As cliché as it sounds, it’s said that “Life is a journey, not a destination. Happiness is not there but here, not tomorrow but today”. As I sit here writing this section, I reminisce about all the memories that we’ve shared over the years, and what a journey it’s been!

 

We met all the way back on August 24, 2013 at the Cambridge University freshers’ dinner (I still remember vividly Joyce wearing a red Herve Leger dress that night, I wonder if she remembered what I wore?), yet it wasn’t until almost a year later on June 21, 2014 that we “officially” became a couple after I finally mustered the courage to ask Joyce out in Tenerife. Fast forward a couple of years through thick and thin and as we transitioned from university life into the first steps of adulthood; Joyce and I continued to evolve to be the best partner for each other. Joyce went from being terrified of dogs to being one of the biggest dog lovers I know; and well, I’d like to consider myself marginally more mature!

 

Yet throughout all the changes and variables over the years, one thing truly stood firm; our never-ending hunt for the best food! From devouring 8 meals in a day in LA, to using 3 laptops at once to secure restaurant bookings, to going to the dodgiest of locations to find the hole in the wall gems (Maison Pickle I miss you), food has really been our love language. So much so that even our pre-wedding shoot fully revolved around food too! It’s no surprise that most of our friends expect us to be over 200 lbs after we get married!

 

In August 2022 we finally made a long overdue trip with friends to Whistler, where Joyce promptly got COVID on the first day. Unbeknownst to her (largely in part due to the multiple times I narrowly avoided her wrath after telling her I had no proposal plans until earliest 2023), that months prior plans had already been put into motion. Photographers were confirmed and camouflaged as dogwalkers, exact routes were planned over multiple zooms, permissions were asked from both sets of parents; and so on 9th August 2022 as the sun began to set along the Cheakamus River, I brought an oblivious Joyce along the riverbank and on the third rock after the first left turn, I got on one knee and offered to exchange a week of COVID for a lifetime of happiness with her. An unbalanced offer by all accounts (especially since she didn’t actually pass me COVID!) but I have no regrets!

 

This, is merely just the start of our journey together; there are still more meals to be enjoyed, more worlds to explore, and many more adventures to be had. We’d love for you all to continue on this journey with us as our closest friends and family, and would be honoured to have your presence in Taormina. And so, as the renowned novelist Mary Shelley says, “The name of Italy has magic in its very syllables”, see you all in May 2024!

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J&C