Our story

When and where did you first meet?

Given that neither of us remember the moment we first met, we can safely say it was not love at first sight. We first met in October 2018 at St Ebbe's Church, Oxford - the church we are both a part of today, and the church we are getting married in!

When and where was your first date?

On 15th March 2024 we had our first date. We watched a film at the Phoenix Picturehouse cinema before going for dinner at The Victoria. Don't ask what the film was. It was slightly ruder than we were expecting - David claims not to have known anything about it before booking the tickets.

So what happened in between that first meeting and that first date?

For five years, not a lot! We were aware of each others' presence and crossed paths every now and then at church. Josie's memory of David was "that nice boy" and David's memory of Josie was "that talented girl".

Fast forward a few years and we were both looking for housemates in Oxford and so joined forces, with a few others, and moved into Vicarage Road. From here, we began spending a lot of time together. As friends. Just friends. This included trips to the bakery, watching classic films, and doing meal prep which, it turns out, we both quite enjoyed. As friends. Just friends.

Who made the first move?

Experts differ on this one - there seem to be two schools of thought. Either way, it involved holding hands while watching It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. 

And how did the engagement happen?

David suggested going to the Harcourt Arboretum to "make the most of the sunny weather". Josie was suspicious but talked herself out of it. On the day, while out for brunch beforehand, a very nervous David couldn't drink his coffee. Josie noticed something was up; she thought David must be feeling unwell.

We arrived at the arboretum, surrounded by trees and peacocks. After spending a bit of time wandering, we walked to the quiet back field and sat down on a bench. Josie thought to herself "this would be a nice place for somebody to be proposed to" but was still none the wiser. As is traditional for us, we went through some of the New York Times puzzles. At this point, David was panicking, thinking "I need to pop the question at some point". 

We started the Spelling Bee, and reached "nice". David said that he was happy to stop there. Josie was suspicious: we never stop at just nice. David asked Josie to stand up and rummaged through his bag. David went down on one knee. We can't remember exactly what was said other than "I'm sorry this isn't a chorizo ring" (ask us for the context for this if you want).