Biography

Olivia Taylor and James Chen first crossed paths in the autumn of 2018 at the University of Edinburgh, where Olivia was studying architecture and James was beginning his master's in marine biology. A mutual friend's climbing trip up Arthur's Seat one rainy Saturday turned into hours of conversation in the pub afterwards — and, according to James, "that was it, really." After graduation they weathered a stretch of long-distance — Olivia with a graduate post in Bristol, James at a research station on the west coast of Scotland. In 2022 they both found roles in Dublin and moved in together in Stoneybatter, where they've been ever since, accumulating an increasingly excessive collection of house plants and mismatched cookbooks. James proposed on a sunrise hike at the Cliffs of Moher in August 2025. Olivia had suspected nothing, thanks largely to James's committed performance as a man obsessed with "just getting some good weather photos." The ring, which Grace Chen helped design, belonged to James's grandmother. On 22 August 2026, Olivia and James will marry at Drumleigh House, surrounded by their families — the Taylors, who travelled up from Bristol, and the Chens, who have flown in from London and Taipei. Standing with them will be Rachel Hughes (Olivia's maid of honour, flying in from Melbourne), Aoife Murphy (bridesmaid and Olivia's partner-in-mischief since they were five), and Finn O'Sullivan (James's best man and marine-biology course-mate from their Dublin days). Dinner, dancing, an attempt at a first-dance choreographed by Mei, and, almost certainly, a guitar appearance from the groom.