Introducing our newest planning diaries couple, Dean and Steven, who made it official after three and a half years together. Here, they share their planning diaries as they start to plan their wedding...
The happy couple are enjoying their 'engagement bubble'
Dean Rowland and Steven Hewitt got engaged in December at Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder
April 2025 update – engagement story and party planning
Steven and I met through our mutual best friend Charleigh around eight years ago. We started off as friends before slowly transitioning into lots of long-distance dating (I’m originally from Essex), including eight-hour drives and countless flights. We’ve now been together for three and a half years, and I’ve moved to Scotland.
Dean and Steven have been together for three and a half years
I always knew we would get engaged and married one day, but I never expected it to happen when it did.
It was honestly the biggest surprise. Steven had been planning it for months and I didn’t have a clue, but all of our friends were in on it.
The proposal happened at Gleneagles – a special place for us as it was where we went on one of our first dates.
We visit every year at Christmas and around my birthday, as it always feels like the perfect escape.
Anyway, on this particular visit, we arrived and went to have a drink at the bar while Steven checked us in. He came back and told me our room was running late, so we had to wait an extra hour. I didn’t mind – we’d actually met Geri Halliwell that day, which was a dream for me as I’m a huge Spice Girls fan, so I was feeling very happy.
This Gleneagles proposal included a floral display and lots of candles.
What I didn’t know was that our friends had secretly travelled to Gleneagles, and were currently hiding in the hotel, waiting until after the big moment so they could celebrate with us!
When Steven said we could finally go to our room, I walked in to find it completely transformed.
There was a huge heart with the words “It was always you”, which links to our matching tattoos we got last year in Ibiza. The room was filled with white roses, candles and petals. It was breathtaking. Steven is so thoughtful.
Steven pulled out all the stops for his extravagant proposal
Dean was so excited when Steven got down on one knee at Gleneagles
Now, we’re planning our engagement party, and we have big ideas for it. We’ve chosen the Marlborough in Shawlands, which has recently undergone a full renovation (it used to be the Shed nightclub).
It’s an iconic building in Glasgow, and we wanted something iconic because, well, we’re an iconic couple! It has been restored to its original grandeur, and we’ve fallen in love with it.
Our party will be in May, and we’ve already sent out our save-the-dates.
What's next?
Our wedding is going to be in 2027, which will give us time to enjoy every part of the planning process. I want to fully embrace being engaged and calling Steven my fiancé, plus we don’t want to rush into booking a venue just for the sake of it.
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We want everything to be perfect. We’re drawn to the idea of an old castle, but Gleneagles is also high on our list as it holds so many special memories for us.
June 2025 update – engagement party, life updates and moving house
If you’ve ever tried organising an event, moving house and planning a wedding all at once, you’ll understand the kind of tired Steven and I feel right now.
And yet, despite the chaos, I’m loving every caffeine-fuelled second of it. Since my last diary update, it has been full steam ahead for us as we get ready to celebrate our engagement with a party that’s just around the corner. We can’t wait!
Once the engagement party is over, Dean and Steven will be able to focus on the wedding planning
Now, let me be honest: planning a party is not all glamour and Pinterest boards. There have been a few hiccups along the way – one of our entertainers cancelled at the last minute (cue panic!), but we managed to source a fabulous replacement and turn it around.
Because when it comes to celebrating this chapter in our love story, we want the night to be unforgettable.
Our engagement celebrations are taking place at The Marlborough in Glasgow – a venue we instantly fell in love with. It’s the perfect setting for what we hope will be a night full of magic.
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We’ve been deep in the details and I’ve been hands-on planning everything, from the flowers around the bar to the table settings and live music, and even a sheer screen on to which will be projected video memories of me and Steven through the years. It’s all about the little touches.
With friends and family travelling from Essex and London to be here in Scotland with us, we feel incredibly grateful.
With all the excitement, however, comes a fair amount of stress – and let me tell you, it’s showing on my face!
I’ve been taking some much-needed self-care time with the amazing Ashleigh Todd, a medical aesthetics and skin specialist based in Glasgow.
She has been helping me prep my skin for the big day. I think it’s important to show the real side of all it. It’s joyful, yes, but it’s also a lot.
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To top it off, Steven and I still have to run our pride and joy, Ven The Salon, in Battlefield. Between back-to- back clients, managing the team and keeping the business thriving, there’s very little downtime. But it’s ours, and we love it – even if the juggle is very real at the moment.
And just to make life that little bit more exciting, we’re moving house! Not just to any house, either – our dream home.
The couple have a hairdressing business in Glasgow's southside
It’s a converted farmhouse with three acres of land, and we know our three French bulldogs will have the time of their lives there. We move in next month, and we’re already dreaming of the summer ahead. This is the long-term base we’ve been craving – peaceful, spacious and full of potential.
Need help planning your big day? Check out our wedding planning timeline... with everything from the engagement to the big day!
Somewhere in all of this, Steven and I are still planning a wedding. We’re keeping things open for now, but we’ve got venue viewings booked for next month and have started conversations around colours and themes.
I love navy and white, whereas Steven leans towards black and white. The challenge now is finding a palette that suits both of us and which will still feel right in two years’ time.
Oh – and we still haven’t even asked anyone to be part of our wedding party yet. But hey, one thing at a time!
What's next?
More planning! Honestly, if this season of life has taught me anything, it’s this: real life doesn’t pause for wedding planning – and that’s okay. Among the madness, we’re making memories, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.
August 2025 update – the party, the love, the chaos
If I could sum up the last few weeks in one word, it would be ‘whirlwind’. Our engagement party has been and gone, and what a night it was.
Hosted at the gorgeous Marlborough in Glasgow, we were overwhelmed with love, laughter and a serious amount of sequins. Friends and family travelled from near and far (big shout-out to the London and Essex crew!) to help us celebrate, and we were genuinely blown away.
Now, bear in mind we’d only just moved into our new home a couple of days before the party, so we were quite literally unboxing mugs and stringing up fairylights in the garden while finalising playlists and fluffing the flower arrangements.
It was chaos… but the kind of chaos that makes life feel full.
The night itself was incredible. We had a DJ spinning all our favourite bangers, sensational live singers who got everyone on their feet and a saxophonist who added that extra sparkle.
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Steven and I spent the night floating around, soaking it all up, feeling like the luckiest people in the world. And let’s just say our outfits did not disappoint.
Coordinated? Yes. Stuck to our own style? Probably. Fabulous? Absolutely.
Of course, no party is complete without a bit of drama (is it even a proper celebration if one of your guests doesn’t start an argument?). But, honestly, we wouldn’t change a thing. It was real, it was raw and it was us.
And if that wasn’t enough, I’m also a full-time content creator – so life doesn’t exactly slow down.
This month I travelled to London with the cleaning brand Pink Stuff for one of its awards parties, which was an amazing weekend away. But even on brand trips, real life doesn’t press pause: the planning still continues, the house still needs doing and the emails keep pinging!
Truthfully, though, planning a wedding while running a hair salon, moving house and just trying to live life is no small feat. It’s a lot.
And there have been moments when I’ve wanted to hide under the duvet and let someone else take the reins. But we got through it, and now that the engagement party’s done, we feel like we can breathe again.
Next on the agenda is finishing the last few bits around the house – mainly the bedrooms, which still look like we’ve just moved in (because, well, we have).
And, yes, wedding venue chats have well and truly begun. We’ve had some really lovely conversations about the kind of day we want – but there’s also a new idea we’re exploring that’s completely different to what we originally imagined.
I won’t say too much just yet, but watch this space… I’ll spill all in the next update.
From castles to barns, and everything in between, find the perfect place to say ‘I do’
What's next?
Until then, if you’re planning your own party or wedding, or you’re just surviving moving house, I see you. You’ve got this. Maybe just don’t attempt all three at once!
Next update coming soon...
