Our Story

It wasn't exactly love at first sight - after a few encounters, Vera decided to date a quirky French Data Scientist from work. One night he took her to a pub and introduced her to his friends. One of them was Tom. It was a really brief introduction, she had forgotten this encounter very soon after.

A couple of months later as she became single, she saw Tom again in the office kitchen. Not remembering that they had met, she initiated a small talk with him anyway. They would then bump into each other from time to time in and out of the office. It was never clear that they were into each other until one karaoke night with Vera’s friends. Tom joined the group after the karaoke to go to a pub. It was raining, and he was holding the umbrella for her. Later that night, he asked her out on a date.

On their first official date, they took a long walk across Regent's Street (Vera wanted to see the Christmas lights one last time before going on a very long holiday). That night, they learned that they're both geeks about The Beatles. He showed her the last place The Beatles ever had a concert. (Anyway the Christmas lights hadn't been turned on yet that time of year)

Two days after this wonderful date, Vera was off to Indonesia for the next 2 months. She thought, "This guy is gonna forget me." However in Indonesia, as she was planning a trip to Bali with her friends, they kept in touch. When her friends bailed on her upcoming Bali trip, Tom jumped on the occasion and bought himself a ticket to Bali to join Vera on her trip. It became a trip of a lifetime. Fast forward 4 years later, they want to celebrate their commitment to each other with friends and family on the island where they fell in love: Bali.

More snippets from the karaoke night

Well, Tom offered Vera something to drink at his place. When she said she loved white wine, he said that he didn't have any bottle of white wine. Fast forward to their first Bali trip, he told her one evening that he didn't want to 'build the relationship on a foundation of a lie', and so he confessed to her that he had lied about the wine bottle before. He did have a bottle of white wine, but he just didn't want to share it with her as it was an €80 bottle. I guess she wasn't worth that then 😂

But the story continues. Years later, on the day they got engaged, he took her on a romantic getaway where they had a celebratory dinner. At dinner, Vera didn't really feel like drinking, but Tom insisted that she drank. A bit bothered by his pushiness, she complied anyway and lo and behold! He had brought the very bottle he'd been saving to the restaurant as a surprise. And so, he declared that she was worth €80.

Side note: the wine was absolutely amazing and had beautifully aged.

How did Tom propose?

Well.... I guess he technically proposed twice. The first proposal was a much more boring negotiation between two adults about the logistics and administration of a marriage. There was no ring, nothing romantic, but certainly just as meaningful. But Vera wanted the ring. So then there was a second proposal in São Miguel in the Azores. As Tom got on his knee and asked her to marry him, Vera - either being a feminist defying traditional proposals or really wanting the ring so bad - snatched the ring out of the box before even saying yes.

Anyway, this surprise proposal couldn't have happened without the help from our best friend Brian. We love you, Brian!