Today we’re bringing you Ashley and Andy’s beautiful wedding story! Their May wedding took place last year at the rustic Chalet View Lodge in Portola, California. You’ll absolutely love their story and enjoy their photographs by Tourine and Trevor from Johnstone Studios. Find out how they met and see their photos in 3…2…1.

Ashley + Andy’s Wedding at Chalet View Lodge

Ashley tells us, “Andy and I met when we were in college at UNR. Andy was a physics tutor for the summer and low and behold I was taking physics at that time and needed some extra help. At first I was impressed with how intelligent Andy was and that he was a fantastic teacher. However he was also really funny, he made me laugh, which while studying physics is not always the case. I found myself wanting to spend more and more time with him. I would go into the tutoring center with one question (that I pretty much already knew the answer to) just to hang out with Andy. Andy being a little…well, oblivious, didn’t realize that I was coming into the tutoring center to hang out more than study. It wasn’t until a UNR football game that Andy started to realize how I felt. I knew Andy was going to the football game, but like any game there were hundreds of people there and I didn’t have his number but I desperately wanted to find him to spend the game hanging out. I turned to my best f riend Jenny Luna and said “ugh I’m never going to find him in this crowd”. Then no more than 5 minutes later I spotted Andy and we spent the whole game laughing and cheering together. It was then that Andy realized why I was coming into the tutoring center so much.”

“On our first date, Andy picked me up and we had a picnic at Rancho San Rafael Park. I actually just recreated that date exactly a month before our wedding but I added champagne to celebrate where it all started. That first date was 7 years ago. Since then we’ve been on countless road trips, traveled abroad, adopted a cat (Boe, which Andy tried teaching to use the toilet and partially succeeded but then switched litter and saw all his work go down the drain…forever.) We’ve been there for each other during medical school (the hardest 4 years of my life), my parents getting divorced, Andy’s phD, and everything in between.”

“One of the most special moments was of course when Andy proposed. I was in my third year of medical school and only had a weekend before having to move to Las Vegas for 2 months. Andy and I decided to spend the weekend in Lake Tahoe. We went up Friday night and stayed on this little cabin right by the lake. We were enjoying wine, cheese, and just chatting about life when Andy said we should go look at the sunset on the lake. However it was raining and really cold so I wasn’t initially enthusiastic but he really wanted to go look at the lake so I put on my big jacket and we headed out. Before I knew it he was on one knee on the dock overlooking Lake Tahoe asking me to marry him. As corny as it sounds it was seriously one of the happiest moments of my life. He asked me to marry him with my mother’s ring that she was now passing down to me. When we got back inside the cabin he handed me a letter from my mom. In the letter she wrote about how she got the ring when she w as pregnant with me and how special it was to give the ring to me. I’m of course bawling at this point. We then popped champagne and if it couldn’t get any better Pandora decided to add to the moment and play our song (Home). It was magical (sorry again so corny but true).”

“Andy and I would have to say that dancing/lip-sincing to our favorite song (Home by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros) is our most exciting moment for the big day, along with just dancing in general. The song came out when we first started dating and we have always been the couple at weddings parties, car rides that belt out the song and dance. The song lyrics “home is wherever I’m with you”, has even more of a special meaning now that we are both moving to the other side of the country for my residency at Duke University Hospital.”

“We also decided to incorporate our wedding RSVPs into the decorations. The RSVPs were made libs and the guests were creative and really funny when filling them out, making receiving wedding RSVPs so much fun for Andy and I!”

“I would say that the fact that my father gets to walk me down the aisle when two months ago we didn’t know if he’d ever make it out of the hospital is such an amazing gift. He went into the hospital for back surgery and developed severe pneumonia. He was in the hospital for 2 1/2 months. He will be wheeled down the aisle by my brother, Brad Naughton, as I’m holding my dad’s hand.”

“Another special detail that will be a surprise to Andy is the wedding gift I got him. We both LOVE cribbage. We joke that we are an 80 year old couple that enjoy hanging out with our cat, Boe, drinking wine, and playing cribbage. Therefore for his wedding gift I got him a customized cribbage board and on it is the design that was on our wedding invitation along with Andy & Ashley Hickey, our wedding date, and location.”

Other California Wedding Vendors

Florist – Greenleaf Wholesale Florist
Invitations – Zazzle
Shoes – Truly Zac Posen
Bridal Dress – Hayley Paige
Menswear – Mens Warehouse, R. Douglas Custom Clothing (groom)
Hair Stylist – Callie Cain (bride), Heidi Miles (bridesmaids)
Makeup Stylist – Edin Carpenter
Jeweler – rings: Steven Schmier’s Jewelry
Ceremony Venue – Chalet View Lodge
Reception Venue – Chalet View Lodge
DJ – DJ Julian Pierce
Cake – Nothing Bundt Cakes

California Wedding Photographer

About this Vendor

If you enjoyed these wedding photographs, then you should visit Johnstone Studios to see more amazing weddings! You can see Tourine and Trevor’s preferred vendor listing in the Bridal Book at Emmaline Bride.

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