Marriage Material

Emma Phippen is a 3rd year at John’s studying Geography.

“I met my fiance in John’s – he graduated last year and I am in 3rd year. He was actually my college father! We are getting married on the 30th June 2012. We chose this date so as to have time to plan everything after my finals.

“Neither of us will be students when we are married. I think there will be a lot of changes but most of those will be in leaving cambridge and going into the real world!

“Our parents are very happy. I will be 23 and he will be 24 so we aren’t really that young – especially compared to when people got married in their day! Our friends are also really excited and supportive but I think they think we have become rather grown up.”

Jamie studies English and Jane, Maths. Both are 3rd years from Trinity, engaged to be married next year.

Photo by Amy Munro-Faure

Jamie told The Tab:

“Jane and I met in the College Hall in our first week at Trinity. We quickly became close friends and two weeks later, after Matriculation Dinner, I managed to pluck up the courage to ask her out. Back in college shortly after Christmas, I proposed to her in the somewhat less-than-romantic surroundings of my room, and she said yes!

“We would like to get married in the college chapel over the following summer, because college has played such a big role in our lives, both individually and as a couple.

“Neither of us are religious, so faith hasn’t influenced our decision to get married. To us, marriage is simply an important step in ‘making it official’ by having our relationship recognised in law.

We don’t want to get married while we’re still students due to the financial constraints and because we won’t have time to plan the ceremony properly.

“We’re both hoping to stay on at Cambridge next year and as we’ve lived together in college doubles for two years and are planning to rent a property next year I don’t see marriage drastically affecting the nature of our relationship. The big change will come when we leave university and enter the world of work. Even then it will be the radical change in circumstances that alters the dynamic of our relationship rather than its legal status.”

Maddie is a theologian from Fitz, marrying fiance Steve later this year.

Photo by Joe Snelling

“We started going out in 2006 but we’ve known each other most of our lives because we grew up in the same church. There is a couple of years between us in age and so we hung out in different social circles but we knew who one another were – I even told my best friend (now bridesmaid) that if there was one guy I would never date it would be him!

“After some major matchmaking from our friends I changed my mind and we are getting married five years later. The wedding is late August this year.

“We knew pretty early that eventually we’d get engaged but there were still a lot of things we wanted to do for ourselves first. He has started his business, I have spent a year working in South Africa and I wanted to experience uni life without married accommodation and a husband in tow.

“Then, we thought why wait any longer? The idea of getting the wedding planning finished before finals was also a massive plus!

“Life at uni won’t change dramatically – I will still be living in a College room during term time and moving back home to our house in the vacations, and he will be coming up at weekends to visit as he always has done.”