Jeni Yamamoto has always been a planner. In fact, it was a little forward thinking that helped Jeni meet her future groom, François-Xavier Beckers, back in January 2020. “I was living in Manhattan, but was scheduled to move to Williamsburg (just four blocks away from François-Xavier) in February, so I had already set my Hinge location to Williamsburg,” Jeni explains.
“We matched on Hinge on a Sunday, and set up our first date for the next day at a bar right next to François-Xavier’s apartment.” After dating for a year, the pair began working on designing Jeni’s engagement ring together – but François-Xavier decided to surprise her by moving up their timeline and organising a special retreat while they were visiting his family in Provence. “We planned to do a quick weekend trip just the two of us to Mallorca – a place FX has always loved and I had never been to,” says Jeni.
“When we got into the rental car and drove to La Residencia, I knew something was up, because FX would never book such a nice hotel for no reason.” François-Xavier realised Jeni had caught on and sped up the timeline even further. “As soon as we unloaded our luggage, we went to the pool bar for lunch,” she shares.
“We sat down, he immediately pulled the ring out of his pocket, and asked me, ‘Will you be my wife?’” The couple decided to get married in Provence, as they spend a lot of time at François-Xavier’s family home in L’Isle-sur-la Sorgue. “We knew .