2012
The Black Castle
April 2012. A first date at the Black Castle in Bristol. The sort of night that ends up written down in a diary and then left in a loft for the next eighteen years. It's still up there, apparently.
01
Our Story
One date. Two dates. Then a brief intermission.
2012
A Brief Intermission
Two dates in, Hayley dumped him. Officially. Confidently. Completely. Paul, to his enormous credit, took the long view — and waited. Best decision either of them never made on purpose.
2018
Round Two, Properly
Marquees, weddings that weren't theirs, cocktails the colour of swimming pools, and a shared refusal to take a single thing too seriously. Somewhere in all of it, this quietly became the real thing.
2025
Top of the Rock
8th December 2025. Seventy floors above Manhattan, with the whole of New York glittering behind them, Paul asked. Thirteen years after being dumped after two dates, he got his answer. She said yes.
2030
Ashton Court
And so to 2030. Bristol stone, long tables, a very late dance floor, and everyone they love in one room. Eighteen years in the making. Worth the wait, and worth the diary entry.