Couple who had holiday romance get married after rekindling love 11 years later
A woman married her childhood sweetheart 12 years after they met in a hotel lobby aged just 14.
Monica Millington, 33, met Tom Millington, 33, while they were on a family holiday in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, in 2005 when they were both in their teens. When they did, Monica immediately thought he was "cute" and went over to him in the pool later on.
The American said she fancied Tom as soon as she heard his British accent and they hit it off - with romance blossoming, On the last day of the trip, they swapped numbers and stayed in contact. Back at home life moved on for the pair. In June 2014, Monica got married before getting divorced two years later.
Monica and Tom's story was not over however. On her 26th birthday in 2016 - 11 years after they last saw each other - Tom was going through a separation and reached out to Monica. They Facetimed for four hours and Tom told her he had "always loved her".
The couple are now happily married with a tot (Courtesy of Monica Millington)
They got married in a small rooftop ceremony (Courtesy of Monica Millington)Monica was living in Dallas, Texas and Tom in Singapore, but the pair met in London on New Year's Eve in 2016 and spent seven hours in a pub planning their life together. In April 2017, Monica flew out to Singapore to spend a week with Tom and ended up staying for a month. On the last night before Monica had to travel back to Texas, US, Tom proposed.
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Now the pair are happily married and welcomed their one-year-old son, Cruz, in January last year. Monica, who now lives in Singapore, said: "I can't believe that the 14-year-old boy I met on holiday in Mexico is now my husband. It still blows me away, I have so much gratitude. I am so lucky that this gets to be my story. I picked really well when I was 14 and I think because I picked such an amazing man nobody else measured up."
Tom, a trader originally from Stockton Heath in Cheshire, said: "I was immediately hooked from 14 years old when she swanned over to introduce herself with that Texan drawl. At the time little did she know I had been trying to catch her eye since the moment I saw her on day one.
"Although we lived on separate continents and life took its natural course, the power of the connection once made never faded, frankly over the years it instinctively grew. There was always a dream we would find each other again."
Monica and her family went to Iberostar Resort, in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, every summer and in 2005 she bumped into Tom in the hotel lobby. Later on by the pool, Monica - filled with kind of American confidence a British teenager can only dream of - saw Tom and swam over to him and tapped him on the shoulder.
Since reconnecting they have been on a whirlwind romance (Courtesy of Monica Millington)She said: "I was young and looking for a boyfriend for the summer holidays and there was this really cute guy in the hotel lobby. I saw him at the pool, swam up to him and said it was nice to meet him. He came out with a British accent and I had never heard a British accent before. It was a pure holiday romance - where we would kiss and hold hands."
On the last day of the holiday, Monica and Tom swapped numbers and stayed in contact with each other. They went to different colleges and started to date other people and Monica married her college boyfriend.
"The first six months of our marriage was fine and then after the six months, it got to the point where it felt wrong. Our marriage lasted two years, he was a very good guy - it just wasn't the right fit," she said.
On her 26th birthday in 2016, Monica received a message from Tom wishing her a happy birthday, after 11 years without speaking. The pair then Facetimed. What followed felt like two best friends talking, Monica said.
"We Facetimed for four hours, it was really wild - I say it was the invisible string theory. It feels like I had been connected to him my whole life even though I hadn't seen him in 11 years," she continued.
Monica was in London with her sister, Sophie Lake, 31, for New Year's Eve in 2016. By chance, Tom was also in London and the pair agreed to meet for a drink.
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They have wasted no time after getting back together (Courtesy of Monica Millington)
They were just 14 when they first met (Stacey Beckham Lake / SWNS)Monica said: "We said we would see each other for lunch to see if we had a real connection and it wasn't just this exciting thing over FaceTime. I went off for lunch with Tom at noon and the lunch lasted seven hours. It was in the gorgeous little pub - we were talking full speed for seven hours.
"We had so many important topics to cover - like what do we want to do with our life. It was like a first date on steroids - I was so late to meet my sister. As we were leaving, he got up and kissed me."
Four months later, Monica went to Hong Kong and stayed for a month. The day before Monica had to fly back to the USA, they were having dinner when Tom said he wasn't worried about her leaving as he would marry her one day. Monica said: "He asked when we were getting married and I said I didn't know and he said he wanted to do it as soon as possible.
"I asked him if that meant we were engaged and he said 'yes, we're engaged'. We called his parents and told them, they hadn't seen me since Mexico 2005 - they were absolutely thrilled."
Monica and Tom wed in Singapore on October 28, 2017, with their mums as witnesses. Monica said: "We booked a cute little hotel rooftop, our mums flew out to be our witnesses. We drank champagne and danced - it was very intimate."
In May 2022, Monica fell pregnant with her first child and gave birth to Cruz Millington, aged one, in January 2023. Monica said: "I am very fortunate that this is our story. We have this beautiful little boy who is a spitting image of Tom. Cruz is happy and playful - we're so lucky."
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