumble. Shortly after the polar vortex of 2019 and after chatting through the app for a few weeks, we decided it was time to meet in person for our first date. Jon suggested Electric Cheetah for lunch. Jon had been there before but Ashley had not. After lunch we went on a walk around the neighborhood where Jon first learned (and has not forgotten til this day) that Ashley does not like dogs. For such a perfect lady, there was bound to be something wrong with her! Not long after the first date, Jon called Ashley and invited her to the Griffins hockey game on the following Wednesday. We ate dinner at Grand Rapids Brewing Company before the game and then walked over to Van Andel Arena for the game. Jon bought tickets right behind the penalty box and Ashley was on the edge of her seat the whole game! Jon suggested snow tubing for date #3 but Ashley had horrible memories of tumbling down the water slides at Jungle Jim's in Rehoboth Beach, DE as a child and she feared that she may have a similar fate if she attempted to go snow tubing, so she suggested cooking dinner together instead. Little did she know that Jon did not know his way around the kitchen. More than a year later, Ashley is happy to do most of the cooking, as long as Jon does the dishes! :-)

We got engaged on Mackinac Island on October 19, 2019 (Ashley's birthday!). After waking up and eating breakfast at the Inn on Mackinac, we rented bikes for a couple of hours. The plan for the day was to bike M-185 which is a little over 8 miles. It would later be learned that Jon did not have much of a plan (surprise) but knew he was going to propose at some point on the ride. We got to roughly the northwest point of the island and there was a little clearing in the trees that led down to the water. Jon was really smooth, got on one knee, and popped the question! It was amazing! Ashley spent the remaining 6 miles of the ride admiring the ring on her finger while dodging traffic on the road. We couldn't wait to get back tot he hotel to share the news with our family and friends! The rest of the weekend was just as magical as the proposal...a luncheon at the Grand Hotel, craft beer and the Michigan-PSU game at Mary's Bistro (despite the loss, we still left smiling), sunrise on the eastern part of the island, miles and miles of walking while visiting famous landmarks across the island, and a warm pasty in the UP after our chilly ferry ride return from the island.