Finding the man of your life in 48 hours while on vacation doesn’t just exist in romantic comedies! This is Shari and Ryan’s love story, a holiday crush that lasts.
Shari hadn’t even planned on this life-changing trip. “At the last minute, my best friend’s boyfriend couldn’t come on vacation to the Canary Islands, and I replaced him. So I really didn’t expect to find a husband there!” In July 2011, on entering the karaoke bar of her hotel, this Briton fell in love with a compatriot, Ryan Thorpe. “As soon as I saw him, I thought he was very handsome. I remember saying to my girlfriend to put on her sunglasses so she could spy on her.
Ryan had seen me too. He even told his friend that I was the girl he was going to marry “, remembers Shari. The two young vacationers overcome their shyness and discuss over a drink by choosing a song to interpret. Shari then discovers that this handsome kid sings like a god. “When he dedicated the song to me, Mon Amour, Westlife, my favorite group, I melted on the spot”, recalls the beautician. The next evening, Ryan will strike a blow: in front of his flabbergasted friends, he asks Shari to marry him.
No one believes in this holiday love
“I had instant feelings for her, I had never felt that before”, explains the impatient Englishman. Shari first thinks of a joke and decides to play along. “I figured he wasn’t really serious.” Surprise, the third night. Ryan got down on one knee, pulled out a ring and solemnly asked for her hand. “There was so much chemistry between us, I said yes!”
But on their return to England, the two lovers must each return home, 480 km from each other. They also break “the news” to their friends and families… and no one believes in this holiday love. Everyone considers that it will only be a passing fancy. Everyone, except the newly engaged couple who have no doubts about their love.
“We are both the kind of people to go for it in life”
They meet every weekend in Newcastle, at Shari’s. After six months of back and forth, they can’t take it anymore. Shari moves in with Ryan, in Odiham, Hampshire, from where she will never leave. Their first child, Cayden, was born in 2012. The wedding will be celebrated in August 2015, after three years of saving money. “We had a very nice day. Ryan performed the Westlife song he sang to me the night we met,” the bride is still moved.
Since then, two other children, Curtis, in 2016, and Cillian, in 2021, have joined the family. “Our loved ones were skeptical when we got engaged so quickly, but as soon as they saw us together, they realized we were made for each other. We’re both the kind of people to go for it. life, and I am very happy that I did. Eleven years later, it’s still happiness. “Summer loves can last forever.