we're getting married

It all started on the 15th of July 2018. The 2018 Football World Cup Final. France v Croatia. Where R&R sat next to each other at Eastwoods in Pretoria, started talking, and the rest is history... (This explains their love for football and visiting football stadiums together, haha) Ricky took Raquel on a few "daytime" dates, which Raquel didn't think were too serious. (especially because Ricky's bank cards wouldn't work on the first date, and he had to draw R30 from an ATM to pay for the coffees.) This was until he invited her to their first "nighttime" date at Kreme in Brooklyn, Pretoria. Then it was SEEERIOUSSSS. R&R started dating on the 3rd of May 2019. Moved to London together in 2020 and have been fortunate enough to travel to many countries together until one holiday changed their lives forever!

Ricky, hoping for the perfect moment, had taken the ring with him on a few holidays thinking that it might be super romantic to propose under the northern lights. But, in true Ricky fashion, he never thought things through and forgot that they would be in 5 layers of clothing while also wearing gloves! So the ring travelled with them, constantly having to be hidden and avoiding a few close calls until Ricky finally found the right place. Tuscany, Italy. A place that will forever be special to R&R. With the ring in his pocket, and determined to find his moment, Ricky drove Raquel from wine farm to wine farm around Tuscany until on the 3rd (and final day of the holiday) R&R arrived at Tenuta Torciano in San Gimignano. R&R spent the afternoon driving around the wine farm on a golf cart tasting wines along the way. During this drive Ricky, who was searching frantically for a good spot, spotted a gazebo surround by big rings of grapevines with fairy lights all over and he immediately knew this was the spot. There was one problem though, this area was closed off with red ropes. After dinner (and a few more glasses of wine), Ricky was full of confidence and convinced Raquel to sneak past the ropes and off to the gazebo where Ricky very sneakily setup his phone to capture the moment. This was the moment he was waiting for. The sky full of colour just after sunset and the fairy lights giving that magical feeling. Ricky got down on one knee and immediately all the words he had prepared disappeared from his memory. But thankfully what he did manage to say worked a charm, and SHE SAID YES!