Our Story
Some love stories begin with a grand romantic gesture.
Ours started with a photograph.
We first crossed paths through a local social group, exchanging the occasional message but never properly meeting in person. That changed at a celebration for the group's anniversary, where fate and Alex's confidence intervened.
Dan had actually arrived on a date with someone else. Alex promptly borrowed him for a photograph, enlisted his date as the photographer, and left him wondering if he'd just been brilliantly outmanoeuvred. As it turned out, he had.
Not long afterwards, we went on our first date. Dan was late. Very late. Thankfully, Alex decided he was worth waiting for.
What followed was less a whirlwind romance and more a week-long conversation. After Alex became unwell, Dan delivered a care package and stayed to keep her company. One evening turned into another, and then another. We spent hours talking about everything and nothing, learning about each other's values, hopes, fears and dreams.
Somewhere in those late-night conversations, we stopped feeling like two people getting to know each other and started feeling like a team.
A promise in Spain
As our relationship grew, so did the certainty that what we had was special. During a trip to Spain, we made a promise to prioritise each other and the life we wanted to build together, regardless of how quickly it seemed to be happening or what anyone else thought.
Looking back, that moment became one of the foundations of everything that followed.
The proposal
Years later, Dan planned a proposal in Thailand.
In his mind, it was going to be perfect: a beautiful beach, a candlelit dinner, and a carefully orchestrated surprise. Reality had other ideas.
Delayed transport, missed connections, frantic last-minute changes and a rushed journey across ferries and taxis meant that, instead of calmly preparing for the evening, we were getting changed in the back of a van while racing against the clock.
It was chaotic. It was stressful. It was far from the flawless proposal Dan had imagined.
And, in hindsight, it was completely us.
Because throughout our relationship, plans have changed, obstacles have appeared and life has rarely followed the script. Yet somehow, we've always found a way forward together.
So when Dan finally asked the question, surrounded not by perfection but by a story we'd laugh about for years to come, the answer was easy.
Becoming three
Since then, our story has grown in the most meaningful way: Tyler has joined our family as Alex's little brother, whom we are fostering, and our life together has become a family of three.
It has brought new routines, deeper responsibility and a kind of love that has made the future feel even more real. The wedding is still about the two of us choosing each other, but it is also about the family we are building around that choice.
Now, as we return to Spain to celebrate our wedding, it feels fitting that we're doing so in the place where we first chose each other completely.