It was the summer of 2010. Simon was returning to Majorca for his second season working as a sound engineer. Rachel had recently landed a job as an entertainer for the same company. This was the year of the Iceland volcanic ash cloud that caused all flights to be cancelled, so instead, there had been coaches arranged to transport all staff to their destination After 48 hours of no sleep on a coach filled with entertainers, singers, and kids party hosts all coaches arrived in Cala Bona. The next evening after training sessions throughout the day it was time to wind down - for Simon that meant going to his local bar Miguel’s with his mate Sparky. For Rachel this meant hosting a fancy dress party in her hotel room. This party led to an unfortunate decision of Rachel dressing up as a man and later deciding to hit the local bar still bearing drawn on moustache and beard. Safe to say after bumping into Simon that evening he was not immediately attracted to her. That summer Simon and Rachel grew close as friends, once the season had ended they did what any other twenty something did when they wanted to stay in contact and added each other on Facebook...

6 years later Simon’s work took him to the south of England to Worthing. During this time he looked Rachel up on Facebook to see if she was free for a catch up. Rachel was far too busy and despite him being in Worthing for three weeks couldn’t find the time to meet with him. Just as Simon was about to travel back home to Liverpool, Rachel sent a text saying she had a free evening and they should go for a night out in Brighton. Simon decided to delay his trip home and went to meet her for that long awaited drink. After reuniting after all this time Simon suddenly found he kept on getting more and more work in Worthing, which seemed like a happy coincidence to Rachel! Little did she know he was travelling back and forth a 250 mile trip to try and win her over! After 6 dates Simon whisked Rachel away for a romantic holiday to the Algarve where they fell in love, 3 weeks after that Simon made the brave decision to move in with Rachel and her parents and 2 months after that into their very own flat in Shoreham.

3 Years later. A surprise trip that Simon had been planning for the last year took Rachel to Berlin and then on to Santorini. The second day on the beautiful island they headed down to the port where there were several boats and catamarans which tourists were boarding ready for a day trip. A little further down the pier there was a small speedboat, it became apparent to Rachel that they were not going on any ordinary excursion. After a quick lesson on navigating and driving the boat Captain Simon set off. They sea was choppy this day to say the least and within 10 minutes of Rachel relaxing as a passenger at the stern a huge wave crashed and soaked her from head to toe! This turbulant ride continued as they headed for a nearby island, at one point there was a wave so big the small boat came crashing down so violently Rachel was thrown from her seat and landed on the deck battered and bruised. Simon was gradually realising this wasn't turning out to be the romantic and relaxing cruise he was hoping for, and by the look on Rachel's face the proposal wasn't going to go to plan if he didn't turn this around soon! They soon realised they weren't going to make it to the island in one piece so turned around and found a small bay close to the shore where the waters were calmer. The sun started setting, the champagne was popped and Simon somehow managed to change into a smart shirt and chinos which was a stark contrast to Rachel who was wrapped in a towel and still recovering from the sea waves she had been drenched with earlier. As Simon got down on one knee and mumbled something neither of us remember, of course Rachel accepted. It had been a movie perfect scene with a dash of harsh reality that nothing is perfect but that didn't matter as they were perfect for each other.