ROOTED IN
Storytelling
46 DECEMBER 2 0 1 9 INTERIOR DESIGN
BY YELENA DZHANOVA
Ashley Banks and Ryan Donovan’s wedding
about 2 1/2 years ago revolved around a
storytelling theme. And while the wedding was a
one-day affair, the theme has persisted and has
moved into their home with them.
Their Astoria apartment is full of
wedding relics — and like the
wedding itself, there’s nothing
traditional about them. Their
wedding, Banks told me, was
anything but ordinary.
“We didn't get married in any
religious tradition but wanted a ceremony
that meant something,” she said.
A spare bedroom that was transformed
into a craft room houses convincing animal
masks on its walls. There’s a poodle, a llama
and a zebra on the room’s walls engaging
in a staring contest with one another, and a
pigeon on a bedside table silently judging.
Banks and Donovan, who got married in
the Metropolitan Building in Long Island
City, put the animal masks near the photo
booth to use as props.
“At some point during the wedding, a
group of five friends came out all wearing
them. We had an animal dance on the
dance floor,” Banks said. They brought out
the masks again on their one-year anniversary
for a celebration in their backyard.
Next to the pigeon sits an atlas with photo
strips featuring friends and family members
wearing the animal masks.