Of course, love stories like The Notebook, Titanic, and When Harry Met Sally all have a special place in our hearts. But you know what we adore even more than these classic rom-coms? Tales of love that are real.
With Valentines just around the corner, we’ve rounded up some true love stories from our Fluid Family, which are sweeter than anything you'll find in any Valentine's Day movie!
So, while you're stressing about the perfect gift for him, her, and everyone in between, let these love stories, remind you what February 14th is actually about... besides chocolate.
Alex on proposing to Kelly
"Kelly & I met on Tinder, we had a connection in common which was her brother, I took over from her brother's role at Outstanding Branding. We met at the right time, for both of us it was the last roll of the dice using it, after that, I thought I would have to reside myself to one night stands for the rest of my life. First off when we matched on Tinder conversation ran dry, she even thought I was boring...
She ghosted me for a bit, and then when I was at a Christmas party a work colleague who knew her brother Jared, egged me on to message her again. It worked, we had our first date 3 years ago on the 28th December we went on our first date in Shoreditch. She was late which wound me up no end but meeting her more than made up for it. Thankfully my personality changed her boring opinion of me.
It was refreshing to meet someone so honest. We both decided to be super honest with each other from the start. And we both still are to this day, I think that’s why we work so well together. Sometimes I think my family likes her more than me, I needed a strong woman in my life
We purchased our London property in October 2019 and made it our own after living with my parents for a year to help us save.
Kelly is from Durban in South Africa, her mum still lives there. Sadly her dad passed early last year who I got on with very well. When we were over there early last year I asked for Kelly’s hand in marriage to which her mum said yes. Kelly’s godmother’s daughter works in the Jewellery trade over there so I worked with her to get the perfect ring for Kelly she’s always wanted and had it shipped across for when the time was right.
Over the years in the Industry, I had built up a good rapport with Scott Pearce who owns and runs DATUM design & print. Due to COVID and not being able to go anywhere to do the deed I thought a seaside-style Foamex face in hole board would be just the ticket. I worked with his team to create the attached. I’ve devoted most of my working carer to the merchandise industry, I couldn’t propose using a bit of merch, could I?
I knew it had been delivered to our home address when Kelly called me whilst I was in the office asking what the hell I had been ordering as when it came flat packed it was about 6 feet long! Little did she know what it was for!
When the big day came I arranged for Kelly’s Brother & Girlfriend to take Kelly out for the day as she’s extremely nosy. To say I was nervous was an understatement. I managed to set up the living room and the rest was history!"
Joe on his long-distance relationship
"My love story is pretty international - English guy living in China meets Korean girl living in America. Unfortunately, we met after I had already set my plans to move back to the UK, and although I'd already fallen madly in love with her (she's beautiful, how could I not...), the flights were booked and I had to go. I tried to keep moving forward, but after a few months, I realised that even if I could leave China behind, I didn't want to go anywhere without Jurie. It hasn't always been easy being so far apart, there are ups and downs in a long-distance relationship (especially with all the flights!), just like any normal relationship, but thankfully so many more ups than downs!
We got into a pretty good rhythm over the years since then, we'd meet nearly every month, and every meeting is always a party! 3 out of 4 weeks you get to spend being good, and the 4th week you get to eat the best food, drink the best drinks, stay at the nicest hotels, blow all the money you'd saved in between (or I do at least, she's much more sensible...).
So after almost 3 years of living apart after China, we'd just seriously started looking at how to move back together when Covid blew up, no more flights to the UK or America, even Korea, and China require strict quarantines so once a month became 'who knows when'? Our calls continued, I still wish her a good morning every morning as soon as I open my eyes and goodnight before I close them again. She shares her latest cooking tips and how annoying it is to be a flight attendant in a pandemic and we call as often as time zones and work allows. Every day that goes by isn't just a day that I miss her, it's a day closer to seeing her again.
And we have managed to meet a few times during this craziness. In fact, with the pandemic going on we've been locked in my little apartment for weeks together, and rather than trying to murder each other, it's just a constant reminder that one day soon this is how perfect it could always be, not just a few bright spots of excitement and comfort. So yeah, for now, the phone bills wrack up and the love letters keep getting written, but hopefully not for long until I see her again."
Miles on proposing to Nicola
"We met as I was buying a new house. Nicola is a Solicitor and was overseeing the legals on my purchase. I wasn't aware at the time, but before we met up on our first date, she had messaged some of my friends and colleagues to make sure I was a nice guy! Obviously being a Solicitor made her a little cautious, but thankfully I passed the test. The house I bought is in a seaside harbour town of Charlestown, Cornwall, and Nicola moved in with me about a year later. A lot of dog walks on the beach and Cornish pasties later, and the pressure was on to ask the key question! We now have brought a house together next to the sea so it made sense to propose in a place we both love. So I ended up getting down on one knee on our favourite local beach, which was surprising to Nicola at the time, but she happily said yes straight away. We are both pretty grounded, so will probably end up getting married locally with our friends and family. Let's hope the lockdown ends soon so that we can check out some venues!"
It's with a heavy heart we write, that unfortunately, Willow the bunny has passed away since we wrote this blog. We’re sending all of our thoughts and love to Jem in this tough time!
