A woman married her childhood sweetheart 12 years after they met as kids.

Esra Celik, 27, and Hakan Honazli, 28, met in 2008 when they were aged 11 and 12 while in school in Brussel, Belgium.

The pair lived in the same neighbourhood but it wasn't until Hakan had to resit a year and got placed in the same class as Esra that they hit it off.

Esra said they grew close and had an amazing friendship but then lost contact when they went off to high school and university.

After eight years of no contact, Hakan started commenting on Esra's pictures on Instagram, they started talking and decided to to to the cinema on a date.

A romantic relationship blossomed with Hakan asking Esra to be his girlfriend in August 2016.

But four days after their relationship started Esra was due to move to Montreal, Canada, for six months for work.

While Esra was out there, Hakan flew out to surprise her and the pair went on a whirlwind trip to New York, US.

In 2017, Hakan proposed to Esra in her favourite restaurant - putting rose petals on the floor to spell out 'will you marry me?'.

Now the pair are happily married and welcomed their daughter, Deniz Ella, 14 months, in December 2022.

Esra, a content creator, from Brussels, Belgium, said: "We are both two big kids, as we have known each other since we were kids and married young."

"We remain two children together - we joke together, we laugh together and we love just being together."

"Sometimes we can forget the romance between us but we try to keep it alive."

"We will go on dates without our daughter or just leave simple gestures with flowers or chocolates."

"He is the love of my life and I couldn't imagine doing this without him."

Esra and Hakan grew up in the same neighbourhood in Brussels.

They had mutual friends but had never really got to know each other until Hakan was held back a year.

Esra said: "He is one year older than me so we weren't in the same class."

"He had to resit a school year so he got placed in my class and we became really good friends - it changed everything."

"He was 12 and I was 11, after elementary school we went to different high schools and universities."

"We had different destinations in life so we went out separate ways."

After eight years of no contact, in July 2016, Hakan started commenting on Esra's Instagram posts.

When Snapchat launched, Esra added Hakan on there and the pair started messaging again.

Esra said: "It wasn't anything cheeky or anything he would comment on my travel pictures like 'Oh, I love Italy'."

"Everyone said we always said there was something between us and he kept commenting."

"One day we caught up and planned to go and watch Finding Dori in the cinema."

In August 2016, Hakan asked Esra to be his girlfriend but in a few days, Esra was due to fly out to Montreal, Canada for six months.

Esra said: "Everyone was expecting me to stay in Belgium but a few days before I was due to leave we kissed and he told me that I deserve the best in life."

"He told me that he wanted to be the one to give me everything."

"We became a couple - that changed everything but I still wanted to go."

"It was such a big challenge for us as such a new couple."

"We were together for four days and we were already in a long-distance relationship."

While she was living in Canada, Hakan flew out to spend 10 days with her and took her on a trip to New York in October 2016.

Esra said: "He surprised me with this trip, I was waiting for him at the airport and I was shaking I was so nervous."

"He had a long delay and I had been waiting for two hours."

"We had a very strong relationship, we knew the life we wanted to give each other."

In 2017, Hakan took Esra out for a meal at her favourite restaurant.

He told Esra to wear a dress but, little did she know, he was planning to propose.

Esra said: "We were supposed to be seeing my sister and her boyfriend."

"They told me I had to put a dress on as we were going to a really cool dinner place."

"It was beautiful, there was a red carpet and I could see that our siblings were waiting in the garden."

"There were a load of petals and roses on the floor which spelt out 'will you marry me'."

"I turned and he was on one knee waiting for my answer."

The couple then got married on November 11, 2019, and had a "cultural Turkish wedding"."

Esra said: "We were led by our parents on a lot of the decisions."

"I had the most beautiful dress, even though it was a very cultural wedding I wanted to add my own stamp."

"I walked out to 'No One' by Alicia Keys as this is how we felt for each other."

"We just wanted each other."

Esra then gave birth to their daughter on December 23, 2022, and said she was "the perfect mixture" of her parents."

Esra said: "She is the most beautiful mixture of me and my husband."

"During my whole pregnancy, I wanted her to have Hakan's green eyes and she does."

"I adore her."

"She is such a lovely child, she is so caring - we are so lucky."