The first time I saw Rachel was on Bumble. We matched, but then both ended up taking a break from dating apps. So when we reconnected on Tinder a few months later, in February 2020, it felt like fate.
She exuded confidence and had bright blue eyes – I was into her straight away. We chatted for a couple of weeks in the early days of Covid, and when it became clear it wasn’t going away, we made a plan for a date, eager to meet in person before any restrictions were implemented.
We knew we didn’t have much time, and only lived an hour apart in Kent, so I said, “Tomorrow, I’m going to get up at 4am, drive to pick you up, and you can stay for the weekend.”
We didn’t tell anyone what we were doing, which in hindsight seems mad. There were news reports about police stopping cars and questioning drivers. I was so nervous – I had to pull over at the side of the road a few times to get a hold of myself.
I met Rachel at 5am in a car park. We set off for my house, thinking it would just be for a couple of days, but then lockdown was announced later that day. She ended up staying and forming a bubble with me.
From the outset, it felt as if we’d known each other for ages. We spent our days walking to the lake near my house, and our nights drinking gin and talking for hours.
Four days after Rachel arrived, I woke up and instinctively got two mugs out of the cupboard. I suddenly thought, “This is how it’s going to be now.”
I bought an engagement ring online that day. I didn’t propose for another seven months, but at that moment I just felt like, “Yeah, this is it.” I had no idea what Rachel’s ring size was, so I had to get her to try it on when it arrived. She loved it, but also thought I was insane.
Getting used to living with someone who was essentially a stranger provided some interesting moments. My house was very much my space before Rachel moved in. She’s messy, I’m tidy, and I remember thinking, “This is chaos. Everything is everywhere.” We didn’t have any disagreements, though, and we still rarely argue.
At first, we kept our relationship secret, but after two weeks, it was getting annoying sending Rachel out of the room during family Zoom calls. I called my mum and said, “I’m really sorry, I’ve got a confession to make.”
I had two cats at the time, so the first thing she thought was that I had got a kitten or a puppy. When I flipped the camera round to show Rachel, my mum, who is very loud and outspoken, responded, “I wish you’d just bought a goddamn puppy!” My dad didn’t say much, bless him.
I proposed in October that year. I was planning on doing it at a dinner with our families, but we’d gone into a second lockdown by then, so it was just us at home, the way it had been all those months ago.
We wanted to get married in the March or April 2022, because that would be two years since we’d met. After looking for a while, the venue we loved came back to us and said, “We do have a date free: it’s 1 April.”
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We were worried people would think it was a joke, but we decided to go for it. If anyone was going to get married on April Fools’ Day, given our story, it was going to be us. It was almost snowed off but we were eventually saved by glorious sunshine.
Our son Leo was born in July last year, after my first round of IVF. He’s a happy baby and despite the sleepless nights, we’re enjoying being parents. It will be strange explaining to him about lockdown and how we met. But that experience definitely strengthened our relationship.
I can’t believe it’s been five years since we started this weird, whirlwind adventure. We’ve gone from strangers in a car park, to wives, to parents. Maybe we’ll celebrate the five-year anniversary of our first date lockdown style – with Zoom and plenty of gin.
We both said at the beginning, “You’re either going to completely ruin my life or you’re going to complete my life.” It’s the craziest thing that both of us have done. But we wouldn’t have changed a thing.
As told to Caitlin Barr
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