Emily slid into Imogen’s Instagram DM’s, and it’s been a whirlwind romance ever since. Through the obstacles of a long-distance romance, they’ve overcome everything for their love to prevail. Imogen asked Emily to marry her on Christmas morning, surrounded by Emily’s family.
Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do for work and fun?
I : Traveling and discovering new places is our favorite thing to do together. I wouldn’t want another travel partner.
Emily is the organized one and I’m the spontaneous one. Together we make a great team. We love to go to concerts, restaurants and family walks with our dog luna together.
Emily really is the best person to be around. I always have a smile on my face when she’s about, it’s hard not to with her quick wit and bubbly personality.
Tell us about the moment you two lovers met.
I: We have been together for seven and a half years, and we met on Instagram, yes I know, such a modern-day romance! She slid into my DMs with a cool “Hi,” and I replied.
We chatted like that for two weeks then skyped every night for almost six months until I flew to Chicago to meet her before moving to Vancouver, Canada. We had our first proper date at The Cheesecake Factory, and I distinctly recall being shocked at the size of my Coke and equally as shocked when they refilled it! Such luxury!
She visited me in Vancouver, and I moved back to England to save money to make our relationship work in a non-long distance way. Then moved to Chicago six months later.
The rest is history.
Tell us about the planning process for the proposal?
I: I asked Emily to marry me on Christmas morning. We always spend Christmas with my family in England, and it was important for me to do this in their presence because with the long-distance we don’t get to share a lot with them. Emily knew something was going on though, because I got sick while we were waiting to check-in at O’hare airport for our flight to London, and she needed the passports from our bags, which were in my carry-on bag, which I stupidly left with her to watch. The ring was in the front pocket! She saw the box, but I managed to pass it off as earrings, although she kept teasing me the rest of the time before Christmas that it was an engagement ring.
We always get up on Christmas and open presents with my Mum, my sister, and her boyfriend, so that’s what we did, and halfway through, I let her open the “earring box”; it was empty. I read Emily a little poem I wrote and then asked her to marry me with the ring from my dressing gown pocket.
She said yes, and I’ve never heard her so quiet!
After that, we spent the rest of the day with my Grandparents and the rest of my family. My Dad and other sisters joined us the next day, and we all spent two solid days celebrating with so much food, wine and loving family. It was a very magical Christmas. Then we jetted off to spend a very romantic New Year in Paris. Best holiday ever!
And, there was a second proposal, tell us about that!
I: The following year, we spent Christmas with my family as always, then we flew to Iceland for our yearly New Years’ winter trip. It is the most incredible place we have ever been to!
We stayed in a lovely little hotel in Reykjavik. We explored the city and saw some of the highlights, and I was looking forward to the fancy dinner we had booked. Before our dinner, we walked over to the Harpa Concert Hall. It is such a stunning building.
It is there that Emily asked me to marry her!
I was stunned. I didn’t expect it at all!
Of course, I said yes, it seemed rude not to, considering we were already engaged and had planned most of our wedding. That is how I came to get an engagement ring, as well. After that, we had the most luxurious Icelandic dinner. Then we went on a two-day trip; we climbed waterfalls, saw wild horses and seals, walked on black sand, and climbed a glacier.
Incredible!
Tell us more about Emily’s sentimental engagement ring.
I: I had the ring made for Emily with the diamond that her Mom gave me from her Grandmother. It is very special to us both, especially now as Emily’s Grandmother passed away earlier this year – it allows us always to be connected to her in some way. It meant a lot to me to be trusted with something so precious to Emily’s family.
What does your engagement mean to you both? Has anything changed?
I: Our engagement meant the world to us both and solidified how I feel about Emily. She’s my best friend, and I really couldn’t imagine going through life with anyone else. There’s not a day that passes without laughter and love.
Nothing has changed. We are the same fools we will probably always be.
Photography & Videography by Made To Be Mine
