OUR STORY

Our Story by Sarah 

Dan and I met in the most boring way, on the apps :-p !  The kind of meeting that doesn’t announce itself as life-changing. There were no fireworks at first, no grand cinematic moment. Just a conversation that lingered a little longer than expected, and my offer to drive clear across Dubai to drop D back to his place so I could chat a little longer. Something easy. Something steady.

From the beginning, being with Dan felt natural. We slid into each other’s lives without force, like two puzzle pieces that didn’t even realize they were shaped for one another.

We dated for six months before everything shifted.

An opportunity or maybe a responsibility called him to Mossel Bay to help Mervyn. It wasn’t a small decision. It meant distance. It meant uncertainty. It meant choosing whether what we were building could survive oceans and time zones.

He went. And just like that, our love story became one of airports, countdowns, and “see you soon” instead of “goodnight.”

For a year, I traveled back and forth to South Africa. Our relationship lived in arrivals halls and tearful departures. We learned how to love across distance, how to be patient, how to trust, how to communicate when we couldn’t just reach across the couch and hold hands.

But that year gave me something unexpected: his world.

I got to know Mervyn, not just as the reason Dan had gone, but as a very special person. I met the rest of the family. I saw the roots that shaped him. I understood him in a deeper way because I saw where he came in JHB and learned the rhythms of Mossel Bay where his heart is from summers past. 

Somehow, even with the distance, we grew closer.

In 2019, everything changed again. Dan’s dad passed away.

Grief has a way of rearranging priorities. It softens some things and sharpens others. Dan came back to Dubai that year carrying loss, but also clarity. Coming back wasn’t just about geography; it was about grounding himself after something that big. We leaned on each other differently then. Love felt less like excitement and more like a partnership.

But just as life started to feel steady again, the world shifted.

COVID.

And once more, we were faced with separation. Travel restrictions. Uncertainty. Plans that dissolved overnight. He had to leave again, and the distance returned, only this time it felt heavier, wrapped in global fear and unknown timelines.

Yet somehow, we kept choosing each other. And when the world slowly began to open again, so did we.

After COVID, something shifted in us, not dramatically, but deeply. We weren’t just surviving distance anymore; we were building. We started creating a life that felt grounded and intentional. We had weathered loss, uncertainty, and time apart. What remained wasn’t fragile because it was tested. Stronger. We grew into a version of “us” that felt steady and sure. The kind of love that isn’t loud, but lasting.

And then, finally  in 2025  after years of long flights, goodbyes, reunions, grief, growth, and choosing each other over and over again… Dan asked me to marry him!

It wasn’t just a proposal. It was a promise that had already been lived out in so many ways. A quiet, joyful, “we made it.”

And the easiest “yes” of my life.

The Proposal By Dan 

Shit… she wants me to write words. The Kid who used to love writing stories and poems is  now a man who  thinks in numbers and tech drawings,
Captain late notice. Probably the laziest speller on earth.    Many who will read this will claim someone spell checked or edited this for me  but in true Daniel style this is the reason why this website is only coming out 100 days  pre wedding.    

I plan for work, and  do that very well,  in my life I don't plan a lot for my personal side. Its often easier to live to a value set and hit targets not think about its Monday life must be x.  Life has never planned out that way for me. 

For years I got the question: “So when are you going to ask the question?” “When are you actually proposing?” Everyone asked. No one asked if I was ready?

But somewhere between the years of dating, traveling, living, and most importantly fighting through life together. I realized,I already had my answer. Who else would put up with my nonsense and my brain every day?  honestly, who else would I want to wake up next to?

I talk a lot about our pack—Foster, Finn, Clover, and S—but the truth is, it’s bigger than that. It’s our friends, our family, and the people who’ve shaped us.

I keep coming back to t shirt I wore as a kid till I out grew it:

Now this is the Law of the Jungle — as old and as true as the sky; And the Wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the Wolf that shall break it must die. As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk the Law runneth forward and back — For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.

After a crazy season out in Liwa (the desert) and a few other gigs, it hit me properly—I couldn’t be with someone I love and not make her part of the pack in every way that matters, including in the eyes of God.

A few weeks before I proposed and one of my best mates said propose soon,  You don’t want him and his now wife to be engaged before  me and Sarah,   for once I laughed and  kept quiet.  Little did others know I’d already  sketched a few things and had spoken in  true DXB style to a “guy”.

As we were  going home for Carl's (my cousin) and my 40th  the wheels were in motion …

So, while we were back in South Africa for a whistle stop holiday and  birth day celebrations

I actually made a personal plan or at least it was supposed to be one.  I had this whole idea of getting  the SA pack  up to the top of Table Mountain for a sunset proposal— perfect timing, perfect setting, everything lined up. Coordinating family,  timing and Cape town weather … what could possibly go wrong?  

Naturally, in true family fashion, things didn’t quite go to plan. Instead, we ended up having an incredible dinner together—everyone there, good food, good wine, and a lot of laughter.

And somewhere in that moment, it didn’t need the mountain, or the sunset, or the perfect setup.   It needed  those who raised me,  those who effected my life in ways I'll never  be able thank.

I stood up and spoke to Carl and my love first to Carl about being there for  40years. and being  the brother I never had.

But then  slid down and went on one knee and asked  the grumps-aourous who has put up with me for the last 9 years now  to put up with me if she wanted to put up with me for 40 more years.

 As we are all aware she did say YES.