Modern Expat Love

I met Hub back in 2009 at a time when I wasn't really looking for love. I was just out of a complicated long-term relationship and looking forward to being single again. My gals and I were invited to a Shoreditch House pool party and I caught Hub mad starin' at me from across the pool. Naturally I played coy. Turned out to be our longest date ever and carried on into the next morning. Winky wink.

Santa Teresa di Gallura '10

Fast forward a few years and we decided to take it to the next level. We moved into an unfurnished apartment and then a few months later I was fired. Not only was I devastated and depressed, but I had exactly 60 days to submit a new application for a visa or return to the US. I won't go into detail on the difficulty of getting a work visa, but I will say that the pressure was almost too much to bare. Sixty days turned into 40 days and I was running out of time. What's strange is that the thought of returning home never felt like a option. In addition to losing my spirit, I wasn't about to lose my love and the life that I had built too. So Hub and I had a serious chat and one sunny afternoon, I got a text saying let's go to the registry office. Four weeks later I was Mrs. Hewitt.

At the time I wanted to downplay the whole thing because it wasn't my dream scenario. Although Hub and I had previously talked about getting married someday, there was no kneeling, no engagement party, no Facebook status change followed by numerous congratulations. Does that sound silly? What's even more ridiculous is how I thought nothing would change between us after the civil ceremony, that we would just carry on as boyfriend and girlfriend. We quietly celebrated our Camden Town Hall nuptials with immediate family and a small group of friends. And then poof! Everything changed overnight. We grew closer, more connected. It was kind of wonderful.

The following year Hub and I went back to Santa Teresa di Gallura and he got down on one knee and proposed. I was so surprised, I bursted into tears! So on our wedding invitations, we wrote this:

After almost three years of civil marriage

And nearly two years of engagement

We would like to invite you to our wedding

I love our unconventional wedding story, I feel like it's very us. We experienced two wonderfully unique and different weddings to each other and what's interesting is it seems to be pretty common amongst our expat couple friends. I guess it's just modern expat love.