After teaching in Italy and the Dominican Republic, and working in Rwanda on a Fulbright, the Buffalo, New York, native was living in Brazil, teaching English at the American School of Recife. The term was ending; was it time to move on?
On the recommendation of a friend, Ashley, 28 at the time, met with an Ayurvedic psychic. He talked about her work — and foretold that “I wouldn’t meet the man I would marry until I’m 31,” she says. Ashley didn’t think much of it — “I was just looking for career advice.”
The prediction was soon forgotten, the recording of the session filed away, as she built her life in Brazil, learning Portuguese and eventually obtaining her residency. She took up jiu-jitsu and salsa — “Rwanda showed me that with dance you don’t really need to speak the language,” she says — and grew her community.
“I was expecting to live there, buy a house and settle down,” says Ashley. “I had so many exciting and inspiring parts of my life.”
There was one exception, though: “I was dating over there, but it always felt like I had to compromise on what I was looking for in a partner,” she says.
When COVID halted in-person schooling, she took an online tutoring position. For the next few years, she worked remotely, splitting her time between the States and Brazil.
In January 2023, she visited a friend in Boston. They went out for burgers, then to Havana Club in Cambridge for salsa and bachata. There, Ashley noticed Aref Shahini, then 33, from across the room.
Soon, they were dancing and chatting. “He mentioned how he had moved from Buffalo — and I stopped mid-spin,” says Ashley, 31 at the time. “It was a huge connection for us.”
Some of the bride’s favorite moments of the day were dancing with her groom. It’s a hobby they both pursued separately for years. “Dancing with Aref is how we met,” Ashley says. “Our first dance as a married couple just felt really special.”Priscila Camâra
Aref, who is from Iran, had finished a graduate degree at the University of Buffalo before coming to Boston for his postdoc at Harvard Medical School.
“Our attraction was pretty strong from the beginning,” says Aref, who had started work as a pharmacology scientist in Cambridge. “She has the charisma that just draws people in.”
He offered to show Ashley around Boston the next day. They met at the New England Aquarium, where they shared their first kiss in front of the penguins. That night, they went to Lucky Strike in Assembly Row, for arcade games and drinks. Then the next day, the two met at a bar to watch a Buffalo Bills game. And they kept seeing each other.
When Ashley went back to Buffalo a week later, she and Aref FaceTimed every night. After two weeks, he flew to see her. Aref got to know her family, and introduced her to his “American parents,” neighbors he’d met when he moved to the country and had grown close with. “It felt very natural, very genuine,” she says. But Ashley had stayed in the States for almost two months, and needed to go home.
The bride did a dress change before dancing with her groom. They chose Beyonce’s “Halo,” because “it had a nice rhythm to it,” Aref says. “We could dance zuk to it.” Her instructions for Aref: “Dip me at these certain beats.” He also lifted her in the air. Priscila Camâra
“I didn’t want to rush back to Brazil if I could possibly lose him,” she says.
Says Aref: “I had the feeling I found the right person.” He flew to Brazil to visit within weeks. “It was magical,” Ashley says.
But Aref had to get back to his job in drug development in Kendall Square. Over the phone from his Somerville apartment, he asked Ashley to live with him. “I didn’t have a doubt that us moving in together was going to work,” says Aref, who was already falling in love.
Ashley moved in June 2023. “The way he took care of me and was concerned about me that first year showed me that he’s a really great partner,” she says.
The couple continued to go salsa dancing, went biking and rollerblading, and spent time at the beach. Ashley got a job as an English teacher and decided to pursue a PhD in urban education policy at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
In 2024, Aref’s parents visited from Iran. Despite the language barrier, Ashley made an instant connection. “I’ve picked up on how to read body language and how to communicate without using words,” she says. Adds Aref: “She fits very well within our family dynamic.”
The couple knew they wanted their Siberians, Mishka and Mila, at their legal ceremony at Boston City Hall. “The cats definitely got all the attention,” the bride says. “Mila was wearing white, but I didn’t mind it.”
Submitted Photo
The couple adopted Siberian cats, Mishka and Mila. They’re often seen walking them in a stroller near the Revere Beach condo where they now live.
On a trip to Panama City for Christmas 2025/New Year’s 2026, Aref asked Ashley to be his wife.
“We knew we wanted to get married right away, and then have a baby — hope for a baby — right away,” she says. But the war with Iran broke out soon after, and they paused their plans. When it became clear there would be no quick political resolution, they made the difficult decision to go forward with the celebration — without Aref’s parents in attendance.
The bride made table numbers and a welcome sign in faux stained glass, and took a class to learn how to make an elaborate guest book comprising 120 puzzle pieces; guests wrote suggested dates on the back of each piece, so they have 10 years’ worth of personalized ideas. Ashley hopes to make a business out of creating the puzzles for other brides. Priscila Camâra
Their beloved pets came along — their stroller decked out for the occasion — when the couple wed at Boston City Hall on July 16 — a fitting date, Ashley says, because the area code for Buffalo is 716.
On July 25, the couple hosted a second ceremony, this time with a reception, for 100 guests, at a restaurant in Buffalo. Ashley incorporated Persian elements in honor of Aref’s parents.
They did their first look at the house where Aref’s American family lives, in their backyard gazebo. They hung a mirror inside — the same one that hangs in their bedroom today — for a sentimental touch: In Persian culture, when the groom sees his bride for the first time, he sees her reflection in a mirror, Ashley says.
The couple took their photos in the backyard of Aref’s “American parents” in Buffalo. They had wanted to have their ceremony there, but, to ease the flow of the day, opted for just first looks photos there instead. Priscila Camâra
The bride sprinkled in elements of the sofreh aghd, a customary Persian table filled with symbolic objects meant to guide the couple in their life together. In the centerpieces, Ashley used candles “to represent light, warmth, and the guidance we hope to bring one another.” In place of the more traditional Quran, she created poetry cards, in Portuguese, Farsi, and English.
Their ceremony included a honey exchange: The bride and the groom dipped their pinkies in honey — held in a beautiful ceramic cup Aref’s parents had brought over from Iran — and fed it to each other at the altar, to “symbolize bringing sweetness to each other,” Ashley says.
For the bride, a favorite part of the day was the first dance with her groom, to Beyonce’s “Halo.” When the couple was first dating, Aref, who plays guitar, would often record audio messages of that song and others to send to Ashley.
During the ceremony, the couple took part in a honey exchange. “I’m not a religious or traditional person,” Aref says. “So to me, I mean, it didn’t matter. But to Ashley, it mattered.”
Priscila Camâra
In the midst of wedding preparations, Ashley found the recording of the psychic. “He had mentioned that my life would drastically change on January 14th, 2023. And that gave me chills because when I looked back at the calendar, that was the night Aref and I met.”
“It really does feel almost like a fairy tale story,” she says. “He came at the perfect point in my life.”
Read more from The Big Day, The Boston Globe’s weddings column. Recently married or engaged? Apply to have your wedding featured.
Carrie Simonelli is a multiplatform editor at The Boston Globe. Reach her at carrie.simonelli@globe.com or on Instagram: @csimonelliedits.