Love stories: Ellen Mahoney and James Nickerson

Tell us a bit about yourselves?

I’m Ellen, and my husband (weird to say that!) is James. We both work in Communications - me in social media, and James in speechwriting. We’re south east London dwellers, based in Catford with our cat Pip. 

How did you meet?

James and I are what I like to call Tinder alumni - we met on the app in the summer of 2017. I like to think these were the haydays of Tinder. Weirdly, I remember the exact moment I swiped right, largely because it was so infrequent, but also because his profile was so, maybe a bit hilariously, uncurated. Only a few photos, a Brexit joke thrown in (very much of the times), and it was all gloriously free of anything contrived or pretentious - tough to achieve on a dating app. We spoke all evening, met the next day, and ended up spending four days together — a dating experience I’d never had before, and one I’m glad I’ve never needed to repeat since.

What do you love about each other?

If James were approving this interview (he’s not), I think we’d both say our favourite thing about our relationship is how much we laugh together. I honestly can’t think of a day that’s gone by without us finding something to belly laugh about. We’re very lucky to share the same sense of humour and a similar outlook on life and the world. I love his kindness, his mind, and his want for the world to be a fairer and kinder place. He’s just the best.

Tell us about the proposal?

His proposal was perfectly James. We visited The Pig in the New Forest for a long weekend and he proposed on the first night in a quiet corner of one of their, thankfully empty, lounges. I’m told he had to get me to stop talking so much so he could recite what he’d planned to say uninterrupted, but I can’t remember that too much! We spent the rest of the weekend walking in the surrounding forests with wild horses, good food and sunshine. It was very wholesome. 

What led you to Bear?

I’ve always loved chunky jewellery - and especially love the style of gypsy rings. I think the algorithm gods must have served me her content at one point, and they quickly became my most saved posts and my go-to vision board for engagement rings. I love Bear’s style - it’s both contemporary yet totally familiar. Timeless and modern. Almost comforting, if that's something jewellery can be. I hope my pieces will be passed down the generations in my family. That’s a nice thought! 

Ellen’s wearing her diamond three-stone flush-set gypsy ring engagement ring, 3mm diamond thread and grain half-set eternity ring in 18ct yellow gold and 2mm 18ct yellow gold ladies Donut wedding ring. James is wearing his 4.5mm 18ct yellow gold mens medium court wedding band.

Tell us about the big day?/Favourite moments?

We chose to forgo the blueprint of traditional wedding rituals to make the experience feel more normal and us. 

I spent dinner the night before with some of my closest friends at The Hoxton in Southwark - I have a few friends from overseas and all ends of the country, so I wanted to spend as much time with them as I could. I highly recommend doing what would be your ‘wedding rehearsal’ with your best friends. 

The heavens opened the morning of, which for any bride is anxiety inducing, but by the exact time our ceremony rolled around at Marylebone Town Hall, it was blue skies and sun rays all over London - as if by divine intervention. 

I’ve been asked a few times what my favourite moment of the day was, and it probably was the ceremony itself. It was short, sweet and felt like just the two of us (despite 75 people staring at us!). We went on for drinks all evening at The Grazing Goat pub down the road - a beautiful, quaint little spot tucked away in Marylebone. I really didn’t want a sit down dinner, so we served champagne and arancini balls - amongst some other deliciously fried snacks - all evening. It was perfect.