How a man from Warrington swept me off my feet

My husband has been a rock to me since I met him. He’s seen me through some pretty miserable times and supported me without question, even when I’m not convinced I can do what I’m setting out to do.

I love a good engagement story and, while making this month’s inspiration piece - Daffodil, inspired by Wales’ national emblem (because I’ve yet to find inspiration in the leek!) - it got me thinking about how Pete and I started out and how he completely surprised me after I had a right diva strop. Read on, you’ll see!

Why Wales? Well, I’m from Cardiff originally, although people are surprised when I say that. Truth be told, I hadn’t planned to move away from Cardiff; I went to university in Bristol (UWE), while my brother went to Edinburgh. I was definitely a home bird and the closest I got to considering living elsewhere was just after I finished my placement working for France Telecom in Rennes, Brittany. I considered moving back to that beautiful town that I’d called home for 6 months but the reality of finding jobs anywhere in the UK alone soon hit hard. I decided to go back to uni and complete my PGCE.

While I was completing my teacher training, I was on placement with one of Pete’s housemates, Adrian. Adrian thought I’d get on really well with his housemate, Fuz (which is what my family and I still call Pete). They were supposed to meet us on a night out in Cardiff but didn’t make it. I went out with some friends from my course a month later and we bumped in to Adrian and his friends. Adrian hadn’t told me much about him but I instantly knew the man I was talking to was Pete.

And who’d have known - we got together and then six months later, I got my first teaching job in Taunton. Pete was working in Bristol at the time and we both needed somewhere to live. We looked on a map and measured half way between Bristol and Taunton and landed on Weston Super Mare. It had a beach so all good right?

Six months after moving in to our rented house, our landlord decided to sell, so we took a massive leap of faith and got our first mortgage for a new build flat. Seven years later and we were looking to move. I had pinned all my hopes on this one house but financially it didn’t work (blessing in disguise). I was devastated. I cried and shouted like a stroppy teenager at Pete, saying we weren’t going anywhere, life was boring, blah blah blah…basically being a complete diva (I am very ashamed of my behaviour as I never usually behave like that!)

He listened. He said he had a plan. I got more mad. I went and got my long hair cut up to my shoulders and then realised I needed to put hairbands in it to keep it looking tidy. I was pretty annoyed that day and not feeling my best.

We were heading up to Warrington the next day, to see Pete’s parents on our way up to do a tour of Old Trafford that I’d bought him as a gift. He told me to wear something I really liked but that would be practical so I chose a long sleeved dress with squirrels on it and some leggings. I had no idea what he had in mind. We went out for breakfast in the morning and Pete said that we were going on a “scenic route” that went through North Wales. He’s lucky that my geography is pretty shocking as I had no idea if that was even en route to where we were going. Let’s just say it was a bit of a detour!

Side note: Pete always takes the scenic route and it’s normally worth it. However it has led to us driving down “death slopes”, down very narrow lanes and even resulted in me having to get out and direct traffic once. All an adventure, I guess!

We eventually pulled up to a beach in Anglesey. It was August at the time and not particularly cold but Pete insisted on wearing his coat. I gave in and decided he could look like a knob if he wanted to. He told me about Llanddwyn Island, which is cut off from the main beach at high tide, so we went for a wander to see it and I was taken away by the scenery and how peaceful it was. He told me it was the island of the Welsh patron saint of lovers, St Dwynwen.

He was still wearing the bloody coat. I had a gold head band in my hair and it was annoying me. We sat and ate our picnic and he was really quiet for once. We walked up a bit higher and then stopped, said hello to a few people walking past and then I realised how nervous he looked. I must have looked around to see what had unsettled him because when I turned back, Pete had taken something from his coat pocket (light bulb moment!) and was on one knee, asking if I would be his wife. In his hand was a black box with a white gold ring. The ring had an emerald cut dark blue Sapphire with tiny diamonds on either side. I couldn’t have chosen better if I tried. He’d apparently been doing his research for a little while and I had no idea.

I said yes, of course, but I think I may have checked if he meant it after my horrible rant the day before!

He even took me to get a planner to put all our wedding ideas in the next day. Obviously a keeper!

My husband is not overly romantic in showy ways; he remembers little details though and he never fails to surprise me with how thoughtful he can be. This year is our 14th together, our seventh as a married couple and our third as parents. And yes, we moved house in the end!

I would love to hear your engagement story so share away below! And remember to look out for March’s hair piece, available from next week!