Check Out The Hot Girl……

That’s what Junior said to his friend as Ali walked into the bar he was working in….and the rest you can read about in amongst the super cute images by Lisa Carpenter.

I love a bicycle. And a stripe. And a hat.

That means that I love this whole thing A LOT.

Ali: According to Junior it goes something like this: I walk into a bar where Junior is working with his mate. He nudges his mate – and says…”check out the hot girl”. I go about my night quite happily, and know nothing of this. Junior goes away with work, and comes back to his mate saying he’s got a new girlfriend he really wants Junior to meet… I want into the bar, only for Junior to discover his mate had stolen me for himself! Junior being ever the gent carried on regardless, and was happy for his friend (quite happy in the knowledge that he’d get his day!).

I saw his friend for a few weeks, it was pretty clear it wasn’t going anywhere, so one night Junior spotted his big chance while we were all standing round chatting about the classic film that is Dirty Dancing. I say how much I’d love to do the lift one day (wouldn’t every girl!), to which Junior replies we could do it right there, right then.

I can’t really describe the excitement of being lifted, in the dirty dancing lift (truly something every girl should experience by the way!), and to this day Junior is adamant that was the moment where he knew I’d be his! I on the other hand am not so sure, but hey it makes for a good story so I might be convinced to go for it!

The Proposal

Junior had it all planned out. We were going to go to the Isle of Skye, we were going to camp in the rain, and he was going to propose on a very windswept beach in February 2012… then he found out one of my best friends Kirstin was emigrating to Australia at the end of 2011, and wanted to make sure she would be there when he did it so changed all his plans last minute!

His plan was to unfold when we went back to Scotland for Christmas last year. He had Kirstin all lined up to walk me across the beach in our home town of Troon, for one last reminiscent trip before she moved, and he was going to be at the end of the beach with my dad, my brother and him all dressed up in their kilts, and there he would propose with champagne, the rain lashing down, and the wind howling. That was the plan anyway!

Things had to change very last minute when we woke on the morning of the proposal to find my dad had been rushed to hospital in the night with chest pains and a suspected heart attack! Junior called Kirstin as I was on the way to her house to tell her to abort the plan, and I spent a very peculiar couple of hours with a very edgy Kirstin while she tried to distract me with all kinds of means! Meanwhile Junior was back at my parents house, getting abusive texts from my dad telling him he’d better still propose, desperately hatching a plan on how he could still do it, all the while not knowing whether my dad had the all clear or not!

Dad got the all clear, and as we went to pick him up from the hospital Junior pulled together his plan, so when we walked in he shouted “let’s have a party” to celebrate my dad coming home. Sounded like the worst plan in the world to me, but everyone seemed really up for it so I went along with it! Watching everyone getting their glad rags on, and gearing up for a party all the while having no clue what the plan really was!

Once everyone had dressed up (kilts and frocks all round!) we were in the living room having some drinks and Junior had a playlist fired up. Kirstin then showed up at the door, and I got really suspicious as to what was going on. I couldn’t let myself think that Junior might propose so again I just went along with it! Next thing I know, everyone has sheets of paper, and my nose is out of joint as I don’t have one… they all start singing along with the next track on the playlist… My Girl by the Temptations… Junior gets down on one knee… and the rest, as they say, is history!

Photography – Lisa Carpenter

I know. There’s nothing like a beautiful love story to get you through a Monday.

Can’t wait to see the wedding

Big And They Lived…..Love

Charlotte xxx