Chapter I · The Couple

Our Story

Before the Falls, before the rings — there were just two people and a first hello. This is how we got from there to forever.

The Beginning

Where it all started

From two people not looking for anything… to everything we’d been looking for! We met at a wedding - not ours, though things moved quickly after that. Dean was the best man, and Loe was the maid of honour. Neither of us had any intention of pursuing romance at a family wedding - we were just there to celebrate people we loved, standing across from each other at someone else’s story. It sounds like a setup, but it wasn’t, at least not officially. We only spoke a few times that night, sharing some small talk and a few laughs. Loe asked if Dean liked being a teacher, and he said, without hesitation, “I love it.” The way he said it, confident and sincere, stood out. Dean remembers thinking, 'Wow, she’s beautiful'. Something about the moment lingered, even if we didn’t realise why yet. Later, we ended up laughing over hardhat selfies and Ollie photos. Dean put his number in Loe’s phone, and when she stepped away to the bathroom, he assumed she’d called it a night and left. The next morning, Dean made a few adjustments to the plan. Instead of his mum driving Lorraine to the airport, he would do it. A few scenic hikes were even suggested that they could try before her flight. It rained, of course, so the hike didn’t happen. But we spent the afternoon talking, first nervously, then effortlessly. When Dean dropped Loe off at the airport, it didn’t feel like a goodbye. It felt like the start of something we didn’t yet have words for. From there, things unfolded naturally. Ten days later, Dean booked a flight to Canada. And here we are. Unexpected, grounding, and completely right - what started as the simplest of beginnings has become the most beautiful thing we’ve ever known.