This is such an interesting story! So recently I held a competition on the blog after launching the Secret Wedding Shop to win a pair of SarSar earrings and the lucky winner was Sally! I emailed asking for her address so I could post her the earrings and we got talking. Sally had said:

“What a strange small world…. Just looked on your blog and saw your feature about Jon Vogel.

 My boyfriend happens to be working with him in Afghanistan right now! They share a room (with several other men - lovely!)

 I’ve never met him but recognised the name. How strange!”

I was gobsmacked! I had just launched the proposals section and had featured Laura and Jon’s proposal before Jon was deployed back to 6 months in Afghan. Instantly, I connected Sally and Laura together and ever since then they have been chatting about their men and planning their weddings!

Sally told me: “I’m so chuffed you connected me with Laura, we chat all the time. It’s so comforting to be able to talk to someone whose man is with mine.”

This makes me so happy, to be able to connect them together all down to Secret Wedding Blog!

About Sally and Tom

Sally is a 36 year old Director and Head of Technical Support for a local telecommunications company based in Downham Market. Tom is a 31 (toyboy ) year old Sergeant in the Army in the artillery, based in Germany. They met on a well known online dating site 2 years ago. They had chatted online and on the phone for two months before they could really meet because Tom was training with the Army ski team in Norway at the time.

Sally’s Story

Tom eventually came home for christmas and we met up. Our first date was a lunch date in a cafe and then two days later we had a “proper” date in Cambridge where we had a meal and a few cocktails. After that we were pretty much together! Tom went back to skiing before New Year so we didn’t really have long together but continued our relationship on Skype until he came home again a few weeks later.

We’ve been fortunate in that Tom has been in the UK on courses quite a lot since we’ve been together so we’ve seen one another a lot. I’ve also been to Germany to stay with him a few times.

We had talked a lot about getting married as we knew it was what we both wanted, so the proposal wasn’t a complete surprise.

The proposal

It was the first night of our holiday in Corfu and we’d been for a lovely meal on the cliff edge. The sun was setting and the views were amazing. We’d arrived in the early hours that morning, so by 9pm I was shattered and couldn’t wait to get back to our apartment to sleep!! Tom decided he wanted to sit down on some rocks and enjoy the view. After a few minutes, he stood up and held both of my hands. I thought he was going to help me stand up but he actually then went down on one knee! I suddenly realised what was about to happen and he said “You know what I’m going to ask, don’t you?” Then asked me to marry him!

It was unexpected as it was the first night of our holiday - I thought he’d make me wait until the last night!! He had put the ring in his wallet - loose! So he was lucky I didn’t spot it when he paid in the restaurant. I was so impressed with his choice of ring although he had had a few hints in the months leading up to it!

I felt so happy and we couldn’t wait to tell our families. We went back to our apartments, ordered champagne and joined in the bingo (Tom’s favourite!)! People in the bar congratulated us and it felt amazing! It still feels amazing telling people I’m Tom’s fiancée!

Tom’s story

Sally had been randomly sending me photos of rings she liked for months so I had a good idea of what she liked!

I felt fine before proposing, not nervous really. I took the ring out with me that evening in my wallet in case the ideal moment arose. We sat on the rocks and it was perfect because of the sunset and the view. We’d been there the previous year as well, so I knew exactly where I wanted to propose. There were loads of people wandering around so I waited for a while for them to disappear before I proposed because I felt embarrassed doing it in front of people.

Unfortunately I didn’t get an opportunity to ask Sally’s parents permission to marry me. They were very happy for us though, and her dad ribbed me about not asking him first as he knew I felt bad about it!

Planning the wedding

We started planning the wedding as soon as we arrived home from holiday, as we didn’t have long before Tom had to go back to Germany and then left to go to Afghanistan for 8 months.

Save the date

The wedding is arranged for August 2014 and its given me a great distraction while Tom’s away on tour.

I am so looking forward to blogging about their wedding after getting to know Sally - such a genuine, grateful person. I wish her and Tom all the best and you’ll see them on the blog again in the future!