We’re thrilled to share our wedding celebration with you in the sun-soaked Southern Italian coastal town of Sorrento, Italy. Our engagement in Italy, surrounded by the captivating countryside and breathtaking sea views, holds a special place in our hearts. Sorrento, with its ancient roots and the promise of creating new memories, means so much to us and will mean even more with your presence on our special day. We’re overjoyed to share this magical place with all of you.
So pack your favorite swimsuit and dancing shoes and gear up for an Italian weekend like no other!
Complete Itinerary
Our Story
The meet-cute
Our story begins like the classic narrative of great love stories—on Facebook Messenger. A coy message from Chris in 2018: "Hey," he said, "You in NY? I just got here." Ashtyn giggled at the message and locked her phone.
No response and three years later, we finally met at the cozy home of a mutual friend in Clearwater during the holidays. A night filled with flirtatious eye contact while Chris laughed at everything Ashtyn said had sparks flying. We each spent the next couple of weeks setting up plans with each other’s friends hoping that fate (our friends/matchmakers) would bring each other into the mix. Lucky for us, our friends took the hint. We flirted, we laughed, we joked, and thankfully, Lexi, one of Ashtyn’s best friends, took it upon herself to give Chris Ashtyn’s number. He saved it.
First name: “Zach's friend" last name: "New York Chick."
Our First Date
Ashtyn was staying with her childhood Best friend Sabrina. In typical Ashtyn fashion, she tried on 972 outfits and still hadn’t decided on what to wear when he pulled up. In a typical Chris, kind of awkward chivalrous way, he pulled directly onto her front lawn in his giant SUV and lit up the whole house with his high beams. He had arrived. Chris took Ashtyn to a local arcade bar. He ordered a white claw and Ashtyn ordered a glass of wine (cringe). After a few drinks, we strolled around Dunedin and ended up on a boardwalk where we thought we sighted the Loch Ness Monster. In our shared moment of terror, Chris pulled Ashtyn in and said he was looking for “something serious”. He wasn’t sure how that would work with Ashtyn living in NYC, but he was all in. On the outside, Ashtyn was trying to keep up her “cool girl” front, on the inside she had lost all chill. She was head over heels. Those were words she was waiting to hear all her life.
New York Chick Flies South
Eventually, Ashtyn's identity in Chris's contacts evolved beyond "New York Chick, Zach’s Friend." Although we tried to keep our romance low-key, it didn't take long for friends and loved ones to figure it out based on our ear-to-ear smiles and giddy moods.
As all good things come to an end, Ashtyn had to return to New York for school. Chris visited, embracing every aspect of his "New York Chick's" crazy Manhattan lifestyle—her compact apartment, her dynamic circle of friends, the chaos, late-night beginnings, and non-stop hustle in the city that never sleeps. He was gobsmacked by all of it, including her. It was clear to both of us that it was love. Ashtyn was able to be her truest self and wanted to be with Chris all the time even if it meant setting up his triple monitor workstation on her miniature dining room table. His commitment was solidified with a year-long gym membership at the local gym, Ludlow Fitness (rip). Ashtyn knew it was a forever thing.
As Spring approached and the pandemic cast its shadow, New York declared a full lockdown. Ashtyn was already in Florida visiting Chris on a school break. She had two choices: go back to the city she loved and be in lockdown, or take a chance on the man she loves and stay in Florida. This meant bidding farewell to the cherished New York lifestyle—a prospect Ashtyn couldn't fathom, especially while completing her education, and especially not for a man. But, this wasn’t just any man, this was Chris.
Looking back now, we both wonder if the Pandemic hadn't happened, would we be inviting you to this wedding? In this chapter, Ashtyn trusted her gut (while still not giving up her apartment in NYC just in case haha), moved in with Chris and we both quickly found out what playing house felt like. Seeing past the orange walls, purple curtains, and the lazy boy recliner, Ashtyn saw light at the end of the tunnel, she saw potential in the man who had a fancy bidet. We quickly found out that Ashtyn is a cuddler when she sleeps and Chris has deep insomnia when he sleeps especially when someone is touching him.
Despite it all we had a blast! We like to think that our ability to turn lemons into lemonade will serve us well throughout our marriage.
The Proposal
In September of 2022, while in Italy to celebrate a dear friend’s marriage, Chris led Ashtyn into Taormina (queue White Lotus theme song). We found ourselves at a charming cliffside restaurant, Café Wunderbar in the town square. The setting was perfect: Chris making his infamous walrus noises, a bottle of wine down, live music playing, and an atmosphere filled with love and anticipation.
Noticing Chris was not his usual relaxed self, Ashtyn grabbed his soaking wet palm and checked in, "Are you okay?" Once reassured, she naturally shoved an entire slice of Italian bread into her mouth. Naturally, Chris saw this as the perfect moment to pop the question and aggressively pushed his chair back and flung himself a good 10 feet off the table then made his proposal approach. Still chewing her bread at record-breaking speed, Ashtyn said yes, with the entire restaurant, the town square, and Chris' family as witnesses, while a table of Italian Nonnas swarmed around us to inspect and approve the ring and wish us a lifetime of happiness.
Despite having no luggage or plans, we continued to celebrate in our happy place, with only the clothes on our backs and a ripped paper bag full of souvenirs. We strolled straight to the San Domenico (cue the White Lotus theme song again). Drunk on happiness, both energized and exhausted, we continued the best day of our lives. When we woke up the next morning for a beautiful cliff-side breakfast, our faces hurting from the perpetual smiles, we both knew the same thing: We had to get married in Italy.
The Beginning
Our eagerly anticipated next chapter is not the end of our love story, but rather the beginning of what we hope is a wonderful life ahead, surrounded by those who have unwaveringly supported us as we make our vows to each other in our happy place.
We hope you’ll join us for our special day.
Please let us know your plans by June 10th 2024.
We hope to see you in Sorrento!