Sept. 26, 2008
Photography by Dan Hixson Photography
by Briana Stewart

When David Larsen first met Orem’s Ashleigh Smith, he wasn’t about to let her get away.

“He stepped on my foot, and he wouldn’t get off,” Ashleigh laughs. “I think he thought it was a chair.”

The chance encounter was unforgettable, but in this “boy meets girl” scenario, David (ironically) didn’t have a leg to stand on.

“He was cute, but he was two years younger than I am,” she says. “And I thought, ‘No way.’”

Two years later, Ashleigh and David serendipitously reunited in an LDS ward. And when David asked her out, Ashleigh found herself saying, “Yes way.”

“I absolutely fell in love with him,” she says. “And away it went.”

The whirlwind romance led to a whirlwind engagement. Ashleigh flew to California to visit David, who was working there for the summer, and the weekend was full of one surprise after another — romantic dinners, “Wicked” tickets, a Dodgers game and finally, a beautiful, dreamy boat waiting for her on the docks of Newport Beach. “I knew in that instant he was going to propose,” Ashleigh says. “There were flowers, music and ‘fake bubbly.’ It was a perfect moment.”

That perfect moment led to perfect planning. Ashleigh and her mom, Gloria, tag-teamed the wedding details. “My mom and I were buds during the whole thing. We had the most fun imaginable,” Ashleigh says. “I was never stressed. It was pure enjoyment.”

And her wedding day — despite waking up at 4:30 a.m. — carried that same gleeful feel.

“It was the most peaceful, perfect day,” she says. “I didn’t want it to end.”

Vendor list

DRESS
Bridal Expressions

CATERING
Culinary Crafts

RINGS
Goldsmith Jewelers

BRIDALS
TAKEN AT
Thanksgiving Point and the Salt Flats

VIDEOGRAPHER
David Perry Films

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