It's about time we delivered another love story to you.. and you're in for a treat! This is the story of 'the Lauras'... Yup. Both called Laura! In Part 1 we follow their journey through meeting and being engaged. Part 2 will be our first lesbian wedding to feature in a love story! Can't wait to share that with you next week.
Love Stories ♥ Laura and Laura- Part 1
The Engagement
In 2008 I graduated from uni, qualified as
a teacher and got a job at a local Primary School. That was how Laura and I
met. I had a girlfriend at the time whom
I’d been with for about 18 months and she also had a girlfriend she was living
with at the time. Everyone at work was
really friendly and there was a good social life. We went out a few times during my first few
weeks and I settled in really easily.
There was a lot of alcohol involved.
Laura always likes to remind me that, for
her, it was love at first sight. She
first encountered me in the corridor after I had done a demo lesson as part of
my interview. She had been unhappy in
her relationship for a while and meeting me was the catalyst she needed to get
out of it.
It took longer for me to figure out. I wasn’t especially happy in my relationship,
but I kind of figured that this was as good as it could get and that
relationships were just mostly about compromise – never mind that it mostly
seemed to be on my part.
After a few months of getting to know each
other and socialising with our colleagues and slowly growing closer, I realised
what she had known for ages: that we were meant to be together. We got together in late November, having both
ended our previous relationships, and kept it quiet for a while at work, even
though several people had commented on how close we were getting – and a
handful had even seen us kissing when we were all out at a club.
When we did come out at work as a couple,
everyone was so thrilled for us. We
quickly became known as “The Lauras’. It
was weird working together, not because it was difficult to be professional, we
managed that just fine, but because even though we would technically have spent all day together, it became increasingly
hard to say goodbye at the end of the day.
Realistically, we were only seeing each other for an hour or so at work
each day. We could snatch a quick
conversation at break or lunchtime in the staff room, but after work we were
both swamped with marking or after school clubs.
We started spending every night together in
January, both of us getting used to living out of a hold-all and spending time
at each of our flats alternately. I was
looking into buying a flat as I was still living in (rather nasty) rented
accommodation and as I embarked on finding somewhere and getting a mortgage, we
didn’t assume Laura would move in with me permanently, even though she came to
viewings with me and we were, for all intents and purposes, living together.
In February 2009 we spent 4 days in Paris,
which was wonderful. We couldn’t get
enough of each other’s company and loved getting away and being alone
together. Whilst we were there, Laura
spotted a ring in the Cartier window on the Champs Elysee. It cost around €40,000 which was clearly way
beyond any budget I might ever have, but she joked that it was the only ring
she ever wanted to have.
Things were going really well. We had both fallen totally head over heels
and introductions to the parents had all been made. By the time my mortgage was finalised and I
completed on the new flat, Laura took a moving day from work too so that we
could both move in together. We took my
cat, Hercules, and shortly after bought another cat (which was partly Laura’s
birthday present), Heston, after our favourite TV chef.
Around the same time – summer 2009 – I
started planning to ask Laura to marry me.
I had found a picture of the Cartier ring she liked and, luckily, her
mum knows a retired jeweler who would make me a version of the ring for a tiny
fraction of the price.
In the meantime, we booked a trip to
Thailand for October half term so that Laura could meet my dad, who lives out
there.
I was hoping that the ring would be ready
when we got back so that I could propose on our anniversary, but it took a long
time and I had to set my plans back a bit further.
It was our first anniversary and I wanted
to make it special, so I booked us a champagne flight on the London Eye and a
meal in a fabulous restaurant afterwards that is on the South Bank with a great
view across the Thames. I organised the
whole evening and kept it a secret that Laura didn’t guess until we left
Waterloo station and rounded the corner and the London Eye came into view.
Finally, just before Christmas, I got the
call to say the ring was ready. My next
job was to get plans for the proposal underway.
I knew what I wanted to do, but it was going to take a bit of
organising.
We had discussed wanting to go to the Fat
Duck restaurant, owned by Heston Blumenthal as we’re both quite foodie people
and LOVE watching Heston’s crazy cooking on the TV. It has three Michelin stars and thus is very
expensive, which is why we hadn’t made any plans to go yet. But I figured it would be the perfect
location to propose. The Fat Duck is in
the village of Bray in Berkshire, which is actually the location of more than
one Michelin-starred restaurant so there are loads of cottages available to
rent overnight. The cottage I found us
was amazing – it was a small summerhouse in the grounds of an old house and
came stocked with a small bottle of champagne, snacks and breakfast foods!
I managed to book all of this without Laura
finding out – although booking the restaurant involved getting my mum to ring
up at 10am when the booking line opened as I was in class at the time. There was no availability before Christmas,
but my mum booked us in for the 16th January 2010. This worked out great actually, because it
was something extra to look forward to after Christmas and, in fact it meant
that even once I’d told Laura we were going somewhere, I could pretend it was
just for an extra Christmas present.
She was so excited when she realized where
we were going and we spent a lovely afternoon together wandering around Bray
and chilling out in our little cottage before we got ready for dinner.
I was so nervous as we set out for the
restaurant – in fact I’d had weeks of sleepless nights leading up to the day,
thinking about what to say and how to make it the perfect evening.
We arrived at the restaurant and I ordered
some champagne. As soon as it was
served, I fumbled in my bag for the ring and managed to tell Laura how amazing
she was and how happy she made me before I then asked her to marry me. She of course said yes and we both tried not
to cry in the middle of the restaurant!
We had an absolutely amazing night. The food was out of this world and although I
spent all my savings on the meal and the room for the night, it was totally
worth it and I wouldn’t change a thing.
It was the perfect evening.
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Wow. How lovely is the ring, the engagement.. everything?! Don't forget to come back next Friday for Part 2 featuring their wedding & an exciting addition to their lives!!
