Like many modern love stories, ours started on Hinge - although neither of us could really be bothered with dating apps at the time. We’d both taken breaks from online dating, but somehow we both ended up back on it… and that’s where it all began. Now, Jacob might tell you I only swiped for his dog, Toby - which is a lie. (Although to be fair, Toby is very cute.) The truth is, I liked him too - just maybe the dog a little bit more at first. After we matched, he sent the first message, and from there everything got a bit blurry. I can’t remember exactly how it all unfolded, but I do remember very quickly losing interest in anyone else who was messaging me, because I was always waiting to hear from this guy who’d send super long paragraphs and ask the strangest questions like, “Would you rather be attacked by one lion-sized ant or a hundred ant-sized lions?” Our chats were never the usual “How’s your day?” kind of thing. They were weird, funny, and somehow so comfortable. Within a couple of weeks, it already felt like I’d known him forever. Two weeks later (after one too many drinks), Jacob asked me out. He drove all the way to Redditch from Bedford - a true act of blind faith, considering for all he knew I could’ve been “Bob the Toenail Killer.” Thankfully, I wasn’t. Our first date didn’t exactly go smoothly - there were a few hiccups at the start - but after that, everything just clicked. We spent hours wandering between cafés, talking about everything from Doctor Who to Disney movies to our hopes and dreams for the future. The following week, I went to Bedford for our second date: mini golf. Jacob won (he’ll never let me forget it), and then I managed to get completely lost on the way home - for four hours - somewhere in Milton Keynes in the dark. He thought I’d ghosted him. In reality, I was just battling the world’s most confusing roundabouts. Date number three was bowling. This time, I won - 86 to 24, in case you’re wondering - and that was the night we had our first kiss, after I’d almost accidentally killed us driving home from Birmingham. From that moment on, everything just felt right. And it's safe to say Jacob quickly became designated driver...lol For the first eight weeks of our relationship, Jacob made the two-hour drive to Redditch multiple times a week - because, at the time, my dog was heavily pregnant. I wasn’t sure how she’d react to him, but the second Nara saw him, in her gloriously rotund hippo state, she waddled over and tried to go straight between his legs, grinning from ear to ear and demanding butt scratches. In that moment, I thought, Well, if the dog likes him, he can’t be that bad. We spent those early weeks bonding over puppies - not something many couples can say - and it turns out it was the perfect way to start. Somewhere along the way, he completely stole my dog’s heart (which still annoys me to this day), but I’m holding out hope that the next one might love me more. Since then, we’ve brought a house & moved in together, added another dog to the family, got engaged, and now… here you are, reading our story on our wedding website. So it’s safe to say that the weird Hinge chat, the dodgy navigation, and the slightly chaotic first few dates were all worth it - because they led us right here.