Thomas Breen photo
Michelle Johnson, with hubby Hausladen: "I only eat cookie-dough. Doug goes rogue, but often gets coffee-Oreo."
Friday morning at 280 York.
Doug Hausladen and Michelle Johnson showed up to Ashley’s on York Street Friday morning to enjoy a triple-decker ice cream cake — and to get married before 20 cheering friends and family members.
“Like Ashley’s, Doug is a New Haven institution,” officiant Bruce Ditman declared. “And like Ashley’s, Michelle is a treasure to all who know her.”
Hausladen, 43, is a former downtown alder-turned-city transportation chief-turned-New Haven parking authority director. Johnson, 31, is an assistant director of first-year experience at UConn. The two live on Olive Street in Wooster Square, and went on their first date — at the Pequonnock Yacht Club in City Point — on July 12, 2019.
Why tie the knot at the downtown ice cream shop?
Ashley’s was “our savior during the pandemic,” Hausladen said.
“We ate a lot of ice cream,” Johnson agreed.
Their go-to flavors?
“I only eat cookie-dough,” Johnson said with a smile. “Doug goes rogue, but often gets coffee-Oreo.”
Fittingly enough, the triple-decker ice cream cake that Ashley’s manager Mike Kochis prepared for the special occasion consisted of coffee, Oreo, cookie dough, and vanilla.
Kochis described Hausladen as a longtime customer and friend, and noted that Ashley’s is a special place — and, often, a first-date spot — for many a happy New Haven couple. “It’s a community thing,” he said about opening the York Street store for the wedding.
Ashley’s opened half an hour early Friday for the brief ceremony. Friends and fam started arriving at around 11:30. Parking authority lawyer Joe Rini handed the couple a $100 Ashley’s gift card. Yale PhD candidate Joshua Aiken served as ring-bearer. Local filmmaker Ryan Licwinko snapped pictures as the ceremony’s photographer. Siblings Mila and Samson Ditman brightened the room with bouquets of flowers.
Bruce Ditman, who got ordained through the online American Marriage Ministries for the occasion, said he was honored to be “volun-told” by his dear friends that he would be presiding over their wedding.
At 11:40 a.m., the ceremony began.
“We’re here to celebrate Kentucky Colonel Douglas Hausladen and Dr. Michelle Johnson as they take their next step into marriage,” Dittman said. “We’re here to celebrate their joy, their friendship, the incredible growth that they’ve experienced, and the love that the share.”
Friday is the summer solstice, Ditman continued, the longest day of the year, “a triumph of light and love over darkness.” Packed into the York Street ice cream shop, he continued, “today will be a sweet day for all of us.”
Ditman read an excerpt from a 2003 Massachusetts state Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage — “Marriage is a vital social institution. The exclusive commitment of two individuals to each other nurtures love and mutual support; it brings stability to our society.” Then he invited the couple to exchange rings, commit to love and honor and cherish each other through sickness and health, and forever pledge their devotion to one another.
“I do pronounce you partners in life,” he concluded as the crowd erupted in applause. “You may kiss.”
“Yay, we did it!” Hausladen said, his hands aloft. He thanked everyone for joining them on “such an impromptu occasion of augustness,” and laid out plans to eat dessert before lunch, “just like my fan Joe Biden.”
Those with bouquets of flowers in their hands raised them up high, and the crowd cheered again.
“That’s it,” Hausladen said. “Let’s eat some ice cream.”
Scenes from an Ashley's wedding.
