It’s funny, 25 years of searching for a lifelong Partner, or not, whichever the case may be, but, it’s funny, when you least expect it, Cupid fires his arrow, and it hits you straight in the face. At least that’s how I was introduced to love, and I don’t mean that it was an unpleasant smack in the face, rather a euphoric one, akin to that of winning the lottery. It was the 1st of August 2015, a date my best Friend and his Wife know only too well, as it was the day of their wedding, to which I was attending in my capacity as best Man. A day full of joy and exhilaration for the newly married Mr and Mrs Richardson, a day of which I was full of excitement and joy for them, however, little did I know that these feelings were soon to be doubled up on. Cue the pretty brunette Girl in the pretty orange Lipsy dress, She had caught my eye earlier in the Church, during the ceremony, I had again caught her eye, now at the reception party, I had remembered my best friend Dan had said that Lucy (The Bride’s) Cousin was attending their wedding, was this her? I didn’t know, but I wanted to, I had spoken to my Colleague, the other best Man Dom at the bar and asked him who this Girl was, he didn’t know, but he said I should go and ask her to dance, I tried to retort to his suggestion but actually, it was a valid one, ok let’s do it. I drank my beer and attempted to collate a degree of courage, I could see that the pretty brunette Girl was already on the dance floor with who I believed was her Mother. I edged my way towards the table next to the dance floor and tried to act smooth, whilst looking for a window to approach them. I looked away and tried to play it cool before looking towards them, she was already looking straight at me, staring in my eyes, she smiled and kicked her head to the side, gesturing me to come over and dance with her, shit, it was as if she had read into my thoughts and put my out of my misery beforehand, well, I’ll take it. Before I knew it, we were dancing, holding hands, suddenly I realised I was face to face with her, looking in her eyes, I found myself taken aback with her beauty, her bright eyes and her beautiful smile. We continued to jump around to the music like crazy people, but I didn’t care, we were in our bubble together, I was happy, it was a natural happiness, a feeling of being totally comfortable with a complete stranger, a beautiful stranger, I had never felt this feeling of instant connection before. After a couple of dances, we parted for a short while, so I took the opportunity to ask Richard, who I knew was the Girl’s Cousin, I said “YOUR COUSIN IS NICE, WHAT CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT HER?” Richard replied “SERIOUSLY, SHE’S MY COUSIN” I said, “I KNOW THAT, WHAT’S HER NAME?” He told me her name was Natasha. Brill, Natasha, I like it. The music kicked into life again with more 80’s bangers, still on cloud nine, I decided to approach Natasha, who was sat with her family, with my hand extended to offer her another dance, thankfully she accepted and once again joined me on the dance floor. I spoke to her this time, shouting over loud music, you’re called Natasha aren’t you? She replied “YEAH, HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?” As she spoke, I could clearly detect an accent on her voice, I think it is a Yorkshire accent and l like it. After the dance, she said that she had to go, I felt a sudden wave of terror that I may never this Girl again, I couldn’t let this happen, I will summon my courage again to ask for her number. However rather unexpectedly, Natasha then turned to me and said “DO YOU WANT MY NUMBER THEN?” Again it was as if she had read my mind and pre-empted me once again, I had never connected this way before with another Girl and I had no doubt in my mind that she was special and was the one for me and here we are still together and now we get to experience our own wedding day. It’s a funny thing love, love can hit you from nowhere but last for the rest of your life and I’m thankful that it came my way.

It was the point in my life where I knew, with confidence, that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with this Girl. People who know me, know that I don’t do things on a whim, without analysing every outcome of a decision and with a decision of this magnitude, this was no exception. I would propose to this Girl. We were all packed for our holiday in Lanzarote, I had managed to hide the engagement ring in one of my trousers pockets and packed them into the suitcase. Once we had arrived in Lanzarote, I gave it a few days to allow sun to soak in and the stresses of daily life melt away, we were in our happy places and I felt it to be the perfect time. I had planned for us to have dinner in the restaurant, then move to the entertainment/bar where we could relax with live music. My plan was to propose publicly in the bar area with the assistance of the bar staff and entertainers. Before dinner, I told Natasha I needed to go down and reserve a table in the bar area, I took the ring box with me and spoke to the bar staff, I explained that I would ask my Girlfriend to marry me tonight and could you bring the ring box over? He answered yes without hesitation, with a slight language barrier I felt he didn’t fully appreciate what I was asking of them, so I presented the ring to them to make sure he understood, I requested that the ABBA tribute band playing that evening could assist with the proposal also, he obliged and I left the ring with them, I remember the feeling of excitement as I walked back up to our room, the wheels are in motion now, no turning back. I managed to encourage Natasha to dress to impress for the evening, hair, dress the whole shabang, we enjoyed some nice food then headed downstairs to the bar area, the bar area was quite substantial with a stage and a dance floor, it was packed with people who had come to enjoy tonight’s entertainment, little did they know that we would be included in that. We got our usual table, next to a couple who were from Scotland, we got chatting and they seemed friendly, in my mind, I felt that maybe they could help me to capture this momentous occasion on video, how could I approach this with them without Natasha becoming aware? I saw the Scottish chap head for the Men’s so I took the opportunity and did the same, we were stood next to each other at the urinals and I told him I was going to propose to my Girlfriend tonight and would he film it for me on my phone? He stopped mid flow and said “seriously?” I said yes seriously, he said “you’re winding me up?” I said no I’m really not. He said “of course I will, that’s fantastic!” Sound, the plan is all in place, we returned to our table, the ABBA tribute continued for a while, then, the music had finished, the ABBA lady raised her microphone, “do we have a Kenny and Natasha here this evening?” The place fell quiet, Natasha looking at me with confusion, “what’s going on?” She said. I replied. “I don’t know.” The Lady’s from ABBA came over to our table and handed me a microphone, I didn’t need the microphone so I placed it on the table, I was looking to see the waiter bringing the ring, it felt like an age, everyone watching, Natasha wondered what was happening, I finally saw him walking down hurriedly with the platter, I thanked him and took the box from it, the table we were sat at was round, so I manoeuvred around it and pulled the loose chair around out of the way so I could approach Natasha, as I did so, I everyone guessed what I was about to, as a chorus of “oohh” echoed from the Crowd. I got down on one knee and presented the ring, Natasha started sobbing but laughing, overwhelmed with happiness. I asked her to marry me, nodding, she said yes so I slid the ring onto her finger, the whole room erupted with an applause, it was like being in a movie, the ABBA band concluded playing “I do” for their next song, we took the opportunity to dance our first dance as an engaged couple, a moment we will remember for the rest of our lives.