See how other couples celebrated their big day with wedding stories and ideas from County Wedding Magazines' Real Weddings features.
While Katie and Corey worked together as teachers at the same school, they only really got to know each other while on a residential visit to Whirlow Hall Farm Trust. Together they took a group of 12 primary school children to learn about farming and the countryside. "It's often the first time these children have stayed away from home, so we get them involved in the cooking but Corey and I were left with the washing up!" Kate tells us. And that's where it all began.
It was love at first sight for Emily and Clay when they met at a restaurant in Dubai, and the rest is history! Clay very romantically proposed while Emily was ironing one day. "I kind of suspected it was going to happen," she says. "Well, I knew he was the kind of man I'd love to be with all of my days on earth, and I knew he loved me."
I'd love to say there's a wonderful, romantic love story about how we met," Hannah begins. "But it's probably how most start these days, on good old social media!" She met Kyle through Facebook in 2015: a friend request was sent and received, a few profile picture likes were exchanged, which in turn led to messaging and the rest is history.
Whitney and Shane met in a pub in Manchester. "My friend was travelling back to Greece for the summer and was hosting farewell drinks," says Whitney. "Shane was working there as a supervisor behind the bar. I went to order a pint and Shane had told me that there was a £5 minimum spend for card payments. I was taken aback as I didn't have cash on me, but Shane offered to put £5 through on the card and refund me the rest as cash. I took my pint, sat down at the table with my friends and couldn't stop saying how attractive he was, as I had always loved an Irish accent. My friend Beth kept urging me to go and speak to Shane, but I was far too shy, so she went up to the bar and told him I was interested. The next thing I know, Shane is following Beth back to the table. He told me that I was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. That night, I added him on Facebook and we began chatting. We organised several dates and had to keep cancelling them until finally, in November 2018, we had our first date at a restaurant, followed by Shane getting us lost around the Christmas markets."
Lucy and James met on an online dating site, and spent a few months chatting being open and honest with each other. "James liked my eyes and dimples, while I loved his smile," shares Lucy. After a relationship blossomed, James surprised Lucy with a proposal on Christmas Days 2018. "He created a parcel with loads of layers, inside was a ring and then he asked me."
Rachael and Andrew were high school sweethearts. "We were friends for a little while and eventually got together when we were 15," says Rachael. "It was all very high school; a kiss at a house party, a mutual friend asking if I would say yes if he asked me to be his girlfriend!"
Gemma and Ben met on holiday in Cyprus six years ago where the pair hit it off. What started as a holiday romance, it took them both by surprise when a relationship blossomed on returning to England. "Ben proposed four years later on a return holiday to Cyprus, which was a complete surprise to me," shares Gemma. "It was at the same place we had met, which was where he'd been with his family on holiday from a young age, so it was a place special to him. We were away with friends and family who'd been with us from the start, which made the engagement celebrations even more special!"
Verity and Ed met for coffee and instantly hit off. "I thought Ed was very handsome with a lovely, warm personality," says Verity. "In the first month or so, we were only able to meet up on weekdays as Ed was working night shifts. When Ed had a day off in the week, he would make and bring lunch to my workplace."
Louise and Stephen met while out one evening after work in a wine bar in Fleet Street, London. "We quickly discovered a mutual love of good wine and good bread. Oh, and obviously attraction to each other!" shares Louise. "We met the following week, on three separate evenings. We spent the evenings, chatting, really listening to each other, laughing and getting to know each other. And there was an instant feeling for both of us, that this person gets me, and we both knew pretty quickly during those first few dates that our lives were going to look very different from how we had envisaged and that we would each have a starring role in each other's lives!"
Sarah and James met at a bar in 2015. "I'd decided to have a spontaneous drink with one of my good friends, Jess, after work," says Sarah. "It's fair to say that Jess had a few too many to drink by the time we met James. I was ordering drinks and when I turned around, I saw an overly sociable Jess had started chatting with James' friends. One of his friends pointed James out to me and asked if I was single. I'd sworn off men at that point and Jess was engaged, but we continued to chat and eventually I got talking to James. I could tell he was a very kind, interesting and intelligent soul and we got on well immediately."
Natarsha had just moved to London on a two-year working holiday visa from Australia and got a job working at the pub down the road from where she had started house-sharing with friends. Marcus was already working there as a bartender, and the pair became friends first before slowly falling in love. She says, "I was new to the City, trying to find my feet, and Marcus worked up the courage to ask me on a date after a few months. I was surprised as I had been so overwhelmed with the move with finding somewhere more permanent to live, finding freelance work, trying to wrap my head around the fact that I was living on the other side of the world, getting used to the everyday small things that make up life in London such as Oyster cards and what a Tesco was that I wasn't even thinking about dating
Jess and Sam met nine years ago via a dating app. "I moved to Oxford after meeting Sam and we started a long-distance relationship with him in Pembrokeshire and me in Oxford," says Jess. "I would get the train to Pembrokeshire after my night shifts and he would drive up every Friday night after work and drive back every Sunday. We travelled long distances for three years before Sam moved to Oxford."
These lovebirds met on Bumble, which felt like fate as they had matched before on Tinder – little did they know they'd become engaged in June 2021! When the government issued the roadmap back to normality after the Covid-19 pandemic, Joe told Adesola to save a date in her diary as his friends were coming to visit from Manchester for dinner. She says, "My family had a last-minute barbecue that I agreed to go to as I had completely forgotten! I ended up stopping by and rushing back to prepare for dinner. While I was getting ready, Joe told me to look outside the window. As I leaned in to look closer, I turned around to see him down on one knee and was so surprised – I couldn't stop staring at the ring! It turns out Joe had actually booked The London Edition for the weekend and a surprise dinner at Scott's, as I love seafood. It was even more special because Joe's not usually a planner!"
These lovebirds first met after Trish came into the restaurant Tom managed in the City of London and asked to use the toilet. She was on one of her work trips to London and had been on a run. Her hotel was at the top of the street, but she didn't think she'd be able to make it back in time! Tom comments, "I thought Trish was stunning as soon as I saw her. In a clumsy attempt at flirting, I jokingly told her the toilet was for customers only, so she bought a glass of wine and sat outside. It just so happened that one of the restaurant owners was in that night, and she got talking to Trish outside. Eventually, I managed to join them when the restaurant had slowed down at the end of the night, to see they had joined tables and seemed like old friends. Trish was clever, funny and interesting
Julianne and Shaun met on a dating website. "After talking for a week or two, we arranged our first date," says Julianne. "We played bowling and had dinner, and Shaun still mocks my poor bowling performance to this day!"
Jojo and Kane met at work. "We clicked instantly and found that spending time together felt very easy," Jojo tells us. "We quickly realised that we shared the same sense of humour and grew very close."
Sophie and Harry met through mutual friends while attending university in Liverpool. There was an instant attraction, thanks to their similar sense of humour.
Maddy and Dan met seven years ago via a dating app. They didn't live in the same area at the time, so their first date was a bit last minute and brief, just to get an idea of what could be. Neither expected then what it would turn into. During that quick coffee at Cafe Nero, they were struck by how similar they were: both home bodies, passionate about reading, and adore dogs.
Ruth and Sam met in 2012 at a ski resort in New Zealand. It was Sam's third time there as a seasonaire, but Ruth's very first. "So, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing," Ruth says. We're told that there's an unwritten rule when it comes to learning to ski or snowboard: you should never let your significant other teach you if you don't want it to end badly.
Izzy and Alex met at the Truro Hockey Club and both still play for the club now. They became engaged when Alex proposed in St. Ives. "He popped the question with his nana's ring which is stunning," Izzy tells us. "We had gone to do some last-minute Christmas shopping when he asked me to marry him! We went for lunch and then he surprised me by inviting our parents and his brother for dinner. He had secretly booked additional annual leave for us both for the following day and we all stayed in St. Ives to celebrate."
Abbie and Alan met through a mutual friend. "We were introduced at a gig – I had expressed interest in him and we hit it off straight away!" Abbie says. "Alan proposed during a stay at a log cabin in Cornwall just after my 30th birthday with our closest friends gathered around. It was a wonderful surprise because he had led me to believe for a long time that he wasn't interested in getting married!"
These lovebirds met on a dating app and hit it off immediately! Aimee says, "In one of Ben's photos, he looked very handsome in a threepiece navy suit snacking on a large 'share bag' of blue Doritos. The contradiction of his suited and booted style with his student eating habits was something I immediately knew I wanted to learn more about. So I swiped, and we connected. After chatting for a few weeks, we met at Boltons Bench in the New Forest, a semi-equal distance between Poole and Southampton.
Kelly was cutting her client's hair at their home when she first met Damian, who also asked for a trim even though he was definitely not due for a haircut. Just like that, their love story began!
Rebecca stumbled across Owen's Instagram after seeing his work as a PT at a local gym before following him and meeting at a local pub in Winchester for their first date. She says, "We actually only lived down the road from each other and were surprised that we had never encountered one another. After chatting for several hours, we realised that we were both very family-orientated with the same values, something which we were both looking for in long-term partners."
Alex and Hollie met at university. From friendship more blossomed and the pair were inseparable. On a summer's walk along Maldon Promenade, Alex popped the question and of course, Hollie said yes! On Friday 13th October 2023, Hollie and Alexander Martin married at Layer Marney Tower. Here, Hollie tells us more about their day..
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