OUR STORY
OUR STORY
IT WAS MEANT TO BE...
We have been fortunate to call places like Madrid, London, New York, Auckland, Chicago and Los Angeles home and to have been able to go to a countless number of other amazing places, experiencing different cultures, foods and landscapes. It was clear we shared a love of travel and the trip that led to us meeting was to none other than Madison, Wisconson for the wedding of Mackinnon and Eric in May 2013. Mackinnon was one of Ashley's best friends from college, Mackinnon was Nathan's cousin. Ashley was a bridesmaid, Nathan was an usher, the rest they say is history...Thanks Mac!
With Ashley living in LA and Nathan in London, New York City was chosen as the location for their first date. A pineapple and a picnic featured prominently. The latter was a surprise that Nathan organised on Monday, the last day of the trip. Obviously, Nathan was not a New Yorker like Ashley. The surprise picnic was in Central Park during the middle of the day, in typical mid-July heat: 90F/32C, humid and still. Definitely not when you want to be sitting on a picnic blanket! But Ashley looked through this imperfection and saw that Nathan was trying to show how much she meant to him, even at this early stage. Ashley didn't even seem to mind that the poorly scheduled picnic resulted in missing her flight back to LA!
Trips to London and France followed, and then Nathan finally made the trip to LA. Ashley laid it on. Rooftop cocktails over looking Venice Beach, trendy restaurants in Santa Monica, wine tasting in Santa Barbara and a stay in the Bacara Resort. Nathan then told Ashley of his plan to move to LA and things got serious... After a quick 10 more months of LA to London long distance, the time came for Nathan to pack his life into a few bags and head toward the bright lights of Hollywood. Alas, a career on screen didn't eventuate but the relationship between him and Ashley blossomed.
How he proposed
Just over a year after he arrived in LA, on Sunday December 13th 2015, Nathan concocted a list of errands he had to run in the morning. Armed already with identical picnic blanket and parasol to the ones they had for their first date in NYC, he compiled the rest of the items needed for a picnic. Convincing her to take a short walk in the Santa Monica mountains above LA without needing to wear the normal hiking attire was a little tricky but Ashley went along with him. A surprise picnic overlooking the home they now shared was the scene for Nathan to get down on one knee and ask Ashley to marry him.
She said yes.
