The Story…
After four and a half years of staying single (minus a few dates that thankfully never worked out), I never would have expected to meet my future husband to be on Hinge.
Now, I’m not sure whether you believe in tarot and tea leaf readings (that’s a story for another time!), but my reader had actually accurately predicted I’d be meeting my fiancé a year prior…
“Providing you work on yourself first,” she warned. “You have to open yourself up to face the things you keep avoiding.”
Turns out being single didn’t mean I was fully healed.
After a couple of weeks of texting back and forth whilst we were both travelling overseas, P suggested an omakase for our first date. Don’t get me wrong, I love food, but a multi course tasting menu with a complete stranger? Absolutely not. I’ve had too many bad experiences to warrant another, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that this dinner would be different.
It was a blustery Friday evening. I was running (fashionably) late whilst P was ten minutes early, a habit that would quickly become our date night routine. First impressions: kind eyes, respectful and chivalrous. Handsome and stylish, of course. But those were the traits that immediately stood out.
Turns out I needn’t worry about an omakase being too much because the night continued with a second food stop, enjoying takoyaki and cocktails in Kingly Court before a late night visit to Wun’s Tearoom for whisky and ibérico char siu. The hours flew by. I had never felt more comfortable, more me.
And outside a vintage guitar store on Denmark Street at 2am? 3am? We had our first kiss. The same spot where we celebrated our four year anniversary at Chateau Denmark this January.
Dropping Hints…
PSA: If your boyfriend ever randomly asks you…“So… what nail art are you planning to have for our holiday?” There’s a 10,000 per cent chance he’s about to propose, especially if he has never been remotely interested in your BIAB manicures before.
We had discussed getting engaged and our future plans early on. I have always wanted an intimate proposal, a meaningful moment that belonged only to us.
Ever since our first date, P has been consistently romantic. He thrives on planning thoughtful surprises and imagining my reaction to every spontaneous date night plan, usually ending in happy tears, so it came as no surprise that he would plan the best date of all.
The Proposal
It was our first full day in Santorini, the start of our annual two weeks of island hopping around Greece. We had arrived the evening before and I noted he seemed more nervous than usual.
We spent the morning with our usual visit to a local bakery for freddo espresso and a bag bursting with pies before making our way to a black sand beach. It’s rare to find somebody whose love language is every single one of them, but P kept telling me throughout the day how much he loved me, how he couldn’t wait for our future together and how happy he was to be back in Greece as the two of us.
“He’s proposing. He absolutely is proposing,” I texted my best friend Hannah and my two sisters.
Lunch was at a local seafood taverna for a huge plate of lobster spaghetti, fit for four people, but a morning of swimming meant we polished it off, alongside grilled sea bass with generous squeezes of lemon and a bottle of Santorini assyrtiko wine. As somebody who is normally very chilled out, relaxed and extremely Type B, he was the complete opposite that afternoon.
P had booked a sunset dinner at Petra Restaurant and was insisting we would need three hours to get ready and urgently needed to go back to the hotel. This is coming from the couple who normally throw on a linen set fresh out of the shower on holiday, with nothing but a spritz of perfume and mozzie spray before heading out to dinner.
Turns out P had hired out the entire balcony for a private dinner for two. There was a single table with breathtaking panoramic views of the caldera. We had our very own team of staff looking after us and every single person had a knowing twinkle in their eyes.
An aperitif later, P got down on one knee, shared the most heartfelt speech I had ever heard and asked me to marry him.
Despite having a feeling it was going to happen, what I hadn’t predicted was how much of a surprise the moment still felt. I was happily bawling my eyes out, frantically telling myself to stay in the moment and focus on what he was saying whilst simultaneously doing cartwheels in my tummy, squealing, “IT’S HAPPENING!!! P IS PROPOSING!!! SAY YES! SCREAM YES!”
And… a glass of Champagne and a huge bouquet of roses later, P pointed out that my nose was bleeding and we were all scrambling for tissues. Of course, my nose had bled. I rarely, if ever, get nosebleeds, but during the most important moment of my life, it decided to make an appearance. It’s still our favourite story to tell whenever anybody asks about the proposal.
He’ll say it’s because of the ring. I say my heart burst with so much love, my nose followed suit. (And also, yes, when I saw the ring.)
The Ring
Months prior to the engagement, P had created a group chat with my two sisters. It was titled One Ring To Rule Them All. They’re all Lord of the Rings fans and bonded early on over their shared love of it.
Together with the team at Diamonds & Co, our now jewellers based in Hatton Garden, P designed my perfect ring.
I had always dreamed of a vintage, or vintage inspired, ring with a yellow sapphire as the centre stone, my favourite colour. I wanted it warm like sunshine, bursting with colour, with a timeless romantic design.
It took months of designing, with P sending CADs and mock ups of the claw and basket designs to my sisters for their approval. This ring couldn’t be more me if he had tried: a raised yellow sapphire surrounded by 12 diamonds, individually claw set in their own little collets to create a scalloped, petal like edge.
My very own sunflower sunshine ring.
The team at Diamonds & Co have since created our wedding bands and are now our go to jewellers.
Engagement Party / Celebrations
P is Greek, so we first had our engagement moon island hopping around Santorini, Koufonisia and Sifnos, our favourite islands, before being reunited with family and friends in Volos, where he grew up, to celebrate the news.
My future mother in law loudly exclaimed “MY BRIDE!” with flowers, kisses and plenty of happy tears, whilst poor P was left trundling along with our suitcases.
I have hit the absolute jackpot with my mother and sister in law. Remarkable, strong women with hearts of gold.
We spent the rest of the trip drinking wine, crying more and being fed feast after feast of homemade Greek food at my mother in law’s restaurant.
Perfect.
The Outfit
“White set or a yellow dress?”
“White, definitely.”
Aha! He IS going to propose tonight!
As somebody who has long documented every part of my life, I filmed a video diary of my predictions before I was whisked away to Petra.
As somebody who wears white a lot anyway, I wasn’t leaving anything to chance.
Earlier this year, I was on an intimate group tour with Intrepid Travel and, as our trip ended in Hoi An, our tour leader recommended a local woman owned tailor. I had a two piece white matching set custom made and had no idea it would become my engagement outfit.
Wedding Plans So Far…
We’re getting legally married in July!
We’ll be having our civil ceremony followed by a traditional Chinese banquet dinner with our closest London friends and family before planning our wedding celebrations in Greece later this year.
Think plate throwing, a live Greek band and big platters of Greek comfort food. I’ve asked our guests to bring stretchy clothes for the reception as I will personally make sure nobody leaves our weddings hungry.
It’ll be our very own Big Fat Greek Chinese Wedding.
I treated myself to my first pair of Manolo Blahniks earlier this year, the most perfect pair of light blue satin Hangisis to honour our Greek wedding, and weeks later P surprised me with a second pair, the dreamiest red Mayslis, to celebrate my Chinese heritage in London.
So it looks like I’ll be getting married in Manolos… twice.
What a dream.
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