When body fitness meets love.

We are so loving Lydia and John‘s pre-wedding shoot. The groom-to-be John is a fitness instructor and his bride-to-be always has a love for the gym. Hence their pre-wedding shoot captured by Enitan Photography showed two sides of this beautiful couple, first in their Gym and fitness mood and then the all dressed mood. Honestly, for each theme, they looked absolutely stunning.

The bride-to-be, Lydia shared their love story, how John popped the big question and you can read all about it below:

Here’s how it all started according to the bride-to-be, Lydia

In true millennial style, John and I actually met over Facebook. I was struggling to complete my A-Level History homework, looking for any distraction and little did I know that John was planning to captivate my whole evening. I had a notification come through about a new message in my facebook inbox and John had simply wrote: “you’re blessed”.

I was so confused at this approach, definitely a new technique but I responded “who’s this” and cut a long story short, 8 years down the line and we haven’t gone a day without speaking to each other. I may have got a D in that coursework (thanks to John) but I gained a soulmate and lifelong best friend. Ladies, respond to your DMs, there’s treasure among the madness.

Here’s how he popped the big question according to Lydia:

We were off to Marrakech for my birthday for a few days and I had a full itinerary of things to do. John usually lets me organise things but he assured me that he had arranged our plans for Sunday which was strange but I thought it was a birthday activity. I woke up on that Sunday and noticed John was nowhere to be seen and going into the bathroom I saw a note – I had no idea that this was the start of the journey into a new chapter of our relationship. There were 6 notes at different points of that day that led us up to the big question.

*Morning*
Note 1: John told me to get ready and have breakfast as he had booked me in for a traditional hammam massage.

Note 2: As I was leaving the spa, the receptionist gave me another note that asked me to meet John in our room. The room was beautifully decorated with cake for my birthday.

*Afternoon*
Note 3: This note interrupted my nap as the hotel staff knocked on my door to deliver another note and champagne which asked me to be ready for 7 pm.

*Evening*
Note 4: Now John had been disappearing throughout the day but in preparation for note 4, he told me he was off to pay the spa. I thought this was strange but I left it and soon after he left, there was a knock on the door from another member of staff at the hotel with a note saying I should meet my “Prince Charming” outside.

Note 5: In the ride to the restaurant I was convinced that there would be one final note as 4 was a random number to leave things. John remained poker-faced. We got to this romantic restaurant and whilst John was very strangely not eating, it didn’t stop him from hinting that the proposal would likely come next year (now 2019). I believed him and had no feeling at all that a proposal was coming. When John gave me what I thought would be the last note, it simply said “I love you forever” and I was relieved that there would be no more surprises.

Note 6: I was wrong. John excused himself to go to the bathroom and soon after the restaurant manager came to me with the 6th note. I was confused. The note told me that John had one final surprise and I should come and meet him upstairs. I walked hesitantly up a candlelit staircase and the rest is a tear-filled blur. After 8 long years, John asked me to be his wife and my heart was, is and always will be full.

What are you looking forward to the most on your wedding day?

I am actually most looking forward to dancing out of the church ceremony, locking hands with the love of my life. At that moment we will be leaving a sacred place of God as husband and wife to start our journey of life in complete union and I can’t wait for that. The dancing and tears of joy on the day are going to be a serious matter !! #THESONEYES are coming and I hope you’re ready!

What advice would you give to young couples looking to get married?

My advice to young couples looking to get married is to enjoy your relationship and shape it to suit you. As young people, we are faced with social media pressure and “couple goals” as well as economic pressure to “save money and invest in property etc.” however it is important that you and your partner are prioritising what is important for yourselves and not what your peers are pushing onto you. Be each other’s counsel, be honest with what you want to achieve, seek advice and God’s favour and all will fell into place. A lot of young people see marriage at a young age as a financial burden and something that will terminate their social life but in actual fact, if there is mutual understanding you may actually have more fun and achieve more goals with a partner by your side. No time will be perfect to do anything so be organic and let your love and understanding of each other drive your decisions.

Credits

Bride-to-be: @lovelydia_x
Groom-to-be: @j_dipo
Photography: @enitan_photography
Planner:@matigonoevents