- Before Ashley Gardner and her husband, Matthew, got married, Ashley watched the movie The Five-Year Engagement
- Ashley fell in love with the idea of documenting their relationship journey through photos and suggested they recreate a photo similar to the movie’s cover at the end of their wedding day
- But Matthew had an even better thought. He suggested that the couple recreate a photo of themselves eating cake every year on their anniversary, incorporating their growing family over time
- Now, 11 years and four children later, Ashley and Matthew, both 40, haven’t looked back
Before Ashley Gardner and her husband, Matthew, got married, Ashley watched the movie The Five-Year Engagement. She fell in love with the idea of documenting their relationship journey through photos and suggested that she and Matthew recreate a photo similar to the movie’s cover at the end of their wedding day.
While Matthew loved the idea, he had an even better thought: He suggested that the couple, who live in Ohio, recreate a photo of themselves eating cake every year on their anniversary, incorporating their growing family over time.
Now, 11 years and four children later, Ashley and Matthew, both 40, haven’t looked back.
“There have been years when getting babies and toddlers to cooperate was very challenging,” Ashley tells PEOPLE exclusively. “We just agreed that the chaos added to the authenticity of the photo.”
“We love going through all the photos every year! My kids know which year each child was in mom’s belly and when they were born,” she adds of her kids, who are ages 8, 7, 4 and 2. “It’s been a fun way to document our lives.”
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A few years ago, Ashley, a professional photographer, noticed that when she and Matthew, a forensic engineer, shared their photos on Facebook and Instagram, their friends and family were enthusiastic, especially about the cake photos. People would message her, saying they couldn’t wait to see the next year’s photo and asking if there would be any big “reveal” in it.
But while the couple had always shared the photos on their personal social media accounts, this year was the first time Ashley decided to post it on TikTok. She created a montage of all the photos the family has taken over the years and shared it.
Since then, the video has gone viral, amassing almost 1 million views and more than 2,000 comments.
“The OG picture, I love it!!!!,” one user commented.
“A house full of love 🥹 happy anniversary!” someone else wrote.
Another person said, “Ashley this is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen!!!”
“It was so fun watching everyone respond to the photos and seeing all the attention they were getting,” the mom says.
“The comments have been so fun and hilarious to read,” she adds. “Everyone has been so kind and funny. There was a slight confusion about the order of the images and some worry we lost pets, but aside from that, everyone has been so kind. My favorite comments are the ones where people can see the happiness and craziness of growing a family in the images.”
Ashley adds how she doesn’t have a favorite photo; each year tells its own story. However, the photo her family captured in 2021 is one she’ll definitely remember.
“My husband is wearing a hospital band, and I was due with my son,” she says. “My husband ended up in the hospital on Monday, and I had my son on Friday. We took the photo in between our two hospital visits! And our COVID photo always gets a laugh!”
“We plan to take this photo for as long as we can,” she continues. “Our older kids now get involved, and it’s something we all look forward to as a family. Plus, there’s cake!”
Ashley encourages others to document their lives as well, especially moms: “Get in the photos!”
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