When Aston Hansen moved to Lakeland from Radford, Virginia two years ago, she was looking for a new life. She came from “a little, small town” and having just ended a relationship with a man and come out as gay, she knew she wanted a fresh start.
“I decided to get up and move with my son and start a new life,” she says.
Her father’s family lived in Florida, so she had a support system here – and her mother’s side of her family, who live in Virginia, had difficulty accepting that she is gay. The move was a no-brainer for Aston, who was also drawn to the arts and culture of the Tampa Bay area.
She had only been here for a year when she matched on Tinder with her future wife, Carlie Reed Hansen, who grew up in the area.
Carlie didn’t intend to land in a serious relationship, though. She had also gone through a recent break-up and her ex still lived in her Brandon apartment with her at the time.
She’d dated a bit since that relationship ended, but nobody she thought was right for her. By the time she met Aston, she had decided to focus on herself and her career.
“I’d had enough,” Carlie says. “I just wanted to focus on myself and my own stuff. I’m really career oriented.”
When she saw on the app that Aston had a young son, she also initially hesitated because she hadn’t spent much time with kids.
“I was like, ‘I don’t know about all this.’” she recalls. “But something about her interested me so I agreed to meet. I thought, ‘I’m just getting to know her. It’s not like I’m here to get married. Ha, ha.’”
They had their first date Aug. 19, 2019 at the Westfield Brandon mall. It was perfect for Carlie, who studied fashion design.
“If you want to know about me, take me shopping,” she says.
Aston was quiet throughout the date, Carlie remembers. “She didn’t say much. I wasn’t even sure if she liked me. Eventually, I learned that’s just Aston.”
When they got back to the car, Aston asked for a second date. “I was definitely trying to play it cool,” she says. “I was very nervous. I’m a very shy person.” She was drawn to Carlie’s outgoing personality right away, though.
“She’s funny, hilarious, cute as all get out and she’ll definitely put a smile on your face,” Aston says.
Meanwhile, Carlie felt heard for the first time. “I liked that Aston listened – really listened,” she says. “She’s also mysterious and really unique.”
The two were complete opposites, Carlie adds, but they made sense. “I’m bubbly and in your face, but Aston is so quiet,” she says.
Aston proposed a little over a month later while they were visiting her father’s home in Davenport. The two love Halloween, so she decorated the back porch with black roses and garland and popped the question as her family looked on.
They’d talked about getting married, though Carlie didn’t expect the proposal to come so soon. “But the minute I figured out what was going on, I knew what my answer would be,” she says.
Still, she laughs at how quickly their relationship moved when she wasn’t even looking for something serious at first. “It was like, ‘Great, we’re those U-Haul lesbians getting engaged after a
month,’” she muses. She’d also had a failed marriage and other relationships that didn’t work. “I was super skeptical.”
She adds, “But when you meet the right one, you’ll know when you know.”
Carlie even immediately cliqued with Aston’s now 3-year-old son, who spends summer and winter breaks with them. “He’s really cute and so sweet,” Carlie says. “The first time I met him, he ran up to me and said, ‘You play with me?’ It was love at first sight.”
Aston moved into Carlie’s Brandon home not long after the proposal. Their wedding planning was thrown off track when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March, though.
“We weren’t sure what we were going to do,” Carlie says. “We couldn’t go to the courthouse to get married. We just wanted to be married so bad.”
Then, the couple spent the 4th July at the Lakeside Inn in Mount Dora and “fell in love with the place,” she says. They inquired about rates for holding a small wedding for about 15 people at the inn and pulled it together in two weeks, marrying July 25.
“We did it all ourselves, decorated ourselves, and it was phenomenal,” Carlie recalls. “Everything just came together.”
Engagement Date: Sept. 25, 2019
Wedding Date: July 25, 2020
Wedding Venue: Lakeside Inn in Mount Dora
Wedding Theme: Red and black
Officiant: Jessenia Caballero, Carlie’s cousin
Wedding Song: “In Love With You” by Domo Wilson
Catering: Lakeside Inn
Wedding Cake: Lakeside Inn
Photographer: Tyra Adkins
