25 Charming Love Stories About How Real Couples Met

Sabrina and Navin

Although Sabrina and Navin’s parents were friends for decades, the two of them rarely interacted with one another due to their five-year age gap. “I had always viewed him as a daunting older boy,” Sabrina admits. In 2019, however, after Sabrina attended the wedding of Navin’s sister, Navin slid into Sabrina’s DMs, thanking her for coming. “Initially perplexed, I assumed it to be a polite gesture, but Navin and I continued to message each other for the next month,” Sabrina continues.

Since Sabrina moved across the country from her hometown of Los Angeles—where Navin still lived at the time—to New York City, Navin fabricated a “business trip” in Manhattan as an excuse to visit her. They spent the entire day with one another, from taking a SoulCycle class to watching the sunset in Domino Park. “It was there that Navin professed his love for me, and I reciprocated with equal passion,” Sabrina recounts. For about a year, they tried their hand at long-distance dating until Sabrina relocated back to Los Angeles for a job. They married two years later.

Marissa and Herbert

Though Marissa and Herbert “Herb” went to rival high schools in Bethesda, Maryland, they didn’t cross paths with one another until they were enrolled in the same “joke class” at Tulane University. After taking the multiple-choice midterm exam, where every answer was “True,” Marissa went to the quiet section of the library to study for the rest of her midterms. That’s when she overheard someone—which she later realized was “that cute guy Herbie Schwat”—talking loudly on the phone about that exam. 

That night, Marissa saw Herb at a party, so she decided to bring up his off-limits phone call. “I walked right up to Herb and called him out for talking in the quiet section,” Marissa recounts. It turns out, that was a great conversation starter. “We ended up talking most of the night,” she reflects. From there, the two of them were nearly inseparable. Months later, while they were in an official relationship, Herb admitted that the phone call in the library was fake, a ploy to get Marissa’s attention. “Clearly, it worked,” she says. 

Mikaela and Andrew

On the VIP opening day of The Kooples sample sale in October 2015, Mikaela was tasked with welcoming each guest upon their arrival—and Andrew was one of them. “It was a tall, blonde, and blue-eyed gentleman, reminiscent of a real-life Ryan Gosling, who caught my attention,” Mikaela remembers. Besides the physical attraction—which Mikaela describes as “love at first sight”—the two discovered they shared similar backgrounds: Both of them were from Los Angeles and attended rival colleges. Before Andrew concluded his visit, he handed Mikaela his business card, which had his phone number scribbled in his handwriting. Eight years after that fateful encounter, the two of them said “I do.”

Sabine and Ray

To give her best friend a proper sendoff before moving away, Sabine planned a farewell brunch at an Italian restaurant in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in her honor. At the gathering, Sabine took a seat right next to Ray, who claimed she was flirting with him the entire time. “After that brunch, my impression was that she either definitely liked me or was overly friendly,” Ray concludes. Regardless of her intention, he took a chance by asking Sabine out to a concert. “Over time, our love grew,” Sabine expresses. “Our love was a slow build for sure, but I always loved how Ray made me feel. He made me feel safe. He made me feel at home.”

Lindsey and Austin

Lindsey and Austin’s love story began when they were in high school. In December 2008, after meeting at a school dance, the two of them became fast friends due to their mutual friends and common interests. Eventually, their friendship turned into a romantic relationship, albeit short-lived.

When the two of them went off to college, they lost touch. “It wasn’t until my first year of graduate school—almost six years had passed since we had spoken—that I got a LinkedIn message from Austin asking how I was doing,” Lindsey reminiscences. “Who knew LinkedIn could help you build both romantic and professional encounters?” Ever since the summer of 2017, the couple, who is now married, has been together.

Liz and Tom

When Liz first met Tom at a college party in November 2011, she thought he was cute. But when another girl told her, “He’s really nice. You should go out with him,” Liz figured there must have been a reason why she didn’t pursue him herself. So, Liz ignored that girl’s advice and went on her way. 

Four years later, after they graduated college and without speaking to each other since their first encounter, Tom texted Liz and asked her to get drinks. “I was intrigued, but it was my first year in the city as an adult, and I was not ready for a boyfriend,” Liz explains. “After a few dates, I stopped seeing him but would still text him from time to time. I liked him, but I was confused.” After serendipitously running into each other for months afterward, one of Tom’s friends approached Liz and said, “You should just go out with him.” That time, Liz did take the advice, and the rest was history.

Rizza and Josh

Although Josh and Rizza had mutual friends, they didn’t cross paths until May 2016 when Rizza caught Josh’s eye at their friend’s wedding. After asking his pals who “that beautiful woman was,” per Josh, he finally introduced himself. While nothing initially came of that interaction, Josh says he didn’t stop thinking about Rizza from that day forward. Two years later, Josh asked Rizza to dinner, which is when he professed his feelings for her. Five years later, they tied the knot. 

Sophia and Alex

If it wasn’t for the keen awareness of a stranger, Sophia and Alex wouldn’t have met. The two of them were living in New York City when they happened to be at the same bar. “A stranger at the bar ended up introducing us when he noticed Alex looking at me,” Sophia recalls. “He literally went up to Alex and brought him over to me to talk to me.” It turns out, the stranger’s attempt at matchmaking was a success—Sophia and Alex got married a few years later in May 2022.

Kimberly and Anthony

Kimberly and Anthony have a mutual friend’s birthday party to thank for their love story. In April 2015, the two of them sat across from one another at a hibachi restaurant where the celebration took place. “Anthony kept blowing me kisses while winking at me the entire night to get my attention,” Kimberly recalls. “I usually hate encounters like that, but there was something different that kept me interested even though I was embarrassed at the time.”

A few months later, Kimberly went out with friends and saw Anthony on the dance floor. That rekindling prompted endless texts from Anthony in the ensuing months. “He had asked to take me out several times before I finally said ‘yes,’” Kimberly notes. “Anthony and I have been inseparable ever since.”

Maren and Anthony

After Maren and Anthony met in high school in August 2012, they kept each other in the friend zone for the remaining four years—and the following four years of college. Despite their non-romantic relationship status, the two of them kept in close contact and visited each other a few times at their respective schools. It wasn’t until after they graduated that Maren and Anthony decided to turn their friendship into a romance, which started out as long-distance until Maren moved to Miami, where Anthony was living.

Courtney and Drew

When Courtney was a sophomore in high school who had just been dumped by her boyfriend, she took to an on-campus bench to process the news. Andrew, a senior at the time, saw Courtney crying and asked if she was OK. “From there, our friendship started,” Courtney says. Ever since then, Andrew had a crush on Courtney, but she dated other people. “I came back for summer after my freshman year of college, and he finally asked me on a date,” Courtney reveals. “We’ve been together ever since.”

Monika and Calum

While Bumble was responsible for formally introducing Monika and Callum in August 2017, they likely crossed paths months before that. “On our first date at a local Thai place called SEA Thai, we discovered that we had been living only two blocks from each other for the past year,” Monika shares. “We frequented the same bodega nearly every day…Needless to say, we became inseparable after that first date.”

Sam and Didier

Five years after Sam and Didier’s first encounter at the wedding of Sam’s cousin and Didier’s best friend, Russell, in 2013, multiple family gatherings kept bringing them together. “It wasn’t until Sam’s cousin’s baby shower in April 2019 where we hit things off,” Sam notes. Russell’s wife, Danielle, noticed that sparks were flying between them, so she encouraged Didier to invite Sam to a game night later that evening. “They had so much fun and the following weekend was their first date,” the couple narrates.

Tierra and Bo

Though Tierra and Bo both met on Hinge, they quickly discovered that they had multiple mutual friends—so they would have likely crossed paths in person eventually. On their first date at a sushi restaurant in New York City, the couple knew they had “something special.” The duo continued to dine throughout Manhattan before becoming official. “Through many great trips and wonderful experiences, we both realized that there was no one else that we’d rather be with and enjoy life with than each other," the couple expresses.

Bethlehem and Kendrick

One of Bethlehem and Kendrick’s mutual friends suspected that they’d hit it off, so that person gave Bethlehem Kendrick’s number. After a bit of hesitation, Bethlehem finally reached out, and they planned to grab dinner. Assuming that the date would last no more than 30 minutes, Bethlehem asked one of her friends to wait down the street at another location. “That 7:30 dinner lasted until 1 a.m.,” Kendrick says. “We closed the restaurant down.” After discovering common interests and sharing many laughs, they ended the date by strolling through the city streets. “Our connection felt effortless, like two pieces of a puzzle finally clicking into place,” Bethlehem reveals.

Kim and John

On July 1, 2017, Kim and John literally crossed paths. John had just moved into Kim’s apartment building, and coincidentally, John’s new roommate was someone whom Kim had known since high school. All of them were walking into the lobby of their apartment building at the same time—John coming from the south tower and Kim walking from the north tower—when they sparked up a conversation. Three years later, Kim and John got engaged, and they wed the year after that.

Shana and Rob

Shana and Rob were both out celebrating St. Patrick’s Day in 2017 in New York City. They were complete strangers at the time, but they found themselves striking up a conversation with one another. “We talked the whole night, and Rob actually missed the last train home to Westchester,” Shana remembers. “But he always says it was completely worth it.” Five years later, they said “I do.”

Judy and Danvu

Judy and Danvu were both studying industrial design at the University of San Francisco, so they found themselves in the same drawing class. On the first day of class in 2013, Judy asked Danvu to borrow his pencil sharpener. “The rest was history,” the couple says. From there, they shared many late nights working in the design studio, which helped their relationship grow. “We are now both industrial designers with a shared obsession over craft and details and have been inseparable creative partners ever since,” they share.

Maris and Thomas

A couple of mutual friends had a feeling Maris and Thomas were the perfect match, so when Thomas was visiting New York City—where Maris lived—from Los Angeles, one of their mutual friends jumped at the opportunity to set them up. That friend invited Maris to join him and Thomas at a bathhouse on the Lower East Side, which turned into a movie viewing and eventually a dinner date with just the two of them before they ended the day at a friend’s birthday party. When Maris realized Thomas forgot his credit card, she fetched his number and returned it to him at breakfast the following morning. After that, they dated long-distance until Maris moved to the West Coast six months later.

Lexie and Everett

While studying abroad in Austria, Lexie and Everett both sat next to each other in one of their early-morning classes. Even though the class began at 8 a.m., catching glances of Everett kept Lexie engaged. “I would ask him for the homework assignments and paper guidelines after class just to talk and get to know him more,” Lexie admits. Six months after their study abroad program ended, they started dating, which turned into a lifelong relationship when they tied the knot in 2021.

Lana and Caitlyn

In July 2019, Lana and Caitlyn were both visiting a winery in Sonoma, California, with separate groups. When Lana arrived, her dog was immediately drawn to Caitlyn's dog. After a round of introductions were made, Lana kept an eye out for Caitlyn. Once Lana noticed that Caitlyn was about to leave, Lana chased her down and asked for her number. That bold move paid off because less than a year later, Caitlyn proposed to Lana in the same exact spot where they first met.

Tiffany and Michael

For Tiffany and Michael, work first brought them together: She was on the board of directors for a nonprofit organization that supports those with spinal cord disorders and injuries, and he was a coordinator for a UCLA recreation program that helps individuals with and without disabilities participate in adaptive sports and recreations. “I found out about one of [Michael's] wheelchair basketball games, which is where we met,” Tiffany says. “We were good friends for many years before we started dating...I honestly don’t know how he was still single when we met, but I’m so grateful he was!” 

Christina and David

Christina and David’s paths first crossed in Puerto Rico in August 2019: David was living and working in San Juan, and Christina was there on a work trip. "We were both out for dinner in La Placita de Santurce in San Juan, and we were sat right next to each other,” Christina reminisces, admitting that sparks flew the moment they locked eyes. “We were very attracted to each other.” Christina had her sister, Alysa, by her side as her wing woman, and after some great conversation, she worked up the courage to ask David for his number.

Jen and MC

Like many modern couples, online dating set Jen and MC up. The couple met on OKCupid in March 2020 shortly after New York City went into lockdown. “MC’s profile mentioned that she was working on an ambitious cross-stitch project, and I had just bought myself a kit to keep myself busy during the ‘two-week’ shutdown,” Jen recalls. When Jen sent MC a message with an opening line about cross-stitching, MC quickly replied.

The two stuck to texting and FaceTime dates at first, but once everything started opening up in May, the duo planned their official first date. MC made tea sandwiches and a charcuterie plate for a socially distanced picnic, followed by a walk on Roosevelt Island, where the cherry blossoms were in full bloom. “We spent the whole day walking and talking together, and we haven’t stopped since,” Jen says.

Jasmine and John

Though many couples meet by happenstance or are introduced by mutual friends, Jasmine and John have a love story that started in the workplace. Jasmine was auditing John’s place of employment when he asked her out to lunch. Unfortunately for him, Jasmine wasn't looking to mix work and play. “I told him I didn’t date my clients,” she explains. But she just couldn't shake the feeling that she might be walking away from something special. “After a week of playing hard to get, I no longer saw John at work, and I was worried I'd miss the opportunity as it was my last day on site.”

Luckily, John made one last effort: As Jasmine walked to her car that evening, she found a note on her windshield that asked her to go on a date with him. As fate would have it, when John arrived to pick Jasmine up for said date, the two discovered that they lived across the street from each other this whole time. “I could literally see his house from my bedroom window but never saw him!” Jasmine exclaims.