“Mitch and I weren’t together for very long before I got pregnant,” says Sarah-Jane Ashby. A few years later, they decided to get married, and their daughter, Marlowe, was the star of the guest list. Below, Sarah-Jane shares the whole story…
“I’d just moved to New York, but I was traveling to L.A. a lot for work. This guy in L.A. messaged me on a dating app, saying, ‘You’re thousands of miles away. That’s such a shame.’ I remember thinking, Who is this guy holding a fish in his photo?! But we ended up chatting, and the next time I was in L.A., we met up for burgers and beers. For both of us, it turned serious very quickly. I’d never loved anyone like that.”
“He agreed to move for us to be together, and then I realized I was pregnant. We were in love, but we didn’t want to get married right away just because we were having a baby. In 2020, Mitch moved to New York, he started a new job, the pandemic hit, and I gave birth to Marlowe. Our family was really forged by fire. But we rolled with it.”
“Marlowe was two when Mitch asked me to marry him inside a photo booth. Then, for 10 minutes, the photos didn’t come out. We finally asked someone, and they said, ‘Oh, yeah, that happens sometimes. But you can always retake it.’ We were like, ‘No, we can’t! We just got engaged in the photo booth!’ Thankfully, we were able to get them out, just a little scuffed.”
“We knew we wanted to do something in Wales, where I’m from, since my grandmother lived there. Because of cost, we ended up going to City Hall in New York to get married. Later on, in Wales, we did a small ceremony followed by dinner at a pub for 30 people. It all felt very intimate.”
“Getting a number and waiting for our turn reminded me of being a kid at the butcher shop. We were there with a hundred other couples, but I loved that it wasn’t all about us. I think a lot of New Yorkers understand a City Hall wedding to be a way to commemorate your relationship with the city.”
“Marlowe has big energy, and I mean that in the best way. Our friends Jessica and Bart served as our witnesses and Marlowe-wrangler.”
“I really wanted to wear vintage, so I was thrilled to find this ’60s, Jackie O.-style dress. ”
“I met my friend Jessica through work. Years ago, when I said moving to New York was a big dream of mine, she said, ‘Come crash on my couch for two months!’ After Marlowe was born, Jessica and her husband Bart were a huge support system. They’re friends who feel like family. After the ceremony, the four of us went out for dinner and dancing.”
“I definitely reject the idea that life has to follow a certain schedule. A friend of mine was engaged, and she wanted a baby so badly, but the wedding kept getting postponed because of the pandemic. She told me we inspired her to throw the rule book out the window and not wait just so things would be in the ‘right’ order.”
Thank you so much for sharing your story with us, Sarah-Jane.
P.S. More weddings, including seven more City Hall weddings and how did you make your wedding feel true to you?
(Photos by Sylvie Rosokoff, except the photo booth ones, which came from Sarah-Jane.)
