See how other local couples celebrated their big day with wedding stories and ideas from Your Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wedding Real Weddings features.
Alice and Nick met while studying at Loughborough University. "I was attracted to Nick's playful personality," Alice tells us. "His dashing good looks helped too!" Nick was attracted to Alice's cheeky smile and positive attitude. "I was smitten with Alice and told my friends she was the one from the start," he says. Nick had wanted to propose on Alice's birthday during a surprise trip to the Amalfi Coast but unfortunately, it coincided with the lockdown. "Nick held onto the ring and took me to Italy six months later and popped the question up a mountain in the Dolomites which was perfect," Alice says.
Caroline and Rob first met six years ago on an online dating app and their first date was in London where they met up for a drink and enjoyed a walk by Tower Bridge. "Rob proposed to me on the 17th of October 2020 on top of Mam Tor, one of the highest points in the Peak District," Caroline tells us. "We have been to the Peak District many times together before including our first time away together six years ago, so it's a very special place to us. After a three-hour hike, Rob asked me to take a picture of myself looking into the distance and as I turned backaround, he was on one knee which was such a surprise! He was so nervous that I had to remind him to put the ring on my finger!"
Amy and John met through work and became best friends. "The rest, as they say, is history!" Amy tells us. The couple became engaged during a few days away in Kent. "We were staying in a beautiful woodland cottage cabin, the Woodcutters Cottage at Swallowtail Hill which Amy had booked as a surprise," John says. "She didn't expect me to propose by the campfire!" Amy adds, "John had set up his iPhone for what he told me was a timed photograph but actually it was a video and at the last minute, he got down on one knee so the moment was captured perfectly!"
Daisy and Ed met in their final year at Loughborough University in 2016. "During our time at university, we had lived close by to one another and had heard of each other through mutual friends but did not meet properly until our final year," Daisy tells us. "When we did meet, we instantly hit it off as friends first, and then we started dating a few months later."
Emily and Tom met on Tinder in June 2017 and clicked from their very first date. "We both love musicals and performing so an in-car sing-along to Defying Gravity from the show Wicked was all it took, along with a race around a go-karting track!" Emily tells us. "Tom proposed just after my birthday in October 2019 at Cahoots, a 1940s-themed bar in London. It was a complete surprise! The timing was perfect as Tom was able to ask my parents' permission a couple of days beforehand."
Claudia and William first dated in school when they were 16 years old. "Our teenage love didn't last and we went our separate ways but continued to share a group of friends who were adamant that we should get back together," Claudia tells us. "Twelve years later, Will reached out again and fast forward nine months, we were engaged!"
The couple became engaged during a romantic beach proposal. "Will treated me to a barbecue on a quiet beach near Fowey in Cornwall," Claudia says. "He rustled up a delicious meal and it ended with a proposal which was perfect!"
Stacey and Jake met through an online dating app. "As our first date, Jake took me for breakfast after one of my night shifts which was a real treat," Stacey tells us. "We became engaged during the week that we went into the first lockdown! It was very romantic because we were at home and Jake had asked my mum to call me as a distraction while he decorated our home with candles and flowers. He had Tale As Old As Time from Beauty And The Beast playing, which is my favourite Disney movie that ended up being the song I walked down the aisle to because we hired a string trio who played a beautiful arrangement for us."
Pippa and Ollie met in 2015 at their friend's wedding. "We moved in together in 2018 after enjoying a long-distance romance for three years," Pippa tells us. "Then, in 2019 our Fox Red Labrador who we named Juniper joined our family."
Ollie proposed to Pippa on the beach at Felixstow during the summer of 2019. "It was a wet and windy day and we were trying to introduce Juniper, who was a puppy at the time, to the sea," Pippa tells us.
Maria and Callum can't help falling in love
Maria and Callum met in a local pub in Abingdon after a mutual friend introduced them. "We began texting one another and then dating, and the rest is history! Maria tells us.
The couple became engaged during a surprise proposal on New Year's Eve. "After almost three years together, we went on holiday to Gran Canaria for a festive trip," Maria says. "On New Year's Eve, we visited the beach during the evening to watch the fireworks and as the clock struck midnight, Callum got down on one knee and presented me with a stunning ring. I said 'yes' instantly – it was the best surprise ever!"
Jodie and Michael first met more than ten years ago, becoming friends for a few years before they started dating. "We lost touch and then met up again in a pub a few years later and our relationship developed from there," Jodie tells us. The couple became engaged during a surprise proposal in Paris for Jodie's 27th birthday. "Michael proposed the night before my birthday on the Pont des Arts," Jodie says. "He had planned a surprise trip and the first I knew about it was when we arrived at the airport - it was a complete surprise, I had no idea!"
Annette and Will met when they belonged to the same rugby club. "We both still attend to this day and it's a big part of our lives, Annette tells us. "When I first met him, I loved how laid-back Will was (and still is) and we enjoyed shared interests including sport and a love of good food and the great outdoors."