Two muddy proposals and a quad biking bride!

From a dog walking date and two proposals to a bridal party on a quad bike, enjoy the muddy love story of all-action couple, Clive and Mary.

Mary, Mary, quite contrary. How does your garden grow?
Well for one Mary – a sheep and cattle farmers daughter – it grew with daffodils spelling out the words ‘Marry Me?’ as a green fingered proposal to her muddy match, Clive.

Problem is, Clive was already planning to pop the question on a mountain top in the Alps before the bulbs had chance to ‘surface’!

“We snowshoed to the top of Le Prarion overlooking Mont Blanc, where I proposed,” Clive tells us. “Mary, had sort of, beaten me to it by planting daffodil bulbs in the garden some months earlier which bloomed in the spring saying, “Marry Me?”

Suffolk single Clive met Devon-born Mary whilst country-life dating on Muddy Matches in October 2015 where they bonded over a love of outdoor adventure and shared family farm upbringings.

Mary, a teacher, recalls their first date was a beach walk with Inca, Clive’s black lab to Minsmere RSPB reserve, then a pub lunch.

It was the start of a seven-year countryside connection that has fully bloomed as much as Mary’s engagement daffodils.

“The secret to our relationship is always finding time to spend lots of quality time together,” Marys adds.

“We love getting muddy on dog walks with our black labs around East Anglia. We have also wild camped on remote islands, duo kayaked white water rivers, climbed mountains, and cycled our tandem around Suffolk.

They are an all-action couple with rural roots.

Clive comes from a long line of generational family fruit growers, but his passion lies in extreme white-water kayaking that has let him explore far flung places.

For their honeymoon, the couple went sea kayaking in the Outer Hebrides. That came after a rural wedding in July 21 near Bury St Edmunds. It was a big day packed with muddy little touches as guests sat on haybales with pallet tables handcrafted by the groom.

“The church was seven miles from home where we had the reception. We travelled the seven miles on a Quad bike, stopping on the farm for a glass or two of champagne” says Clive.

At Muddy Matches, we hear of quite a few muddy brides arriving on tractors or in landies. A bride on a quad bike though, well that’s a new one, even on us.

As for their advice to other genuine country singles looking for love on Muddy Matches? “Be brave, what have you got to lose! Thank you for helping us to find each other virtually.”