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In a full circle moment, country music star Kassi Ashton wed her longtime love in the same city where they first met and got engaged.
The singer-songwriter, 31, married Travis Myatt, 36, in an “old world”-themed wedding attended by 45 guests on April 19 at The Ernest Hemingway Home in Key West, Florida. The “relaxed but aesthetic” celebration followed a “moody” color palette, incorporating “antique silvers with organic textures like bone, shell, glass, and silk.”
“We wanted a small, intimate wedding centered around us and where we met,” Ashton exclusively tells PEOPLE. “We wanted a week with our best friends ending in a weekend with our immediate family in our favorite place on earth, where we could swim in romantic escapism and get out of our everyday routine. We wanted to put our loved ones in our world, in our head, and in our love story.”
Kt Crabb Photography
The celebration began the night before the wedding with a welcome party on a catamaran that sailed around the island at sunset.
The next evening, Ashton and Myatt read aloud handwritten vows from antique books and exchanged Giador Fine Jewelry custom-designed rings from antique Godinger silver trinket boxes as they stood on two mirroring Turkish tapestry rugs. The rings were first passed around the guests, who spoke “prayers, words of wisdom, love, and wishes into the rings” while sitting in a Fibonacci sequence-inspired arrangement.
“While the harpist and cellist played ‘The Rain Song’ by Led Zeppelin and the rings were passed forward, it also meant we had a moment alone, without the attention on us. We were able to soak in the moment and speak with one another,” Ashton remembers. “It was one of the best choices for the ceremony that we made.”
Kt Crabb Photography
Other music played during the wedding included “Sea Murmurs,” “Song of the Black Swan,” “Stairway to Heaven,” “Black Hole Sun,” “Le carnaval des animaux, R. 125: XIII,” and “If The Sun Never Rises Again.”
The ceremony — which Ashton describes as “esoteric, meaningful, and official in a way that felt natural” — was officiated by songwriter Barry Dean.
At the celebration, the bride and groom wore jewelry from a Key West shipwreck. For their attire, Myatt opted for a ivory suit from Eric Adler Clothing that was “loose, cool, and authentically” him. Meanwhile, Ashton wore a two-part corseted gown she designed and made herself.
“I was inspired by antique ballet and theater costumes (I was a ballerina and theater kid my entire life), oceanic fantasy editorials, and deconstructed runway looks from one of my favorite designers, Alexander McQueen,” shares Ashton, who also made her bridesmaids’ dresses.
Kt Crabb Photography
At the reception, guests dined on spinach salad, fresh bread with honey cinnamon whipped butter, Caribbean mahi mahi, chimichurri steak, rosemary roasted potatoes, grilled vegetables and late-night Cuban buchi shots. Atop antique silver stands sat five desserts from the bride and groom’s favorite bakery on the island, Moondog Cafe & Bakery, all decorated at the baker’s discretion: key lime pie, basque cheesecake, mango cake, carrot cake, and bread pudding cheesecake.
“We wanted it to truly feel like a family dinner at home, so we had family-style dining,” Ashton says. “I wanted bowls and plates and bottles passed around to initiate conversation and warmth.”
Everyone danced to “house remixes of classic rock songs” DJed by Ashton’s sister-in-law, Spinn Robertson. A 26-foot-wide, 12-foot-tall medieval tent was above the DJ booth alongside 13 tasseled lanterns, both of which were created by the “Sounds Like Something I’d Say” singer.
A 17th century alchemical symbol known as “The Wedding” was prevalent throughout the event and is now tattooed on the newlyweds.
Kt Crabb Photography
The festivities concluded with a “come-as-you-wish after-party” at the couple’s favorite karaoke bar on the island, Bobby’s Monkey Bar, and a brunch the next morning.
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Ashton and Myatt got engaged in Key West on March 13, 2022, after five years of dating. They first crossed paths at the Key West Songwriting Festival in 2017 after a mutual friend introduced them.
Kt Crabb Photography
“I had just signed my first publishing deal and he worked as a publisher at another company. I needed someone to walk me to my scooter a few blocks away from the bar late at night, which led to him driving us to the pier he later proposed on,” Ashton remembers, adding that after Myatt popped the question with “an entire three page speech” they were surprised with family who “jumped out from the shadows screaming and crying.”
The duo plan to continue “moving and growing in parallel lines.”
“Chasing our dreams and who we are as people,” Ashton says.
Additional Credits:
Wedding Planner: Abby Gallagher of Blue Orchid Wedding Planning
Florist: Monika Duarte of Duarte Floral Design
Videographer: Kye Jouwstra of Forest Bound Films
Rentals: Eventfully Yours Event Rentals, Pialisa
Food: Vianca “Mookie” Lay of Catered Affairs of Key West, LoveGrub Grazes
Musicians: Melody Stein, Martin Sedlak
