Our Story

The Bride

Almudena was born around the same time George Michael’s Monkey was topping the international charts. Welcomed into this world by M.a (María del) Carmen Zulueta and José (Pepe) Chacón, Almudena was raised in Villamartín – a quaint village near to where the wedding celebrations will be held.

Although a hell-raiser growing up, Almudena went on to study English Philology and Translation, and it’s during her studies, that she spent a year in the UK and fell in love with the cold, grey country. With her strong determination, often confused with stubbornness, Almudena packed up some bags of clothes – leaving a department store’s worth more back in Spain, and moved to the UK.

Almudena moved around the UK, from being a translator in Northern Ireland to driving tractors in Shrewsbury to finally finding the city (London), the job (Linguistics), and the man (this might be Dylan) of her dreams.

The Groom

Dylan ruined a perfectly good weekend as he was born in the early hours of a Saturday morning to Jean and André Coetzee. It was also the year that the world was blessed with the last good Star Wars film – Return of the Jedi. Dylan was raised in a little town in South Africa called Brakpan, close to Johannesburg.

Dylan arrived in the UK on his 19th birthday for a gap year and has evaded the authorities ever since, even earning a purple passport along the way. In this time he moved to Australia – saw the size of the bugs and moved back, had a lot of braais in the cold, and continued his work – the one that no one can quite explain what he does.

The latest adventure began a couple of years ago when he met his better half, Almudena, whom he can’t wait to marry!

How They Met

Almudena started working in the same office as Dylan in 2016. From the beginning Dylan fancied her – all he had to do was learn how to pronounce her name – this only took 3 months.

After the theft of her back rest at work, Dylan showed his concern and offered Almudena his chair – and that small gesture was the start of how he conquered this Spanish woman’s heart. It wasn’t until he showed off his moves on the dance floor of a cheesy salsa bar in Soho that Almudena’s heart melted – The truth is Almudena forced him to dance after he was lazily sitting at the table nursing a beer.

They started having lunches at work, dinner after work, drinks in the evenings, and even more drinks after that, until one day Dylan plucked up the courage to ask her out. When Dylan moved jobs, it was very hard for them to meet in London, so Almudena packed her humongous wardrobe and went to live with Dylan in Bexleyheath, a sleepy town south of London. This is where they call home and may now house the world’s biggest collection of unicorn figurines.

Thank you for being a big part of our lives and we cannot wait to celebrate with you.