It’s almost been a whole six months since The Canadian popped the question! The time has flown by so quickly in a blur of wedding planning that with Valentine’s Day just around the corner, I thought I would share how we first wandered into each other’s lives and the details our of first date!
I love a bit of romance and have always enjoyed hearing how couples met, about their first dates and how they knew they had found ‘the one’ so I thought now was the appropriate time to give you the low down. I’ve been asked many times on my Instagram page about how he and I first came to find each other and so many people have been surprised when I’ve told them it was all down to Tinder! A true modern-day romance!
In all honesty I had well and truly decided that I was going to be single for life…I’d accepted it and was making plans to travel the world (again!) and settle down with a pooch. As far as I was aware I was way too picky when it came to men and much too used to my own company (after being single for about 6 years) to ever find someone who I could put up with – or more importantly, could put up with me! I hated dating with a passion…those first dates nerves, the awkward conversation, the wondering when it was actually polite to make your excuses and leave (I’m guessing 20 minutes in is perhaps a little too brief?!). Little did I know there was someone out there who felt the same!
Casually swiping through Tinder prospects one afternoon I came across one profile that piqued my interest. He looked handsome and fun in this photos…his University was listed as British Columbia (I had some vague blonde moment of thinking this was in the USA…thank goodness I didn’t open with that winner on the first date!) so I thought he might have a cute accent, and he was based in Bristol (a good start!). We exchanged a few messages (nothing too keen…we made each other wait a decent amount of times between texts) and I thought this dude actually seemed pretty normal – hallelujah! If you’ve ever used online dating apps you’ll know those profiles I’m referring to! We quickly arranged a date, casual drinks on a Friday night.
Then he threw a spanner in the works…when I suggested one of my favourite pubs (on Gloucester Road if you’re a Bristol resident too, hello!) and complimented their food, he suggested we head out for dinner there beforehand. Lo and behold I had now just signed myself up for an earlier time and I now had to eat in front of him – the nerves really kicked in! Isn’t that silly? To think now I scoff dinner with him every night but the idea of a meal and drinks for our first date was enough to make me want to run for the hills! Worse still, my housemate wasn’t home that particular Friday…she was my first date courage. She would help me decide on an outfit and then literally force me out of the front door!
You’ll be pleased to hear I of course talked myself into going. I had a good feeling about this guy! On the way to the pub I happened to walk past him as he headed for the cashpoint across the road and I have to say that was it. I was smitten from that moment on. Dinner went by in a blur (thankfully by this point I’d remembered my Canadian provinces and realised where he was originally from without making a fool of myself), conversation flowed and so did the gin. Before we knew it we were heading for cocktails at a nearby speak-easy bar at 1am.
After a brief kiss in the rain at the end of the night we arranged the second date for Sunday. By then I already knew I’d found ‘the one’ that everyone talks about. I’m not even that much of an old romantic but I simply cant explain it other than say – I just knew. Our second date lasted the whole day. We wandered Bristol popping into coffee shops, indulging in gelato (Swoon for the locals…where else?!) and finishing the evening in a wine bar. I can honestly say they were the most amazing first dates and I couldn’t believe how much I had lucked out. Thankfully for me, he felt exactly the same and from then on that was it…we were ‘us’.
How did you meet your other half? I’ve love for you to let me know in the comments! Let’s spread the romance ahead of Valentines’s Day!
The Blonde x
The gorgeous photo of us is by the super talented Maryke Blick who captured our engagement shoot. I’ll share more of her beautiful pictures in my next blog posts all about our engagement story!
Loved reading your story, I just had to share too!
I met my man on tinder as well! I’m actually a Canadian teacher, who was living in Vietnam at the time. My boyfriend, who is Vietnamese- born, had only recently come back from London to take a break from the UK for a bit.
Now, I always say I met him on tinder but he says he knew I was the one at a restaurant that he saw me in a few weeks earlier having dinner with a friend. Thinking that prehaps I was just a traveller he never introduced himself. This all made sense when I swiped him on tinder because I liked the look of his wonderful smile and geniune face. After making the connection, he was more than eager to meet up in person.
Long story short, 2 plus years later and now we are both in London looking towards the future.
Author
Oh gosh I’m so sorry I missed your lovely comment! Tinder is fab isn’t it – once you get past some of the strange messages haha! Oh that’s so sweet that he saw you before and just knew – it’s so true that love at first sight exists I think! What an amazing story of how you met – I think some things are just meant to be and you guys crossed the world to be together. Thanks for taking the time to share your story!x x