to have and to hold

When I first saw Graham on the second day of bible college, I thought 'oef here comes trouble' . He was across the circle from me chatting loudly with another girl and making her laugh - what a flirt. In the few months that followed I quickly realised how right my first impression was. I fell hard and fast and tried to pretend it wasn't happening the whole time. - Chiara When I first saw Chiara during our 10 minute break at bible college, she was surrounded by a group of people, telling them all about her 6 week skiing trip in Europe - what a brat. In the few months that followed I quickly realised how wrong my first impressions were. Her love for people and genuineness (yes, that is a real word mom, google says so) threw me off balance and I soon became infatuated with her and her big blue eyes. - Graham

For the next four years, we did a lot of growing up together. As little lambs who were both going into their first relationship whilst still figuring their own lives and ambitions, we had a lot of adventures. We dreamt about our futures together, challenged and encouraged each other to achieve our goals, and reassessed when our minds changed (just once or twice, or maybe three times). There was a lot of learning and laughing, and discovering each others varying levels of craziness and quirks.

While many begged and pleaded for the day to come faster (cough *Marcia* cough), it seemed like Graham was in no rush. The timing could not have been more perfect. On a beautiful sunny Saturday the day after Chiara finished off her degree we headed down to Ballito for a 'summer vaycay'. After an impromptu shopping trip to drag Chiara out of the house, we headed down to our favourite beach in Ballito where we'd spent many afternoons in our first summers of dating. At this beach our friends had helped set up the most gorgeous picnic . All of Chiara's favourite snacks were laid out with champagne, blankets, pillows, greenery - the whole nine yards. Graham then made some extremely nervous small talk and asked to read a story. This adorable story laid out their journey of four years and hinted at the big question coming.... Graham led Chiara to her feet as he got on to one knee and asked ''Will you marry me?'' To see the video and hear the hysterical responses, click the link below: ********************