The couple tells PEOPLE they aimed for a casual vibe on their special day, which included acoustic music and food trucks serving chicken wings and ice cream

NEED TO KNOW

• TikTok-famous “sorority chef” Kevin Ashton married Katie Coombs on July 4 at Las Cascadas in Reno, Nev.
• The couple tells PEOPLE they aimed for a “relaxed vibe” on their special day, which included acoustic music and food trucks serving chicken wings and ice cream
• Ashton and Coombs began dating after connecting on Facebook in late 2024 and got engaged in January 2026

Kevin Ashton is married!

The chef and TikTok star — known for sharing videos of himself whipping up tempting meals for the Pi Beta Phi chapter at the University of Nevada, Reno — tied the knot with Katie Coombs on Saturday, July 4, at Las Cascadas in Reno. They were joined by 140 guests for the occasion.

The couple tells PEOPLE they were aiming for a "relaxed vibe" for their big day. They chose their "hidden gem" venue, a gated garden property featuring waterfalls, fountains and lush flora, because they wanted to be outside in nature and curate their own food and drink selections.

"We wanted a relaxed and fun event to celebrate finding love later in life," Coombs, 53, says. "It was so much fun to plan this and not at all stressful. We both wanted all the same things, and that makes it easy."

One detail they were both set on was having food trucks. Slater's Ding-a-Wing served up the dinner, which included a variety of chicken wings and tenders, shrimp, tater tots, fries, onion rings and salad.

"We joke that we wanted handi-wipes at our wedding, and so chicken wings had to be on the menu!" Ashton says.

For dessert, Handel's made ice cream sundaes for guests "all night long."

When it came to their color scheme, the couple leaned into Ashton's unique sense of style. "Kevin chose a fun and eclectic shirt that has blues and purples, so that became the colors for the wedding," Coombs explains.

The bride and groom, who have both been married twice before, had their kids walk them down the aisle during the ceremony, which was officiated by Coombs' childhood friend and local news anchor Kim Burrows. Ashton, 55, was accompanied by his two daughters, and Coombs was escorted by her two sons, two daughters and daughter-in-law.

"My stepdad, who is almost 91, handed me off to Kevin after we got down the aisle," Coombs tells PEOPLE.  "It was a special moment, as he was very ill last summer, and we were really blessed that he could be there."

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They flew in an acoustic guitar musician, Jared Fisher, to play the "special" songs they chose for their walk to the altar — the Grateful Dead's "If I Had the World to Give" for Ashton and Alex's Warren's "Ordinary" for Coombs. As a surprise to Ashton, Coombs also arranged for Fisher to perform Chicago's "Saturday in the Park," which fittingly features the lyric, "I think it was the Fourth of July."

Coombs chose a dress from Dillard's that she had completely redone. "Nothing too fancy," she says of her vision for her bridal look. "We liked to think of the event as casually elegant."

The couple wrote their own vows, which included words of appreciation for their children for all of their love and support.

The bride and groom shared their first dance as husband and wife to Bailey Rushlow's rendition of "Killing Me Softly with His Song." The night included a festive Fourth of July fireworks display.

Ashton and Coombs' love story began on Christmas Eve in 2024, when the chef posted a life update on Facebook that Coombs says she "really related to." They knew a lot of the same people in Reno, and they even attended high school together for a year in 1986, but they had never officially met at that point.

Still, Coombs had followed Ashton on his social media for a long time and saw that they both "had some serious health problems." When he shared his Christmas Eve post, Coombs felt compelled to message him to tell him "how similar [their] battles had been."

"I sent him a message on Facebook, and the rest is history," Coombs recalls.

Ashton was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic melanoma in September 2023 and began immunotherapy treatment. He was declared cancer-free in April 2025 and has remained in full remission since, according to a recent health update he shared on YouTube.

Coombs says neither she nor Ashton was looking for a serious relationship at the time, but "it couldn't be stopped."

"I think we both knew from the first coffee date that there was a chance we would end up married," she says. "Kevin likes to say I am the Travis Kelce in our relationship since I made that first effort to meet."

Shortly after moving in together in Reno in January 2026, they got engaged during a trip to Northstar in California. When Ashton pulled out a ring and got down on one knee, Coombs was "utterly shocked and couldn't get words out."

"He had told no one about his plan, and I love that I had no idea. It made it the most special moment of my life," she says. "We told the kids and a few close friends that night, and their excitement is something I will never forget."

Now that the two are married, they are looking forward to continuing to build their life together.

"We both feel we have finally met the person we can grow old with and just be ourselves," Coombs says. "There is so much respect and peace in our home, and we both value that peace more than anything. It's crazy how two people who seem so different can be such an amazing match."

She adds, "We are both excited to support our children and continue to show them what love really can be. We are excited to travel and live fully, as we both have chronic health issues that we won't let get in the way. We have two rescue cats and will continue to foster and rescue cats. We are both cat people, which is awesome. I tell him this is what makes him the Taylor Swift in the relationship!"

In September, they are planning to take a cruise in the Caribbean to celebrate both their honeymoon and Ashton's parents' 60th wedding anniversary.

Additional Credits:
Wedding planner: Annelise Brown
DJ: Justin Credible
Rehearsal dinner food: R Town Pizza

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