By Mia Watkins | For The Birmingham Times
Ashley & Michael Sutton
Live: East Birmingham area
Married: August 14, 2014
Met: A year can change your life, and the Suttons are proof.
“We met, dated and got engaged in one year,” said Ashley Sutton.
Ashley and Michael met online while she was living in Dublin, Ireland, and he was living in North Carolina.
“He said that he remembers friending me on Facebook,” she said. “I don’t know when we became friends, but I do know that I used to see his statuses on my timeline. One day, I saw one of his statuses, and it was really good. He was talking about relationships and things like that. I messaged him, and said, ‘Hey, I just want you to know that I really enjoy your Facebook statuses, they encourage me a lot, keep it up.’ He said, “Oh, thank you so much. I appreciate it, sis.’ So, I guess he thought I was trying to…I don’t know what he thought.”
About two months later, Michael messaged Ashley again.
“He said, ‘Hey, I see you’re living in Ireland, and you travel a bit,’” she recalled. ‘I see you went to school also for communications and the arts. I’m also in the arts.’ Then, we started talking from there back and forth.”
Michael said a month later, the MTV show “Catfish” spurred him to connect on video with Ashley:
“I said I am not going to get catfished, so I set up a time for us on Skype, just so we could see each other on video. We Skyped and we saw each other, and I said, “Oh shoot, this woman is fine.’ We just kept talking, and several months went by.”
First date: The Suttons’ first date was truly a family affair. Ashley and her parents were coming back to the States to visit family in New Orleans. She and Michael decided to meet.
“We were just going back and forth about where we wanted our first date to be, so we decided to go to Washington, D.C.,” she said. “That’s where he met me. He also met my parents for the first time because I was like, ‘Oh, I don’t know who this guy is. I know we’d been talking for like six months. I know I really like him, and he really likes me, but this is our first time ever seeing each other in person.’ Up until that moment, we were just FaceTiming, Skyping, writing emails, and sending voice notes.”
“We decided to go from a Thursday to a Sunday,” she continued. “We went on our first date at an Indian restaurant. We went to Six Flags. I was leaving that Sunday, and that’s when he invited me out to meet his family that summer.”
Michael was immediately attracted to Ashley.
“I remember her walking off the elevator, and I remember what she had on,” he recalled. “She had long braids down to her hip, almost. She had on this yellowish dress. She was looking good. I said, ‘This woman is looking fine, OK, OK, OK.’ We greeted each other, and then I met her parents. They were just warm and sweet, lovely people, as they are to this day. We hung out for a few days, went and got great food, and got a feel for each other. When you meet somebody in person, it’s different from just talking online or over the phone.”
It was love at first sight for Ashley.
“I feel like I knew when I saw him for the first time. I thought, ‘Oh yeah, this is my husband,” she said.
The turn: Michael knew that Ashley was the one for him when she came to visit in North Carolina.
“I knew at that point, because not long after, I went to my father and said, ‘Hey, Dad, this is the woman I want to marry.’ I think me meeting her family and her meeting my family was an important piece of the puzzle for me.”
The North Carolina meeting wasn’t all a joyous occasion, however. It coincided with a family funeral for Michael’s great-uncle.
“I met everyone,” she said. “His mom, dad and siblings.”
“I am one of 11,” Michael explained. “I’m number 10. So, you can imagine that I have a ton of nieces, nephews, and cousins. She met quite a few people.”
Ashley said she loved his family from the start.
“What I loved most about his family is that they’re very family-oriented and very close,” she said. ‘You could tell that they laugh a lot. They joked a lot. I thought, “OK, he comes from a good family, not a perfect family, but a good family with a lot of laughter and great memories… I can envision myself being a part of this family.’”
The proposal: Michael proposed in Paris, matching the couple’s international romance.
“We planned a trip for me to go to Ireland,” he said. “At that time, I knew I was flying out to propose. However, she got an invitation to go to Benin, Africa, and she had a layover in Paris. We thought about whether we needed to reschedule the trip. It was a great opportunity for her to go to Africa. But decided, ‘No, I’ll still come to Dublin, and we’ll just hang out when she gets back.’”
The pivot in the trip was actually divine timing, according to Michael.
“That gave me two days to spend with her parents alone, which was perfect because that gave me the opportunity to ask her parents for their daughter’s hand in marriage,” he said. “I’ll never forget it. We were just kind of hanging around at their house in Dublin, and I called her parents down to the living room and said, ‘I want to talk to y’all about something.’ Of course, they probably knew what was coming. That’s when I told them that I loved their daughter and I wanted to propose to her. They gave me their blessing. Mind you, this is only like my second time meeting them in person, so you can imagine what’s going through their minds. They said, ‘if you love her and take care of her, you have our blessing.’ I said to myself that I cannot come this close to Paris knowing that I’m going to propose to her and not meet her at her layover in Paris.”
He flew from Ireland to Paris, and she said yes.
“We got engaged at one of the bridges where couples put locks on the bridge and throw the key in the water to symbolize their commitment,” he said. “I proposed, we put the lock on the bridge and threw the key in the water.”
The wedding: The two chose to marry in Atlanta, the halfway point between their families. They exchanged vows in an intimate wedding at an old courthouse, attended by 75 people. Michael’s sister, a wedding planner, organized and designed the event. Their colors were orange and fuchsia — a fun play on the summertime occasion.
“We didn’t want anything big, we just wanted it to be intimate,” Ashley said. “It’s not like we went to school together or we met in high school. Everything was just bringing families and friends together. We had a maid of honor, who was my niece, and a best man, his brother.”
George Stewart, the couple’s mentor, served as the co-officiant, along with Michael’s father. The wedding was ultimately featured in “Essence” magazine.
“Even to this day, people tell me that it was such a beautiful, warm day. That they could feel God in the atmosphere,” Ashley said. “We did a foot washing ceremony, symbolic of always serving each other.”
Michael said the foot washing was the most memorable moment for him.
“Marriage is an exercise in service,” he said. “Up until marriage, you’re single. Not in a bad way, but I think that washing of the feet symbolizes that this is going to be a lifetime act of service to one another.”
Ashley remembers the unification of the families.
“That was my parents’ first time meeting his parents, because our relationship was mainly long-distance and up until our engagement, we’d only seen each other two times,” she said. “[Our families] didn’t know each other, but they trusted the love that we shared.”
The honeymoon: They took a trip to San Diego because of Michael’s love of the water. Michael’s youngest brother paid for their flights. They explored and ate good food.
“We just kind of hung out and just enjoyed each other,” Michael said.
Words of Wisdom: Michael emphasizes being patient with yourself and your partner.
“You can look at other, longer relationships and think that’s where you’re supposed to be your first day of marriage, and that’s not the case,” he said.
Ashley said Michael taught her to fight fair.
“Getting into disagreements is inevitable,” she said. “You’re two different people growing as one. Becoming one is always just that — becoming. You are not on opposing teams; you are on the same team. You’re not enemies.”
Happily ever after: Michael is a pharmaceutical rep and is a worship leader, actor and musician. Ashley owns a strategic communications consulting firm. She’s also a women’s ministry leader. They are raising their 7-year-old daughter, Artist Joy, and attend The Becoming Church in Madison, Alabama.
“You Had Me at Hello’’ highlights married couples and the love that binds them. If you would like to be considered for a future “Hello’’ column or know someone, please send nominations to editor@birminghamtimes.com. Include the couple’s name, contact number(s), and what makes their love story unique.
