Over and over again, we’re warned about the dangers of office romances: What if stress from the workplace creeps into the relationship and ruins it? What if the romance ends and you have to go through the pain of seeing your ex every day at work? What if it appears unprofessional and ends up harming your career?
For Ron and Sharon, sensible dictums like those above prevailed for the first year after they met. Adhering to a strict professional code of conduct, Sharon only exchanged pleasantries and work-related information with her handsome new boss, Ron. Though they took on challenges and solved problems together every week, the idea that she’d one day be looking up at Ron during an emotional wedding at Royal Apollonia hotel was the furthest thing from Sharon’s mind. She and Ron were a good team—nothing more, nothing less.
As their first year of working together slowly melded into their second, however, Ron and Sharon began to learn that the heart and soul of any truly great partnership—personal or professional—is the same: It’s a bond built on mutual respect, enthusiasm, and an intangible chemistry that can’t really be explained. It’s infused with loyalty, empathy, and the willingness to go the extra mile for someone you care about. Slowly, Ron and Sharon realised that whether they had intended to or not, they’d become friends.
By year two, neither of these bright, hard-working professionals could deny their feelings for one another any longer. Throwing caution to the wind, they began dating. After all, while office romances can be complicated and distracting, so is love itself—and the world would be a much sadder and emptier place if we let that stop us.
Sharon and Ron soon learned what almost everyone who undertakes an office romance learns—and it’s not a lesson in heartbreak. As revealed by a Career Builder survey, out of the 39% of people who attempt an office romance, an amazing 30% go on to do exactly what Sharon and Ron did next: They get married.
True to their understated yet resonant dynamic, there was no grand gesture and little fanfare about this couple’s proposal. The happy lovers unceremoniously sat down one day, started talking about marriage and the future, and realised that their dreams and goals aligned as beautifully, harmoniously, and naturally as the moon’s pull guides the oceans.
Ron and Sharon knew that they wanted their wedding ceremony to reflect their unique relationship and beliefs, so a celebration in their native Israel just wasn’t for them. They wanted to embrace the powerful, intimate simplicity of a civil wedding—not host the kind of elaborate orthodox Jewish wedding that’s required in Israel. Gathering their best friend close to aid in the planning process, they decided to organise a touching, inclusive ceremony here in Cyprus that would also serve as a vacation for their far-flung families. It would provide an oasis of peace, togetherness, and reflection as well as love.
After all, this emotional wedding at Royal Apollonia hotel was not about convention or tradition: It was about having the courage to take risks and the dedication to stand by them, come what may. It was about forming the kind of loving and stable partnership that anchors friends, families, and hearts for decades to come. It was about discovering, as the great philosopher Lao Tzu once said, that “Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” But perhaps above all else, it was about having the grace and humility to let love lead the way.
