I got engaged TWO DAYS after meeting my man on holiday – a decade on we’re still strong despite people doubting us
A COUPLE who got engaged TWO DAYS after meeting have proved their haters wrong and are still together 11 years later.
Shari Thorpe, 33, fell for her now-husband’s charms as soon as she saw him by the pool while on a girl’s trip to Gran Canaria, Spain.
"I remember telling my friend to put her sunglasses on so she could spy on him," she said.
"I instantly thought he was good looking, it turns out Ryan was eyeing me up too and told his friend he was with I was the girl he was going to marry."
Shari and Ryan Thorpe, 33, got chatting at the local karaoke bar and hit it off immediately in July 2011.
Ryan was so sure of his love that he proposed after just two days of knowing each other.
The beautician thought it was a joke when Ryan got down on one knee and presented her with an engagement ring, but her heart told her to give him a shot.
Much to their friends and family's surprise the couple remained strong and started a family together in February 2012 - before tying the knot in August 2015.
And 11 years later, the pair are still going strong with three sons together, Cayden, nine, Curtis, six and Cilian, one.
Shari, a mum-of-three, from Odiham, Hampshire, said: "It's all so crazy for me still.
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"I only ended up going on holiday with my friend because her boyfriend couldn't go last minute, and I never expected to find a husband.
"As soon as I saw him, I thought he was good looking and when we got chatting, he made me laugh.
"When he asked me to marry him after just two days of knowing each other, I just thought 'why not?'."
On their firs meeting, Ryan belted out a Westlife song dedicated to her, and after sweeping her off her feet asked her to marry him the next day.
When the pair returned to the UK, they continued their relationship but were long distance - with Shari living in Newcastle, Tyne and Wear, and Ryan more than 300 miles away in Odiham, Hampshire.
When she returned home, Shari told her parents she had a fiancé, but it didn't really register - and many of her family and friends thought it was a fling that wouldn't last.
Shari took the plunge to move down south in December 2022, after just six months of dating.
"It was all so fast but felt so right," she said.
The couple fell pregnant with their first child, Cayden, nine, in February 2012.
"We were young but we both wanted a family and to be married so we didn't see why we needed to wait," she said.
The pair also celebrated their one-year anniversary by going back to the spot they met.
"The locals at the bar remembered who we were so it was really sweet," Shari said.
After saving up for their big day, Shari and Ryan tied the knot in August 2015 and welcomed two more boys - Curtis in October 2016 and Cilian in May 2021.
"We had a lovely day and Ryan sang the same Westlife song he sang to me at the karaoke bar," she said.
"We want to take all our boys back there to where we met too.
"I think friends and family were sceptical when we got engaged so fast but as soon as they saw us together and we had Cayden together they could see how perfect we were.
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"We're both the type of people that just goes for it and I am so glad I did.
"11 years later and were still going strong.";
