Most of us came to Dubai for work, weekends on the beach and to enjoy a five-star lifestyle, but for many expats, the UAE means more than the place we climbed the career ladder or paid off the mortgage back home. It's where we met our husbands or wives. Friday meets a few couples who found love as well as a new life.
‘We both want the same things'
Neil Baker, 32, who is creative director of Version B, a design studio, met Jo Bladd, 31, a journalist, in 2007. They live in The Gardens.
Neil's story: I met Jo five years ago at the company where we both worked. She'd moved over from the UK to work and I've lived in Dubai since I was a teenager. We were colleagues who started chatting and discovered almost instantly that we had lots in common.
After a long time as friends I realised I was in love with Jo. I remember one day, we were watching a film together. It sounds strange but I just had this moment where I could picture us being together forever. It felt different and unlike anything else. I just knew I was going to marry her.
Then one day, we went to a restaurant in Fujairah where I had arranged for rose petals to be strewn all around the table I had reserved. It was there that I proposed to her. We got married at the Montgomerie Hotel in Dubai, which was magical.
We've been married for a year now and we're happier than ever. I love that we have fun together and we both want the same things. I don't know what the future holds but I know it will be amazing with Jo.
We are enjoying being newlyweds, at the moment, and I have just started my own business so we are looking to get that up and running.
I'm looking forward to a long and happy life with Jo and, for now, that life is where we met, here in Dubai.
‘Every day is Valentine's Day for us'
Piyush Bhandari, 42, met Madhuri, 39, in 1995. She's a full-time mum and he is a private banker. They live in Bur Dubai.
Madhuri's story: In our case it was disagreement at first sight. We worked in the same company in Abu Dhabi, Piyush was a foreign exchange trader who worked 16-hour days. He needed great administrative support and was hoping a candidate he had chosen would fill a vacancy in the company's administration department. Instead, to his dismay, I was recruited.
I was a bit green and Piyush took delight in finding faults in my work. I thought he had a lot of attitude but I gave it back as well as I got it. Matters worsened to a point where we barely spoke to each other.
One day I was at my desk, feeling low as I was worried about some trouble over my residency visa when Piyush asked what was wrong. I told him and that was our first real conversation. It was the turning point in our relationship. Those days I often went running on the Abu Dhabi Corniche. Piyush and I bumped into each other often when he was on his morning walk and I began looking forward to those casual meetings.
Three years after we first met, we married on February 1, 1998 in Mumbai. We have a son, Yuvraj, nine, and a five-year-old daughter, Priyankka.
What I love most about Piyush is his integrity. He is someone who shows he cares through his actions, not so much his words. Every day is Valentine's Day for us! Last year, I was away in Mumbai for a month taking care of my mother who had to go through knee surgery. When the kids and I returned, we came to a home that had been beautifully refurbished. We had been talking about getting the kids' room done for a while, and Piyush just went ahead and did it on his own. It was a lovely surprise and very touching.
The secret of our happiness is being each other's best friends. Even today we can be up all night just talking to each other.
‘He is the Yang to my Yin'
Charlotte Butterfield, 34, met Ed Poultney, 33, in June 2006. Both are journalists and live in Jumeirah
Charlotte's story: I'm from Bristol in the UK and Ed grew up in Paris and London. We both arrived in Dubai independently, nearly seven years ago. Neither of us knew anyone here, it seemed like a great idea to pack your life into 23kg of luggage and come to a new country for a year of adventure.
We met in a nightclub in Jumeirah Beach Hotel a year later in June 2006. Ed had been working the late shift at a newspaper so he'd turned up looking very smart, which made him stand out. We started chatting, as we both knew a mutual friend, then we challenged each other to an MC Hammer dance-off. I had the talent but he had the enthusiasm. We chatted and danced until the club shut at 3am... and we've pretty much been inseparable ever since.
Dubai is a very special place for us, not only did we meet here, we married at Holy Trinity Church in Oud Metha and had our wedding reception at the Park Hyatt. Rather than going for a week's honeymoon somewhere, we decided to spend our whole honeymoon budget on one night in the Burj Al Arab - an experience that we could never afford to repeat, but one that we'll always remember!
We also had both our children in Dubai, which makes it extra special. Amelie's four, and Raphael turns two on Valentine's Day. So, rather than spending Valentine's Day in a romantic restaurant surrounded by roses and violinists, I'll be putting the finishing touches to a Thomas the Tank engine birthday cake, but I wouldn't have it any other way.
‘He proposed in a hot air balloon over Al Ain'
Maryam Rahmani, 27, and Shane Shyam, 33 met in 2004. They both work at KPMG, a tax advisory company, and live in Mirdif.
Maryam's story: I am from Iran, but having lived in Dubai since I was two, I have always loved Bollywood films, Indian food and had a wide circle of friends who are mostly from India. So it was perhaps destiny then that the love of my life is Indian too.
I met Shane in 2004. He had come to Dubai from Kerala. We quickly became best friends as well as being colleagues at the Dubai offices of Damac. Somewhere along the way, I really don't know when it happened, but friendship deepened into love.
Then one day in August 2005, Shane quite literally swept me off my feet with his proposal. He offered to take me out on an early morning drive. Instead, we went on a hot air balloon ride over Al Ain. I was even more surprised when he popped the question, 900 metres above the ground. I jokingly told him there was nowhere to go if I refused, so I had to say ‘yes'.
We married on November 20, 2005, in a beautiful beachside ceremony in Fujairah, attended by our close family and friends. We have two sons: Daniel, six, and baby Nathaniel who is two months old.
Even before we decided to get married, we had discussed how we were going to raise our children. We agreed that our children would be brought up sharing both our cultures. Daniel goes to an English school, but is gradually learning Farsi, Hindi and Malayalam.
Shane is quieter and more reserved. I am more extroverted and I would say that our relationship is based on a lot of give and take.
