See how other couples celebrated their big day with wedding stories and ideas from County Wedding Magazines' Real Weddings features.
Charlie and Luke met at the yearly Bampton Charter Fair hosted in the village where they live. "Luke asked me out on a date and 12 years later, with two children, we decided to finally tie the knot!" Charlie tells us.
Helena and Sam met through a mutual friend who arranged for the group to get together for drinks. Although neither of them was actively dating at the time, they hit it off immediately and began a relationship. Their similar personalities made it easy for them to connect, and they quickly became inseparable. Seven years later, Sam proposed at Harlyn Bay in Cornwall; a place that held a special signifi cance for Helena since she spent her summer holidays there as a child. Sam had planned the entire trip as a surprise, and when he popped the question, it felt like the perfect culmination of their journey together, making it an unforgettable moment.
It started as just another typical day, a quick bus ride home from the university on the U2B, but today turned out to be anything but ordinary! Janice was laughing with her friends when she noticed Anton, who was recovering from a visit to A&E with his arm in a full cast. "Oh, hi!" she said. "What happened? Are you okay?" Just like that, a beautiful journey began! Fast forward three months, and they hadn't crossed paths since that day until they found themselves at the student bar on a Tuesday night. Their eyes locked once more, and Anton leaned closer to ask, "Care to dance?" From that instant, they were enveloped in each other's warmth, united by their kind spirits, a shared love for adventure, strong family values, and, of course, their undeniable charm! Then came the unforgettable moment on May 17th 2022, on the breathtaking Caribbean island of Saint Lucia.
These lovebirds met on a night out. Sophie spotted Ed from across the pub, surrounded by his friends, but soon, most of them decided to head to another bar. A couple of Ed's friends stayed behind, and Sophie found herself chatting with them. In a moment of honesty, she confided in one of their girlfriends that she thought Ed was good-looking. That little admission led them to the pub where Ed had gone. To avoid looking like a stranger following him, they crafted a backstory that made it seem like she knew the girlfriend. However, things took a humorous turn when one of Ed's friends approached him and blurted out that a girl had followed him in because she fancied him. They started talking before Ed asked her on a date.
Emily and James begun their relationship at work. "Even though we were in different departments, we got chatting one day and realised we both grew up close by to each other and had plenty in common," Emily tells us.
Qusai and Robyn met via mutual connections at work and started messaging via Instagram. "I was attracted to Robyn's carefree attitude," Qusai tells us while she was attracted to my kind eyes and smile. I knew how to make her laugh and be serious when needed!"
Charlie and Alice met on Hinge during lockdown and had their fi rst date the day the pubs reopened. What a day that was! Charlie was attracted to Alice's sense of humour, smile and love of sport. Alice was attracted to Charlie's handsome smile and the fact he also happened to be a Chelsea FC fan. Post lockdown, the pair moved to New York and worked and breathed city life there for 13 months.
Through the power of social media, Louise and Paul found each other. Louise remembers, "We both felt really comfortable in each other's company from day one. The proposal was a complete surprise as when I met him, he was very anti marriage due to his past experience."
Vadim was the keyboard player of the worldwide metal band Dragonforce, famous for fast heavy music and featured in Guitar Hero III and the Despicable Me 4 movie - Natalie was a fan of the band. The couple met at a Dragonforce concert where Natalie was photographing the show, and Vadim noticed her in the crowd and thought she was naturally beautiful and stood out. After meeting at the end of the show, they fell in love very fast and had the, 'when you know, you know' feeling. Natalie was already a fan and had posters of the band on her wall as a teenager, so she was really surprised that her crush noticed her and was interested in her.
Danielle and Aaron met online in 2021 and spent their fi rst date in Liverpool where they visited Roxy Ballroom and played beer pong. "I think we were attracted to each other because of our common interests. We're both Harry Potter geeks, and like Disney, quizzes and travel. We're also close to our families and share similar values," Danielle says.
Stacey and Dan worked together at Debenhams, but didn't meet each other properly until after work drinks one evening. Despite not talking much, that night Stacey had a dream about Dan! In the dream she was married to him, and they were late for her best friends' wedding. "Which, quite frankly, I enjoyed," Stacey says. She told her best friend about it, who wasted no time in sharing the information with everyone she knew, including Dan! One morning, he found her changing the store's front window and proposed to her as a joke. Stacey was mortifi ed, but since then it's been a whirlwind of romance for the two of them and here they are today, married, just as Stacey predicted. "We both make each other laugh, which everyone around us loves, and we enjoy the banter we share. We never argue," Stacey shares.
Megan and Tom met at work and immediately felt comfortable around each other. They soon became fast friends having discovered plenty of mutual interests. "Mostly, we made each other laugh and really happy," Megan says. Tom proposed to Megan in August 2022, while on a family holiday in Spain. "We were all out together enjoying a meal and Tom suddenly dropped to one knee. I'm not sure it was the most romantic of settings, but it was a surprise and felt very special having our family with us to celebrate," Megan shares.
Sarah and Ben met at work and were friends for many years before they grew close through social events. "We were both attending an exercise class and went for a drink after one session, and the rest is history!" shares Sarah. "Ben proposed to me on Christmas Day 2021 at my sister's house with my family – it was a total surprise! He wrapped the ring up as a 'pass the parcel' game and got my niece and nephew involved – which was special to me; he got them wearing T-shirts asking me the question 'Will you marry me?' which they revealed at the end."
Lucy met Hugo when they were teenagers, "Hugo was at an all boys school when I attended and all girls school. I was attracted to Hugo's beautiful twilight eyes and thick black hair. We were the same age but he was very mature and really kind and caring; he always had lots of interesting things to tell me." Hugo adds, "Lucy also had beautiful eyes, she was so shy and cute."
This couple crossed paths on their very fi rst day at university in Guildford, Surrey, and enjoyed a friendship for about eight months before becoming a couple. A mutual friend was the one who introduced them, and she remains a dear friend to this day. She had the honour of being Caitlin's maid-of-honour at her wedding – a little spoiler there! Greg proposed during a lovely walk in one of their favourite spots, and he had planned an exciting day in London fi lled with delicious food, drinks and exploring the city. While it was a surprise that day, they had previously discussed getting engaged.
Vicky and Jamie met at work in East London, and an offi ce romance soon blossomed into something more after lunchbreaks together and after-work drinks. "Things escalated one evening after work which ended up with us singing Backstreet Boys and trying to ballroom dance in the karaoke room!" recalls Vicky.
Megan told the story of how she met James best in her wedding speech: "We didn't romantically bump into each other in our favourite coffee shop, instead we met on the well-known dating site, Hinge. When I came across James, I couldn't believe my eyes. The first photo showed him in an open water wetsuit, the next he was on a road bike, the next on skis... I thought 'wow'! He looks like the fun, outdoorsy guy I'm after! It turns out he posted six photos from a single triathlon that his brother forced him to do three years prior and he rather prefers lying horizontally on the sofa drinking beer and binge watching The Office. I'd been catfished!" All jokes aside, the two hit it off from their first date, when they discovered plenty of similar interests and aspirations for their future. They both love travelling, trying new food and spending time with friends and family.
Helen met Dan when he joined the company she worked for. Over time they became friends, eventually best friends. Six years later, they realised their strong connection was something more and became a couple. "We call ourselves split-aparts (Plato's theory of soulmates) and constantly share the same thought at the same time. It's kind of spooky actually," Helen says. "We laugh at the same things and are impossibly co-dependent, which in turn makes everyone else laugh at us!"
Ronan proposed to Gráinne outside the house where they fi rst kissed in White Street, Brighton. The couple live in Ireland, but met in Brighton, which was where it all began for them back in 2011.
Emily and Adam met at school when they were 15. "We passed each other in the school hallway and I smiled at him and he instantly fell in love," says Emily. "We got together in 2015 and from then on we've been inseparable." Adam proposed at The Borrowdale Hotel on the couple's sixth anniversary. "The Borrowdale Hotel is a very special place to me and my family," shares the bride. "My grandma passed away when I was 10 and we often go there on the anniversary of her death and for other occasions, because it was a special place for her and my grandad. The proposal was a complete surprise! I couldn't quite believe it because I never thought we would get married. He had gone to speak to my parents a couple of days before about proposing and was so nervous he drove past their house numerous times before building up the courage to do it. After our meal we went to go see my parents to tell them the news and they gave us flowers and a card because they knew I would say yes. We then went to tell Adam's dad and step mam, who were equally as excited and happy for us."
My first memory of George is him drunkenly giving me a fireman's lift during freshers week at university," Alice says. The two lived in the same halls accommodation and were part of the same friendship group. It wasn't until they moved into a shared house of 10 people for their second year that they grew closer. The two shared the same taste in music, which led to George offering Alice his spare concert ticket to see The Killers. Despite trying to convince their families that they were just friends, George asked her out a few weeks later.
Cole and I connected through a dating app and engaged in endless conversations. We decided to meet up for a hike with our two dogs, Chewie and Chauncey. Within the same year, we moved in together next to the trail where we had our fi rst date.
Olivia and Lewis met at a festival when they were teenagers. "We became really good friends and would always bump into each other on nights out," says Olivia. "A couple of years later, Lewis made the move and sent me a gorgeous bouquet of flowers on Valentine's Day, and we have been together ever since."
Beckie and Michael met while working together at The Sidcot Arms, Winscombe. Michael was head chef and Beckie worked front of house. They both lived in the hotel and Michael would knock on Beckie's door to wake her up for 6am shifts and gave her cuddles in the kitchen to warm her up on cold winter mornings. Soon, they fell in love.
Kate met The Honourable Hilary Wise, or Hils as he's known to her, through mutual friends. "He has a good sense of humour, and genuinely cares for people," she tells us. When he proposed to her at home in 2023, it was a complete surprise. They followed her "yes" with a celebratory trip to London where lots of surprises had been arranged for her including dinner at the chef's table at Gordon Ramsey's Lucky Cat and a theatre trip to see Dirty Dancing.
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