Monique and John Paul have known each other for 10 years, having met while working together at Hilton Malta. John Paul has been working there for the past 13 years as a barman, while Monique, who now works in the banking sector, continued working at the hotel for as long as she’s known John Paul.
“Even though we have known each other for the last 10 years, we have been sharing our love since 14th July 2015, to be exact,” they say. “It might sound unusual, but we have thought about marriage and family since that day.”
The proposal came about during an unplanned holiday with friends in Paris, soon after buying their home. “On one of the days, we decided to visit the Eiffel Tower and whilst on the highest level, I got down on one knee and popped the question. She obviously said ‘yes’ with a lot of happy tears!” John Paul shares.
“It was very difficult to surprise Monique since all her family and friends were joking and hinting that I was going to propose (although they weren’t aware about my plans). I managed to keep it a secret, denying all the hints saying, ‘it’s not the right time.’ I also asked one of our travel buddies to carry the ring since Monique and I were sharing the same luggage.”
After the proposal, John Paul and Monique worked on getting their apartment ready alongside wedding planning, with one year and four months until the big day. While Monique took care of most of the wedding planning, they took all final decisions together. “We both wanted to do it this way and the great satisfaction of everything coming into place was shared by both of us as we both planned it from our hearts. We believe that this was one of the main reasons that both of us enjoyed that day so much with great emotion, happiness and love.”
Monique and John Paul tied the knot on 19th July 2019 at Siggiewi Parish Church, followed by a reception held at the Gazebo Hilton Malta. Their wedding didn’t have a theme from the get-go, but they eventually settled on having a classic-themed wedding once Monique chose her dress. “Everything just fell into place. We never wanted anything extravagant or planned to have anything so. All we wanted was for it to be a day of love and to share our love with all our family and friends who were there that day.”
In line with the classic theme, the couple chose invites to reflect this, incorporating the ivory colours of the bride’s dress with silver used for the bridesmaids’ dresses, as well as a touch of pink. “As souvenirs, we prepared some small thank you gifts that our guests could use. For example, since it was a hot day, we laid out hand-held fans on the church benches and had sandals for the after-party with various sizes so the ladies could keep dancing the night away.” They also gave a donation to Puttinu Cares.
Monique told us all about her wedding dress, which was not her first choice. She was after a fishtail dress, but the “fittings didn’t go as planned. After visiting numerous shops, at one particular wedding gown shop and after 10 fittings, the final dress brough tears to my eyes,” Monique says. “It’s true when they say you’ll know it’s the one.” In the end, Monique decided on an A-line dress with a heart-shaped, low back beaded corset and a plain ivory skirt. She also had a French-lace veil, which was light grey and longer than the skirt’s train.
“All of it was an unforgettable day and it was the best day of our lives from beginning to end. It was made even more beautiful because throughout the process of planning, preparing and on the day itself, we could share it all with our family and close friends.”
JJ Chirchop