Meet the latest couple in The Chupi Engagement Series: Johanna & Tomás. Johanna tells us about her gorgeous engagement with the You Me & Magic Aquamarine ring last month in Killarney.

Tomás & I met in July 2015 in Lima, Peru (where I am from) through a mutual friend when Tom was travelling South America.  We saw each other for like an hour on a night out and exchanged numbers. He left Lima the next day to continue his trip and we didn’t see each other for a month but kept texting almost everyday until we got to meet again in New York. We experienced a very unconventional flirting time. Our first kiss was there, and our first and probably only date 2 days later in Boston. I remember we went for dinner and drinks to an Irish restaurant.

It was funny how at the start we couldn’t understand each other completely, him not speaking Spanish and me with rusty American English, but it didn’t matter, we knew we liked each other.

At the time he was living in Christchurch, NZ so after that holiday we didn’t see each other for almost 6 months, not until I travelled to New Zealand to visit him. There we did a two-week road trip around the island. Everything could have gone wrong but it went way better than I could ever imagine. After that, we continued texting each other and a few months later we made the relationship official when he moved into Lima to live with me. We lived there for a year and later on in 2017 we moved to Ireland.

As soon as the restrictions for travel within Ireland were lifted we planned a trip to Killarney to have a romantic weekend together away from home. That weekend we got amazing sunny weather (finally, thank God!) so we spent a lot of time outside and even climbed Carrauntoohil mountain (the toughest day in my life- but it was totally worth it, although I almost didn’t make it).
He proposed in a really intimate way in our hotel room in Killarney Oaks, he left a Chupi bag on top of the table with 2 bottles of prosecco beside it for me to find it. I was totally surprised to see it, but when I saw the bag I knew what was coming next. Inside the bag was a little box and I opened and found my amazing ring, the You Me & Magic in Aquamarine and Classic Diamond that I instantly loved. Before he had a chance to ask me I already had the ring on my finger saying “yes”.

I always knew I wanted a ring that was unique and different from normal engagement rings and if we ever got engaged, I wanted him to choose it for me. Every time I look at my ring it feels special knowing that he put effort, time and thought about me when he chose it. I threw some very direct hints that Chupi had gorgeous engagement rings and jewellery in general and I knew that no matter what he picked I was gonna like it, there was no risk at all.

I love that it is handmade in Ireland but at the same time it has a connection to Latin America through Chupi’s Mom, which made me feel really close to the brand.

Tom made a virtual appointment to choose it for me. He said the girl he was talking to was very helpful and easy to deal with.

When I look at my Chupi ring , firstly, I feel loved. I love its colour and it will be my something blue for the wedding. When I see my ring I think about  Tom, about our journey together and its sea colour also reminds me of home.

I am still in the bubble but planning at the same time. We want to get married civilly in Ireland in January 2022 and religious in February in Peru 2022.