It’s been almost a month since Adrian Peterson was seen with his new wife, Ashley Peterson, at the Starkey Foundation Gala, but details are finally emerging about the 2012 NFL MVP’s wedding.
Honored to have newlyweds @AdrianPeterson & Ashley with us tonight for #starkeygala! Congratulations to you both! pic.twitter.com/OcVjuYF8Cy
— Starkey Hearing Foundation (@starkeyfnd) July 21, 2014
The newlyweds met in college at the University of Oklahoma. According to Ben Goessling of ESPN.com, the two dated on and off for a while, but their relationship grew stronger with the birth of Adrian Jr. in 2011. Ashley decided to end her modeling career in Los Angeles and move to Minnesota to have their family be together.
The proposal took place on the Fourth of July at Ashley’s father’s 50th birthday party in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Adrian got down on one knee in front of some of Ashley’s closest family members.
“He definitely sounded nervous,” Ashley said. “It was so cute, so sweet, really so perfect. I’m really close to my parents and my brother, and everyone got to be there. To be there with all my family that night, it was wonderful to celebrate that.”
Adrian was beyond thorough in his search for the perfect ring. The Vikings running back spent six months looking for the Ashley’s engagement ring. He even sent one back because the diamonds were not a rich enough shade of yellow.
“I had been thinking about the proposal — there was so much stuff I could do,” Adrian said. “We could take a trip here, do this or do that, but with what I spent on the ring, I was like, ‘This right here, I can just close my eyes and [hold it out and] see what happens.'”
Adrian and Ashley got married just 15 days after the proposal, July 19, in front of about 30 or 40 people at their home. The couple had planned to tie the knot in a courthouse before Vikings training camp began, but Ashley wanted to have her father giver her away at their wedding.
Calvin Simmons, the man who officiated the wedding, said he was very impressed with the ceremony.
“Boy, was it beautiful,” Simmons said. “You would have thought, ‘I’ve seen people plan a wedding 18 months out, and it didn’t look that good.’ Him and his wife, they looked fantastic, and I think it was time.”
Simmons had previously worked with the couple through pre-marital counseling, compared the couple to an inseparable sandwich combination.
“You ever seen what it looked like when peanut butter met jelly?” Simmons said. “That’s what those two are. They balance each other out. They’re a beautiful couple.”
