I don't know about you but I love reading about how people meet and blossom into their own story, and I thought it was time to share mine as this was a huge inspiration in the making of our Enchanted Collection! I hope this brings joy to your day and let me know what your story is!
How we met
Alex and I met when I was 16 and he was 18 online, back when Tinder wasn't a thing! In fact we 'met' each other on a website called Omegle where you chat to a random stranger. We happened to be connected and became friends over the internet... but of course me being the overly cautious Virgo that I am told him my name was Jess and I live in the UK 😂 (even though I was in Vietnam at the time and Alex in Australia). No bother though as we eventually connected over Facebook and spent 2 years building a lovely friendship and relationship.
We met for the first time in Vietnam when I graduated and Alex took a gap year to work and come visit me. It was such a surreal time as I felt like I've known him all my life but only through a screen - it was so amazing to bond in real life! Alex stayed with me and my family in Vietnam for two months, thereafter we stayed in touch and I made plans to move to Melbourne to start my university degree.
My engagement story
When people ask me, "How did you know so young?" I really can't answer because well... Alex and I have always known we would end up getting married. The question was just when. And in that sense we're the opposite of each other, in that I literally plan my "5 year plan" while Alex leisurely & spontaneously lives life to the fullest. So of course, when I say "Oh yeah I definitely don't want to get married this year" in 2018 he just knew that was the perfect opportunity to propose.
If you've been around for a while you probably know about our trip in Italy (I mean, I even designed a collection all around it 😁) back in 2018. Like many young twenty somethings this was the Euro summer that I have dreamt of all my teenage years. I even had my desktop background set as Cinque Terre all through year 10-12 so it was just a magical of a trip to me!
We had such an amazing time settling in the first week in Venice, I had no idea Alex was going to propose. On the first full day in Cinque Terre, we planned to go on a hike through the five islands. That morning, we woke up super early, had our daily Italian expresso (a must!), caught the train to Monterosso, and climbed up the top of Monterosso to watch the sunrise together. And that was the moment when Alex went on one knee and asked me to marry him - with the background of the rising sun and my desktop wallpaper, turned real life.
I said yes of course, even though it thrills Alex to think I might have refused because it wasn't in my 5 year plan... Leos, Am I right?! 😆
My wedding story
After we came back from our life-changing Italy trip, wedding preparations were already in motion. Heck I was already planning the wedding on my hike that day! I honestly had no idea what I wanted for my wedding but I really wanted Alex to be involved in the planning process. After a lot of ideas we finally went with a Tuscan theme, as we wanted to cherish and celebrate our memories in Italy, and replicate the experience with our family and friends. I also wanted somewhat of a traditional wedding, where we can celebrate with our loved ones - we wanted to throw the best party of our lives!
To give you an idea of the wedding planning process, I first narrowed down on a budget, then comes the guest list which was a lot of back and forth but this helped us find our ideal venue. We went to see a few wineries around Melbourne, and finally settled on Yarra Ranges Estate.
I had a friend's mum agree to help us be our celebrant, and we also decided on a band together. My favourite part was finding the perfect dress - I grew up dreaming of the princess ball gown moment but when it came down to it I chose a sophisticated lace mermaidy style for my big day. You really don't know what you like until you try it on and I definitely had a 'Say Yes to the Dress' moment with mine!
Now to the good part - the ring! For my engagement ring, Alex was given three criteria's: 1) It has to be ethically made, 2) The stone needed to be an ethically-produced stone, and 3) it has to be under $1,000, as our values didn't align with spending the big bucks on a ring. He hit home on the first two, and chose a beautiful vintage art deco 70's vintage ring with an ethical diamond for our engagement that I absolutely adore. He didn't quite make the 3), but I'm told it wasn't too far off 🥰 So when it came around to choosing my wedding ring, I wanted something simple but with a vintage flair that can pair well with my engagement band, and ended up choosing the below curved V wedding band whilst Alex went with a plain gold band. Both my engagement ring and my wedding band then inspired my first ever designs for the Enchanted collection, Nightingale and Evangeline.
All in all, the day came together so amazingly and I feel so incredibly grateful to have been able to celebrate our love with the people closest to us. I'm grateful that my parents were able to travel to us in Melbourne and celebrate just before everything went down in 2020, I'm grateful to have had such incredible friends and family to rely on during the planning process, and I'm grateful that I get to spend the rest of my life with my best friend.
Now, your turn! I'd love to know what your story is!
-Chi xoxo
Leave a comment