When Iona stepped into the hairdressing salon in 2019, she was hoping for a fresh look after a break-up. “I was going for the new hair, new me thing,” she says. “There was a bit of summer left and I thought I could still be hot and sexy.” She had been going to the same salon for a few years, but usually had her hair cut by a female stylist. “She wasn’t working when I wanted to go, so they booked me in with JP instead as he was the only stylist free,” she says.
When Iona arrived, she was struck by how attractive JP was. They chatted as he cut her hair, bonding over their shared love of music. “I’d seen her around before,” says JP. “I remember thinking she was beautiful. We realised we’d been at the same small festival in France earlier that summer. It turned out we’d been in the same room quite a few times, but never spoken.”
JP had recently come out of a relationship and had been looking forward to being single for a while. But he couldn’t resist the spark he felt with Iona. “Love finds you when you’re not looking for it,” he says. “It was like meeting my long-lost best friend.” She told him that she ran her own business as a florist, which impressed him. “I found her so motivated and ambitious. There was a lot of synergy and it felt very right.” He told Iona that he was living with his mum and she suspected that was code for “recently single”. “I was pleased,” she says. “He was an open book, like me, and we got along really well.”
When she left the salon, she gave a note with her phone number to the receptionist, asking her to pass it on to JP. “He had given me a cute blunt bob, so it said: ‘Thanks for making me look like a French film star. Call me’ – but it was a few days before he called. He made me sweat!” They arranged a trip to a Thai restaurant in Peckham, south London, the following week. JP admits he was “incredibly nervous” as he hadn’t been on a date for a long time. “At first, it was awkward and I thought I’d made a massive mistake,” says Iona. “I wondered where the open, chatty guy I met at the hairdressers had gone. But after a few drinks he loosened up and we had a great time.” A few days later, they went on a second date and became a couple. Although they both worked long hours, they went out to dinner whenever they could and spent their free time driving around listening to music or going on trips out of London.
In January 2020, JP moved into Iona’s east London flat. When lockdown hit, she continued to post orders from her flower shop, while JP found temporary work at a factory while the salon was closed. By April, Iona was pregnant and that summer the couple moved to a bigger house in Beckenham, south-east London. In September, JP opened his own salon. “It was a big risk at a volatile time but it has paid off,” he says. “And Iona always supported me 200%.”
They married a year later at a register office. “It was just us and we went for lunch at the River Cafe afterwards,” says Iona. “We’ll have a big party in a few years.” Their son arrived on Christmas Eve 2020 and Iona is pregnant with their second child.
As well as having lots of shared interests and values, Iona loves JP’s patience. “He’s such a steady, stable influence. He puts up with me being really erratic sometimes,” she laughs. “He’s also a great dad and husband.”
JP finds his wife’s motivation inspiring. “She’s lived abroad and done so much at such a young age,” he says. “Now I see what an incredible mother she is and what a supportive energy she is in my life. She always believes in me.”
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