They say that friendship is foundation of a great relationship, and that definitely rings true for Finn & Annie! The pair met and become inseparable as friends whilst both studying at Cardiff University, and even lived together for two years before things got romantic. Fast forward 7 years and overcoming the challenges of being in a long distance relationship, they finally live in the same place AND are engaged! Overlooking a beautiful Welsh Valley, Finn proposed to Annie with a beautiful Ethica Diamonds ring. We caught up with Finn to find out more...
Finn, how did you and Annie meet?
Annie and I met 7 and a half years ago - September 2015 - at Cardiff University. We were in the same halls of residence in first year, and through mutual friends ended up living together in second and then third year.
Over those 2 years we became best fwends doing most things together, including a Jailbreak charity event where we were able to go to Brussels for the weekend. I’m not sure when friendship started to become something more but overtime we ended up falling for each other.
Despite this, nothing romantic happened until the last month of university where an ABBA night out in Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff (actually during the 7th ‘dancing queen’ of the night) prompted me to confess my love for her and thankfully she felt the same way.
Unfortunately, I had already planned to go to Durham for my Masters and Annie had another 2 years left in Cardiff, so we straight away jumped into a long distance relationship (which was very expensive!!). We have gradually been getting closer together ever since and thankfully now live in the same city!!
When did you know you wanted to propose to Annie?
It's hard to say exactly when although I knew for sure I wanted to marry her when she agreed to cut our holiday short and spend an extortionate amount of money to go and watch Liverpool in the champions league final in Paris last summer haha! So the proposal planning started from then.
What made you choose Ethica Diamonds and the Delfi ring?
I heard about Ethica from my brother as he used your ring to propose to his now wife a few years ago. Despite being a geologist I like the idea of lab grown diamonds and your “Kind not Mined” ethos. I wanted something princess like for Annie’s ring as she is a big Disney fan! I had a lot of help from sisters (both mine and Annie’s) but eventually decided on the Delfi as it is so sparkly and elegant. Thankfully Annie was over the moon and does assure me she feels like a princess with it!
How did you find the ring buying the process?
The ring buying process was very smooth up until 5 days before we were due to go to north wales, where I found out my chosen ring had failed the manufactures quality control! I was devastated as I thought my proposal was off but Ethica very kindly and quickly sent me a beautiful placeholder ring which I used to propose.
The placeholder Aria ring, used to propose in North Wales. The final Delfi ring, which the newly engaged couple showed off in France! The real Delfi arrived a week or so later which I then brought with me to Thollon to re-propose with the real ring (less nerve-wracking this time). The team at Ethica was so helpful when the delay happened and did everything they could to make sure my proposal could go ahead. The communication has been amazing and both Annie and I are so happy with the ring itself!
How did you plan the proposal and how did it go!?
I had 2 ideas for the proposal. The first was in Thollon (a ski resort in France which I have been going to since I was a child) - my family and extras (including Annie) were all going there for Christmas. However, I think everyone was expecting me to propose there, and I wanted it to be a surprise.
Annie and I booked a mini break weekend away in North Wales in December, and I knew this would be the best place for it as North Wales has been a consistant holiday spot for us throughout our relationship. I initially planned to do a sunset proposal on the top of Snowdon, expecting a stunning sunset and not a person in sight… when we got to the top it was covered in cloud and actually pretty busy with other people! So I decided against it there, we walked down snowdon in the dark, and I stayed up for hours that night trying desperately to find another place to propose the next day.
Thankfully I found a walk through a large slate mine complex, then round to the side of a mountain looking out over a beautiful Welsh valley. There was no one around and the sun came out so it felt perfect!I set up my phone to record the moment, and called Annie over for ‘a picture’. Annie chose that moment to be stubborn and refused to walk through some mud to meet me on a stony platform, so I had to retrace my steps to meet her and kneel down in the mud myself. The soggy knee was worth it though and she very excitedly said yes! We celebrated with an amazing pub lunch and a pint!
Have you got any plans for the wedding?
It’s still early days in terms of our wedding planning but we have set a date for May 2024 and booked our venue- so lots of things still to plan. One thing we know is that we will be getting our wedding rings from Ethica as well!
We are over the moon for Finn and Annie, and so happy we could help be apart of their proposal and finding the ring of their dreams. It's love stories that these that make everything we do here at Ethica worthwhile. Roll on May 2024, we can't wait to see the photo's!
With Love, The Ethica Team x
