After a nine hour, early morning flight, we arrived at Montego Bay airport which has recently been updated making it quicker and much more efficient. We went straight through immigration and boarded our private bus to the first resort, Couples Tower Isle. Upon arrival we were greeted with a very refreshing cocktail. Our checked baggage was taken to our rooms for us while we made ourselves comfortable. The rooms we stayed in had a very clean and modern feel to them. We had an ocean view suite which was beautiful.

We were up early and eager to get to the Airport, I booked my meet and great parking through Holiday extras which is a great way to park your car at Manchester Airport. You simply drive to the airport terminal meeting point and hand your keys to the fully insured chauffeur who will park your car for you. It was the first time I'd done this and it took all the stress and strain out of the parking process, so you can unload your bags and walk straight into the airport terminal.

We decided to stay over night at a hotel not far from the airport so the Monday would not be too much of a long day. It was a very nice start to the holiday as we didn't have to rush or be stressed out on the Monday morning and we avoided an early start as we had already checked in online.

As with most couples our parents weren't going to let this moment pass without a party and what a day we had. Friends, family, work colleagues (of both of us) were all in attendance for what (possibly inevitably) turned out to be an all day party. Fortunately the weather held for us (not guaranteed in the UK at the end of August) and we were able to use not only the house but overflowed into the garden until the early hours. Thankfully neither of us had to work on the Sunday as only a couple of hours sleep doesn't do anyone any good on a "school night"!

OK, so let me set the picture for you... It’s a beautiful warm summer's day in rural Staffordshire, Liz and I are on our first weekend off together for 6 weeks and we're sat in the garden of a spa retreat with a couple of ice cold beers waiting for lunch to arrive, and then it happened, 2 simple sentences that would ensure that the next 12 months were going to be some of the most complicated of my life...