DUNES PALM BEACH WEDDING

SAMARA & LIAM

Boy meets girl. Boy thinks girl is pretentious. Girl thinks boy is a boofhead. They think about one another, well, not at all. For years.

That could have been the sum result of these two meeting. Co-existing in the same circles, that one other person in an extended friendship group you don’t quite want to be left alone with because what the hell will you talk about?

A chance ride on a ski lift together and dismissal turned to curiosity, curiosity to intrigue, and intrigue into something formative. Turns out superficial differences can belie deeper compatibilities. A shared love of obscure science fiction. An intense competitiveness. A thirst for adventure, for taking big risks for a chance at something that may or may not have the potential to be magic.

It took a long time, and then no time at all. Liam asked her on a date despite knowing he was moving to the UK in a week. They spoke regularly after he left. Samara decided oh I should go on a holiday to Europe, do you want to come see me? A couple of weeks later and Liam plucked up the courage to ask Samara if she wanted to move to London to live with him, and that was that.

It makes you think how often we categorise people based on what we perceive their most obvious traits to be, perhaps particularly if they aren’t ones that we resonate with, and what we might be missing out on if we just give people a chance.

At the end of the night they asked for votes as to who’s speech was better, tongue firmly in cheek. They’ve turned their shared competitiveness into something playful and joyous and bonding.

This just proves the old adage - If you can’t beat em, turn em into a bull and fight em.