How It All Began
Our Story
From a spilled coffee to a Lake District sunrise
September 2019
The one with the terrible coffee
We met during freshers' week at the University of Leeds. James spilled lukewarm coffee all over Sophie's notes in the library. It was mortifying. He offered to buy her a replacement — she said only if it was from a proper cafe, not the vending machine. That replacement coffee lasted three hours.
November 2019
The first real date
James finally worked up the courage to ask Sophie for dinner. They went to a tiny Italian place on Call Lane. The plan was a quick meal, but they closed the restaurant — sat talking until the staff started stacking chairs around them. Six hours felt like twenty minutes.
March 2020
Lockdown brought us closer
Three months into dating and the world shut down. Most new couples would have crumbled. Instead, they spent lockdown cooking elaborate meals in James's tiny student kitchen, watching every Studio Ghibli film twice, and realising this was something worth holding onto.
July 2022
Moving in together
After graduating, they found a little flat in Chapel Allerton. Sophie's collection of houseplants took over every windowsill within a week. James built the IKEA furniture. Badly. They wouldn't have it any other way.
October 2025
The Lake District sunrise
James planned a weekend in Ambleside. On a misty Saturday morning, he led Sophie up to Loughrigg Fell for sunrise. As the light broke over Windermere and painted the valley gold, he got down on one knee. She said yes before he finished the question. They both cried. Then they went for a full English.
