We met Miss Brooke at our pop-up in NYC and immediately fell in love with her kind heart and how easy she was to be around! After learning that she and her honey, Michael, are long-distance (as he’s in London) and that she was there solo to finalize her dream ring, we were more than happy to assist. We then got to meet Brooke (and family!) again in our LA showroom when she came to pick up her finished and stunning ring, an Eleanore, just before reuniting with Michael. While we didn’t get the chance to meet him, after hearing wonderful things (and reading his perfectly dry-humor responses) we know they’re going to live a beautiful and full life together, wherever they are in the world! Read on for Brooke and Michaels’s love story!
Names: Brooke + Michael
Wedding Date & Location: May 20th, 2023 at The Old Marylebone Town Hall (Ceremony) & The Alfred Tennyson (Reception) in London
Back to the start of all of this – how did you lovebirds meet?
Brooke: I wanted to move out of NYC and I love London. My lease was up and Covid had just started, so I was working remotely and decided to put my stuff in storage and work NYC hours from London! I got online to hopefully meet people since I didn’t really know anyone there and met Mike 3 months after I arrived.
Also, he does not remember this, but a year before I moved, we matched randomly when he was in NYC for work and I had gotten out of a relationship and made myself get online for a bit. I thought he was so handsome and then realized the next day that he was gone and lived in England! When we matched again in London it made me laugh – I was like here is that guy again!!
Michael: Brooke stalked me internationally, there are no such thing as coincidences. But I’m happy she did.
Your first date – give us the details.
Brooke: He asked me out on a Sunday afternoon at a pub in Shepherd’s Bush. As soon as I saw him I knew I was in trouble haha. No, but he has the best personality and was so fun and easy to be with that the date flew by. Before we knew it we had to leave as he had to get back up to Cambridge. We planned for another date the following weekend.
Michael: Classy – I arranged to meet Brooke at the highly prestigious Eagle pub off of Goldhawk Road in West London. You’ve probably heard of the place, the beer is warm and the food middling at best. But meeting Brooke more than made up for it, she couldn’t take her eyes off of me, which if I’m honest was a little much. We had a really fun afternoon and a little snog at the end. Nice.
When did you first say “I love you”? Who said it first?!
Brooke: I honestly have no idea who said it first and cannot remember when or where. Maybe Mike does? LOL
Michael: Brooke definitely said it first. Actually, I’m not sure either. As you can tell, we are both towering romantics, but it has been said since…many times. Like, lots!
How or when did you know that your significant other was the one?
Brooke: I think I knew shortly after hanging out that I definitely wanted to spend more time together and knew he was someone that I could see myself with. Not that I think you ever know what will happen in life, but I think you know when you want someone to be a permanent part of it and don’t want to lose the person. Maybe that’s knowing he’s the one!
Michael: When you know, you know….you know? Especially when spending time apart, it gets harder and harder to do that. She’s now stuck with me.
The proposal – please tell us the story!
Brooke: I don’t think we really had a proposal haha. We had been talking about it for a while as I had to go back to NYC and he stayed in England, and I think we had pretty much decided we wanted to get married before I left. I don’t think either of us is the traditional type with certain things, and just knew that’s what we wanted to do! It probably didn’t help that Sofia lives in a state that neither of us are in! My brother and sister-in-law live in LA and we were going to be there for the holidays, so had decided to just pick up the ring when we got there and have a romantic dinner.
Michael: It was over a phone call and went something along the lines of: We need to spend more time together huh? We should probably live in the same country too, might be nice? Probably best that we should get married then, right? Yes. Who said romance is dead? We have a very unique romance that’s just for us.
What is your favorite thing about your significant other?
Brooke: My favorite thing about Mike (besides how handsome he is ;-)) is that I just love being with him. He makes me laugh all of the time and luckily, I think we are very similar with so many things such as humor, travel, food, music, what we like to do on the weekends – walking around and grabbing coffee or just staying home on a Friday night making pizza and having beers….even home décor. Which, that will probably make him chuckle.
Michael: Her laugh, Brooke’s laugh never fails to make me laugh as well. And yes, I am aware of how corny that sounds. Also Brooke’s acceptance of my English/Australian brand of humor, which pretty much involves me annoying her at every available opportunity.
Do you have any notable stories that have stood out over the years – hilarious, sentimental, anything!
Brooke: The fact that we have managed to make the long distance work for the time we have needed to and really have never had a day go by where we haven’t made the effort to text or call each other. It’s not easy and you miss the person so much. But, it’s nice to know that we did it, made it to where we are and we’ll be together soon!
Michael: I think I’ll save my answer until after the first honeymoon, which we are spending with Brooke’s entire family and my mother in Italy. The romance just keeps on rollin!
What’s your go-to date night idea?
Brooke: Pizza, beers, and any unromantic crime or gangster movie!
Michael: Every night is date night 😉
Let’s talk jewels – how did you choose this ring?! Who took the reigns on designing or choosing your ring? Give us all the deets.
Brooke: Considering Mike does design for a living, I should have probably let him take the reins, but I am picky haha. I had started looking online when we were talking about getting married and found Sofia’s website. I love anything vintage and art deco, so really loved her rings! I had sent Mike a few options and we thought we had decided on what we both liked best. I happened to get back on and just looked a bit more and saw the Eleanore ring. We agreed it was exactly my style! With Mike being in England it was a bit harder for him, but I was able to meet with Sofia and the team when they came to NYC and chose the specifications and diamond I wanted for the setting.
Michael: It’s an absolutely stunning ring, Sofia and her team did a really amazing job for Brooke and I. I’m a big fan of everything art-deco and love the deep-set diamond, looks stunning on Brooke’s hand. Now I’m just gripped with the fear of her losing it, something I need to deal with before the wedding.
How is wedding planning experience? What’s been different about wedding planning than you imagined?
Brooke: Easy and breezy and mostly stress free! We wanted something small and just fun. The courthouse and party at a pub pretty much sums up the both of us. I think Mike might have more stress than me since he is the designer and doing the invites and a little more of the planning since it’s in London. He also thinks of more of the details than I do, which is fine by me. He’s good at that! I just wing everything and think it will work out and Mike is definitely more detail-oriented.
Michael: It’s absolutely NOT stress free. However, I’m sure the day itself will be, we have a great set of family and friends to share it with. Lots of Brooke’s family and friends will be flying in from the US and I have people flying in from Australia to be there too. It’s going to be a lot of fun!
What are you most excited about for your wedding?
Brooke: Finally living in the same country, buying a house and just being able to start our life together!
Michael: Being in the same county…finally. Everything else will take of itself.
Will there be a there a honeymoon involved?
Brooke: Yes, probably at the end of the year in Australia. Mike lived there for 17 years, so it’s his other home. Italy is not our honeymoon 🙂
Michael: As mentioned the immediate honeymoon will be a group affair on the Amalfi Coast with our families in toe, which just screams romance doesn’t it? But we will be making an escape to Australia for Christmas (without our mothers)…we might not come back 😉
Finally…if you could add any piece to your SKFJ collection, which one would it be?!
Definitely the Collet with 1.50ct Pear Diamond on Ball Chain… Hint hint.
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