ASHLEY + VINCENT

photo | Harp & Olive Photography

ASHLEY + VINCENT

Engaged at a vineyard in Nashville

Our love story is not much different from the rest. I moved back to Houston after college, looking for a fresh start in the same city. Vincent was from a small town in Indiana looking to do the same in a new city. He had been down in Houston on his 6th year of teaching and coaching high school football, living the Friday night lights dream. He had met a few new friends but still there was not much keeping him there. I had just come out of an old relationship, not hopeful to find anyone or anything new. Then, social media took control (as it usually does), and we both found ourselves giving online dating a try on Bumble. Vincent had been sort of a veteran Bumble user, as I was scared to death. But as fate would have it, after a solid 24 hours of swiping, we matched and connected our hive. He asked me on a date the following day, (woah!) and the rest was history. We laughed all night about the little things we had in common, the big things we didn’t, and how our personalities basically mirrored each other. 

Fast forward a few months later where I made the 20 hour drive with him to his home town. That was the first test that we would make it as a couple. Road trips are HARD, but together it was the best trip I’ve ever been on. I got to see him truly be himself, finally around the people that he felt the most comfortable with. That was the moment I knew he was it. Seeing his personality really shine, the way he adored his grandparents, his silly nature around his siblings and how he would do anything for his parents. We moved in together the following spring and got engaged in the summer. 

It was a romantic date night in Nashville, Tennessee. I had been living in Bowling Green, Kentucky working on an internship for graduate school for for weeks. He flew in to make the drive back to Houston with me and decided to make a weekend out of it in Nashville. We hit up Broadway on Friday night and had a blast. The next morning we woke up to get a little sweat in at a local CrossFit gym (yikes!) and made it back to our AirBnB exhausted. We rested, walked around Vanderbilt University then came back to get ready for our date. He booked us a wine – my favorite – at a local vineyard called Arrington Vineyard, owned by Brooks & Dunn’s, Kix Brooks. We had a semi private wine tasting in the vineyard house. It was delicious, and I was slowly sipping my wine to make every moment last. I noticed however, that Vincent seemed to be throwing them back as fast as he could. I joked with him to savor the moment but he seemed to be in a hurry. We left the vineyard house and walked down by the vine to check out the scenery. He told me to pretend to pick a grape for the picture, where I joked we would get kicked out, but as I turned around, there he was on one knee. Now I can’t really tell you what was said after that, but I saw our photographer coming towards us capturing every shot. We plan to get married in July and to keep writing our love story.