- December 27, 2024
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Sometimes love is right in front of us — even if we don’t want anyone to know at first.
Ashley Levine and J.P. Clayton met while working at FOX Sports in Fort Lauderdale in April 2012. Young staffers at the station tried to get the two to date, but little did they know that the couple was secretly dating for about a year before any of them found out.
The two love exploring town on their bikes, so it was only fitting that J.P. used their beloved activity to propose. On Dec. 12, 2015, the couple started the day with brunch at Mattison’s, walked around the downtown farmers market and hung out at Bayfront Park before biking to South Lido Beach. J.P. proposed as the sun set on the beach, and they celebrated with dinner at CasAntica.
Ashley grew up spending summers in the Carolinas, where her parents, Ron and Kim Levine, own a summer camp in Asheville, N.C.
She always dreamed of getting married at the Biltmore Estate, and a J.P. soon fell in love with it, too.
The two decided to wed in Asheville, halfway between Ashley’s family in New Jersey and J.P.’s in Florida.
The ceremony was held at Lioncrest on Biltmore Estate on a beautiful fall evening. J.P. chose his brother, Andrew Clayton, to be his best man, and Ashley chose her sister, Kelley Levine, as her maid of honor. Making the day even more special, J.P.’s grandfather John Conte married the pair.
Ashley was nervous walking down the aisle, but when her veil got caught in the floor, the sympathetic laughter of family and friends helped her relax.
J.P.’s favorite moment was at the end of the day, after everyone had left the reception hall.
“Ashley and I stayed behind and asked the DJ to play one last song for us to dance to together,” he says.
Ashley recalls a special sign their marriage was meant to be when asked what her favorite moment of the day was.
“Reading our vows after our first look and looking down to see tons of lady bugs had landed on my dress since they are a sign of good luck,” she says.