Chapter 1: The Friendzone Ashley and Trae (Jack) met at church where they both served in August of 2019. Trae asked Ashley out in March 2020 but Ashley said "No [she] just wanted to get to know each other as friends and they needed to wait a year." For her birthday Trae met up with Ashley and her friends to celebrate at Whiskey 918. They spent the last song of the night dancing in the dripping lights from the disco ball. Afterwards they both went to ihop to grab some late night breakfast. Ashley talked the entire time and Trae thought that was our first date but Ashley kept him in the friend-zone.

Come May 2020 when Ashley felt called to build a deck she frantically called Trae over to her house after realizing she may have made a grave mistake accepting a complete stranger's help to unload all the wood from The Homedepot. Trae practically teleported to her house and in hindsight Ashley discovered Trae must have been speeding because he does not infact drive that fast ever. Things turned out well in the end. Trae and the stranger unloaded the decking materials for their next adventure. It wasn’t until halfway into building the deck they figured out that neither one had any previous experience in deck building and didn’t know what they were doing and yet by some miracle everything came together. They followed the rule “measure twice cut once” but once they went to place the beam it was either too tall or too short for said spot but would fit in another spot perfectly. Ashley knew that God must have been up to something… By the time the deck was completed in June 2020 Ashley recognized that she wanted something more as well. They didn’t just build a deck to serve as an altar for their friends to share stories of happiness and tears; they built trust and a foundation to last for generations to come.

They started at the beginning of the pandemic as friends but their love for each other grew daily. In July 2020 they decided to make it facebook official and were able to go on their first date in August 2020. They faced many obstacles dating that brought them together as a team. Blending families comes with a lot of patience and understanding. Both Trae and Ashley wanted to make this transition for the girls as comfortable as possible so they soaked up their time.

Fast forward to July 3rd 2021. Ashley and Trae were talking late one night when Ashley asked Trae to make sure that the girls were there whenever he planned on asking to marry her. Ashley had already asked for the girls to be able to visit for the fourth of July party at Trae’s parents house and her ex-husband had refused. So after the conversation Trae was sweating because he knew he was going to ask her the next day. Ashley felt the tension about her request so she bent God’s ear down to pray that God would allow it when the time came.

In the morning July 4th 2020; Ashley received a phone call that her girls would be able to join in the festivities. They were both elated! They picked up the girls after a quick trip to Target and then headed over to Trae’s parents house. During the party Trae casually pulled the girls over and had asked both Aria and Zoey for permission to marry their mother. Both were so excited and said “YES!” By this time the sun was setting and the girls were playing nearby, Trae had orchestrated for his brother to play “Grave” by Thomas Rhett, set smoke bombs off in the distance and asked his sisters to dance so when Trae had asked her to dance it wouldn’t be noticeable. It was then that Trae asked Ashley to dance and how could she say no?! Trae pulled Ashley close and asked “are you ready to spend the rest of your life with me?” Ashley said “yes” and then Trae got down on one knee and asked “Will you marry me?” Ashley was completely caught off guard and didn’t hesitate to say “Yes!”

The rest of this story is still being written and we are so excited for you to be a part of this next chapter. Please help us write the rest of this chapter in being our guest and witnessing the love we share for each other on our Wedding Day.

May 6th, 2022 Let's Party!