We love the a good Crest Center wedding! And this is one for the books! Ashley was a complete bombshell of a bride and so sweet and fun to be around!

Shout out to these professionals that made this day so amazing!

Venue and Catering: Crest Center
Planning: Brittany and Katie with Mary Bell Events
Floral: Flower gallery of Asheville
Hair and Makeup- Pop of Color
Officiant- Gaye Stinnett (Aunt of the Groom)
Ceremony Music- Karen Rose (Violin and Harp)
Reception Band- Something Special
Photobooth- Yellow tie photo booth
Cake- Karen Donatelli
Limo and Transportation- Elite Limo

Ashley and Tom went ALL out with the decor and we are obsessed with this reception set up. Why purple you may ask? Well, that is their college colors! Go Northwest!


Shout out to The Flower Gallery of Asheville for this amazing floral. Those lilies in that bouquet!!! We also love how the bride honored those whom she loved with the picture jewels on the bouquet.

And this is why people come to the Crest to get married! This view!

When having a destination wedding here in Asheville, Welcome Bags for all the guests are a great way to help them get acquainted with all the awesomeness that Asheville has to offer!

Elizabeth with Pop of Color doing her thing!

Ashley’s smile lights up a room!


Oh! This sweet little flower girl!

Ashley wore her mother’s wedding veil, which was made by Ashley’s aunt and late grandmother. We are obsessed with the little details that make a wedding day sentimental and unique to each bride and groom.


Like I said… a bombshell! Ashley, you made a gorgeous bride! We love your classic, elegant look.

These girls had so much fun together!



The fellas knew how to have fun themselves!

Tom had one heck of a personality.

Moments with the mother of the groom right before ceremony.


Let the ceremony begin!




So many beautiful and fun moments in this ceremony!


Lots of laughter and a few happy tears.


This officiant was Tom’s aunt.  She told me she has done several weddings and has a picture of every couple she has done weddings for.

All those gorgeous flowers and those gorgeous smiles.


Let’s get this party started!

First dance love.

A welcome by the mother of the bride and the groom brought on lots of laughter and smiles.

One of the best things about the Crest is the glorious sunsets!


We waited to do the majority of the photos with the bride and groom until sunset. And we are glad we did!




If we have time, we like to go back and get shots of the reception at night after it is all lit up. It’s a totally different perspective and feel from the shots we got before the wedding during the day!

Shout out to Karen Donatelli for this beautiful and tasty cake!

The toasts were quite entertaining!


Parent dances.

Party time!

Congrats Ashley and Tom! Thank you for allowing us to share in your amazing adventure.

Now enough from us, here is a big more from Ashley and Tom themselves!

A bit about Ashley: Originally from Alabama with a short layover in Nashville before moving to Chicago for grad school where I met Tom. I’m a lifelong animal lover and I have a cat AND a dog. So, now Tom has a cat AND a dog all in a tiny 1 bdrm in NYC!

A bit about Tom: Tom is originally from the NYC/Connecticut area and went to Northwestern for undergrad and grad school. Tom loves his family, close groups of friends from high school and college, video games, and of course his new wife 🙂 Fun fact – Tom used to be allergic to cats, but now our cat sleeps on his face sometimes! He really loves me…

How did you meet? We met at grad school and he asked me out for the first time at a New Year’s Eve party – this year we’ll be celebrating NYE on our honeymoon in Hawaii

Describe your first date? We went to a Northwestern basketball game and it was SO cold! We had a great time, though and the conversation never stopped. He locked in the second date on our ride home 🙂

How long have you been together? Almost 3 years.

What are your favorite hobbies and activities to do as a couple? We love to walk our dog and go on hikes with her and just as a couple. We love going to the movies and picnics in Central Park. We love to go out to dinner and concerts together. We also love our TV shows and like nothing more than a chill night on the couch ordering Seamless.

Who popped the question and HOW? Tom popped the question – a few days before we were heading back to Alabama for Christmas last year, Tom asked me to go to brunch and on a walk at 2pm. While this is not an unusual occurrence, specifying a time, is somewhat unusual. So, my antennae was up at brunch, but I tried to just put it out of my mind. After brunch, he walked me to Brooklyn Heights Promenade – it’s a famous place with an amazing view of lower Manhattan and it’s super close to our house – we take our dog there regularly. And when we were looking at the view, he got down on one knee. Little did i know that he had hired a photographer to follow us, so there are amazing pics of our engagement.

Why did you pick Asheville and the Crest Center? I visited Highlands, NC with some girlfriends on a hiking trip a few years ago and having never been to North Carolina, I was struck by its beauty and literally told my gfs that I wanted to get married there. We didn’t pick Highlands bc it would have been more difficult logistically and the wedding would have had to be quite small, so that’s what made us think of Asheville. Then when we were doing online research, The Crest Center looked amazing and we were enticed by the view. So, we booked a trip down to check it out. We saw The Crest Center, Masonic Lodge, Grove Park Inn, but The Crest Center just felt right. And we clicked with Amy right away.

What adjective best describes your spouse on your wedding day? Aww, so cute! He seemed so excited – we both were.

What tangible detail of your wedding day did you love the most? (Cake, dress, special item?) Probably my bouquet bc of the charms attached to it with pictures of the women that have impacted my life but couldn’t be there as they are not with us any longer. One of the pictures was of my cousin Stephanie who passed earlier this year – she and i were close all throughout our lives – she was only a year younger than me. I think our wedding was kind of healing for my family as it was the first time a lot of us were together since her funeral in the spring.

How many guests attended the wedding? 120ish, I think

What did you and your guests eat at the reception? Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, beef brisket, green beans, and fried green tomatoes 🙂

What was the flavor of your wedding cake? Strawberries & cream

What is the one of the funniest things that happened on your wedding day? My brother and cousin doing the worm! I hope you have copious pictures of that haha!

What was your first dance song and why did you pick it? These arms of mine by Otis Redding – it’s always been one of my favs and it’s super sexy. We thought it was a good one 🙂

What stood out to you the most when you think of your wedding? Omg, it’s just a blur of love and fun and hugs. So, I guess all of the above.

What is on your “bucket list” to do together as a married couple? Hmmm, i’m not sure we have one. I know there are many places we want to travel together, but we don’t really have a list.