Dan proposed after an adrenaline filled day of white water kayaking in Uganda in September 2014. I knew then that we were going to have a life of adventures.
Annie and Dan on their wedding day
Returning home on October, we endlessly discussed the best date for our nuptials, we decided that a New Year Wedding, would be a perfect excuse for a party! However, this gave us less than three months to organise a wedding! Many people told us it would not be possible, be we proved them wrong - it was magical.
We had a gorgeous big winter-wonderland themed wedding - a white wedding in church and then a reception in a beautiful marquee at my mother's home in Chichester. We all threw ourselves into the arrangements, and everything went perfectly. It was the most amazing and memorable day.
The reasons for our accelerated wedding plans, was I knew Dan and his best man, Olly, would be taking part in a 3000 mile rowing race across the Atlantic Ocean in December 2015. We both wanted to put all our efforts into his charity endeavour, and we felt organising a wedding as well would not be possible.
Although a keen sailor, Dan has never rowed before, so our first year of marriage has been spent training and fundraising for his adventure of a lifetime. We have organised a number of fundraising events this year for Prostate Cancer UK and ABF, The Soldiers Charity, and I am pleased to say we have raised over £100,000. However, our ambition is £250,000, and would be delighted if anyone can help us reach this. www.atlantic-row.com
Dan leaves on the 15th December, and this epic voyage to Antigua will take between 40-90days, meaning our first wedding anniversary will be spent apart. However, I will be an incredibly proud wife, when I see him row into The Caribbean, where we will have an belated wedding anniversary celebration in February.