These 5 Women Went on Tinder for a Hookup—but Actually Found True Love

Tinder is good for many things: It can cure your boredom, give you a quick confidence boost, and of course, help you nail down a casual sex partner by offering up endless profile photos to swipe.



But hookups aren't the only kind of connection Tinder can help you score. For a while now, we've been hearing about a long-term relationship and even marriages that began there, with users taking to the app to find a no-strings-attached fling but ending up with a soul-mate worthy significant other. Curious, we decided to find some of these couples and ask them to tell us their story. Below are 5 surprisingly romantic Tinder stories that prove love can start with a right swipe.

We made plans to get together again, and then again...

“I met my boyfriend, Liam, while we were both students. He was in his fifth year of a six-year program and I was a senior undergraduate. Neither of us was on Tinder to meet anyone serious; we were both just looking for a one-time fling. I ended up matching with him and we texted a little. I was worried he was going to be a jerk because he had two shirtless pictures up on his profile, but I decided to give him a chance.

Our first meeting was a bit of a disaster. I showed up 40 minutes late, and then I realized why he looked so familiar…he was the RA that wrote me up when I was a sophomore! But we continued to see each other for the three weeks before I graduated. We parted ways by agreeing if I was ever back in our college town, we'd get together. I actually found myself there two weeks later and seeing him, and then I invited him to my house four hours away for my graduation party. To my surprise, he actually showed up. We made plans to see each other again, and then again, and now we’ve been together as a couple for over two years.”  —Gabrie, 24

Two months after we met, he asked me to move in with him

“Jeff and I met on Tinder in May 2015. I was travelling from North Carolina to Rome with some girlfriends for vacation and had a 10-hour layover in New York City. I had plenty of spare time in the airport…which I spent swiping. Jeff and I matched and he messaged me. We only spoke for about five minutes and then I hopped on my plane.

A month later back in North Carolina, I received a random message from Jeff asking me if I wanted to visit New York City. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I said yes—after doing some Google stalking to make sure he wasn’t a felon. A few weeks after that first swipe, we had a crazy connection and an amazing weekend in the city. We instantly started actually dating, and about two months later, Jeff asked if I wanted to move in with him. Months turned into years, and we are now married and have a beautiful pitbull pup named Stallone. Although the start of our relationship was unconventional and a bit impulsive, we wouldn’t change a thing about our story.”    —Savannah, 28

“Six months after we initially swiped, we made it official”

“K and I started messaging immediately after we matched on Tinder. We met up three days later for tea, then went for a walk in the woods…which turned into a marathon eight-hour date the next day.

We were both looking for more than a hookup but less than a relationship. At first, it was easy to keep casual; there were only a couple weeks left in the school year and we were spending our summers apart. But we kept chatting all summer and continued hooking up at the beginning of the new school year. It slowly became apparent that we were getting closer and closer. About six months after we initially swiped, we decided to make it official. I never thought I would meet someone serious on Tinder, and I know this will be a relationship that in some capacity will last the rest of our lives.”    —Madeline, 22

“We’re paying the deposit on our wedding venue this weekend”

“Lindsey and I matched more than three years ago. We fumbled through an awkward Tinder conversation before setting up a coffee date at Starbucks. We sat in Starbucks for hours, then got dinner together. We went for burgers and texted our friends that we didn’t get murdered on our Tinder date. We’ve been together since that day.

From that day one we spent every day together. We snapchatted constantly. We texted 24/7. Truthfully, I had just gotten out of an abusive relationship and wasn’t looking for a partner. But rather than a quick hookup, we ended up in a loving, healthy, safe, goofy relationship. We got engaged on our second anniversary in a tent set up in our living room after designing our rings together. We’re even paying the deposit on our wedding venue this weekend. Consider this a warning to anyone on Tinder: be careful, you might end up in a really cute relationship that you don’t see coming.”
—Kye, 25

“She was never supposed to be more than a one-night stand”

“On my second day in New York, I downloaded Tinder for the hell of it. I eagerly right-swiped the person whose profile came up on screen. There was something about her that just did it for me: She was older, tattooed, well-muscled, and truthfully, my body responded to her photos (which were all fully well-dressed).

She messaged me, which started a month-long flirtation over iMessage and text. But we never tried to see each other until she broke the news that she'd already planned to move across the country to California. Against our better judgment, we decided to meet and test out whether we were as compatible as our sexts and texts would have has believe. After two hours exploring downtown Manhattan, followed by two hours of just kissing against the front door of my apartment, and then eight hours of romping upstairs, I knew we were screwed.

She was never supposed to be more than a one-night stand, then she was never supposed to be more than a one-week fling. When I visited her in California six weeks later, she was supposed to be something I finally got out of my system. It’s now been over a year, and she still pulses pleasure and love through my body.”   —Anonymous, 24