Weddingbee bios

Dr D and I live in Birmingham, UK. We are both involved in politics, love to travel and have been together for a little more than 2 years, and engaged since April 09.

At the moment, we are trying to finalise a wedding date - i've always been in favour of short engagements, but with a brother living in California and a sister in New Zealand, getting the family together isn't too easy. Elections are also getting in the way!

Dr D and I have many mutual friends, and thanks to them we got to know each other a little better, and before too long we seemed to be spending a lot of time on msn and texting each other. one thing led to another and a first date, swiftly followed by a second!

living a couple of hours drive or on the train from each other meant lots of weekend visits etc. until I moved to Birmingham in March 08.

At Easter, Dr D and I took a long weekend trip to Paris. I've been to Paris quite a few times over the years, but Dr D hadn't been before.

We were staying in a lovely little hotel, and the first evening we took a boat ride on the Seine, and had dinner in one of favourite little bistros in the Marais - really perfect romantic evening.

Day 2, we headed for Tuilierie gardens, and had a lovely time exploring them and the outside of the Louvre (saving that for our next visit, it's a big place!), taking photos and stuff. We headed for the Orangerie, which was amazing, a new place for us both, stunning Monets.

It was still only just lunchtime, and after a quick croque-monsieur we decided to go up to Sacre-Coeur/Montmartre. Had a good walk around, and it was also pretty warm, so starting to get hot and tired...

then my FI decided he wanted to go the Eiffel Tower. I wasn't so bothered - I've been up it at least twice before, and everywhere in Paris was really crowded, it was too hot and everything else. but if he wanted to go, so we would.

We get there. the queues are massive. we join the queue. 30 mins in, I go get us ice-cream. an hour in, i search for a restroom. they are all closed (what's that about?). I am getting grumpy. I ask him several times, why are you so keen to go up - it's not so amazing that waiting this long is worth it!

we eventually get up to the second floor only to line up again for the top. It's literally taken us TWO hours to get up there, so we enjoy the views, take photos - Dr D loves photography so he is concentrating on getting what he wants - and I find the only bathroom in Paris without a line, yay!

I head back to find Dr D, which takes a little while, and then we are just hanging out, enjoying the views and then suddenly, out of the blue as far as I'm concerned, he asks me to marry him :)

Now I know why he was so bothered about going up the Eiffel Tower! lol.

Luckily he didn't get down on one knee (it was pretty busy up there) and I would have been quite embarrassed.

He did say he was a bit concerned as to why i was being so grumpy, but clearly i hadn't guessed his intentions! to be honest though, I had kind of given up waiting for a proposal - we've been to some amazing romantic potential places over the last year or so, and nothing had happened then!

One thing, no ring - he decided to take me with him to choose it at home in Birmingham which has a historic jewelry quarter. it's fairly common in the UK to get the ring after the proposal and choose it together. i was super happy to pick what i wanted - more on that elsewhere.

anyway, after we quit the tower, we went for another yummy dinner, this time in a new place for us both that had been recomended by a friend of mine, and it was perfect.

I know I'm biased, but our fab e-pics by our wedding photographer David McNeil - http://www.davidmmcneil.com/