A couple who first started dating at secondary school have revealed how they met and fell in love again as grown-ups – and are now set to walk down the aisle.
Beth Fenwick and Steven Lyons, both 24, from Somerset, first caught each others’ eye as classmates back in 2009, and began a school romance.
Beth marked a 2009 Christmas diary entry with the news that the pair were an item – but the fleeting romance ended and the couple ended up on other sides of the world.
Steven, who works in IT, moved to Australia and both went on to date other people. However, a decade on from their teenage romance, the couple have rekindled their love after they began talking on Facebook.
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Meant to be! Beth Fenwick and Steven Lyons, both 24, from Somerset, first started dating when they were just teenagers but called off their romance as they went in different directions
A yearbook from when the pair left secondary school shows them in the same form, 11F. (Beth is pictured third row from top on the left page, Steven is third from top on the right page)
Another school photo captures the soon-to-be-marrieds while they were at secondary school; they wouldn’t meet up again until they were in their early twenties
When love blossomed once more, smitten Steven even cut his travels short to reunite with Beth in their hometown – and they now plan to become man and wife.
In August 2019, Steven proposed and just three months ago the couple moved into their first home together.
Beth, 24, a healthcare assistant, said: ‘We met aged 11 and ‘dated’ when we were 13.
‘I recently found some diary extracts from 2009 where I have explained how I was in a relationship with Steven, which are really funny to look back on.
‘I’d always wanted a fairytale ending but I didn’t think it would ever happen to me.’
Beth explains how she had got back in touch with Steven after spotting his profile on Facebook, saying: ‘I initiated a conversation after I noticed he’d gone travelling which is something I’d always wanted to do.’
After the couple bonded on Facebook after Beth suffered a health scare, they began talking daily, with Steven returning from his travels to be reunited with Beth in their hometown of Somerset
Written in my heart: Beth’s diary entries from 2009 confirm the teenager are an item, with the 24-year-old writing ‘I should tell you that I am going out with Steven’
And a health scare brought them closer after Beth found a tumour on her neck.’ While she was nervously awaiting the results – which came back showing the growth – was benign, she began focusing on ‘planning an adventure for once it was removed’.
She says: ‘Steven was so supportive and stayed up at all hours to talk to me despite the vast time difference.
‘I didn’t expect anything to come from it but we quickly became inseparable and we began talking every single day.
Steven, pictured on his own travels, helped Beth plan an adventure for when her health scare – a growth on her neck – was over…but he ended up ditching his own plans to come home and be with Beth
By August 2019, the couple had announced they plan to marry in 2021, much to the delight of both of their families
‘Steven was due to continue his travels to Japan but he came back to our hometown instead. My tumour was benign but it gave me a real push to not hold back in life as anything can happen.
Steven proposed while the pair were on holiday and the couple say they are now planning their big day for 2021.
I had my heart set on Beth the first moment I saw her…
‘We have done so much in 12 months and I was over the moon when he proposed last August. Our families think it’s really cute too as we’ve known each other practically our whole lives.’
A bid to walk down the aisle this year have been thwarted by the coronavirus pandemic, added Beth: ‘We have been to look at a few venues and I’ve already got my wedding dress as initially we were thinking about getting married this year.
Steven says he had ‘my heart set on Beth the first moment I saw her’
‘But with everything going on we are just going to wait and at least that way we can plan it at a steady pace.’
Steven says it was love at first sight, and he always hoped they’d get together: ‘I had my heart set on Beth the first moment I saw her.’
‘I’m so happy that me and Beth have rekindled our relationship over a decade later.
‘It’s not often that you hear about people marrying those they went to school which makes us feel even luckier to have found each other again.
‘I was travelling when we first started speaking again, I never imagined things would progress into this. We are so excited to start planning our wedding which will be next year.’