Blog: Writer Enters $100,000 Wedding Contest

Before I became an online reporter, I put my writing to work by crafting a profile that would catch the attention of the man I hoped would become my husband.

It worked, and now Tom and I are looking forward to our marriage and our wedding, which could be financed by the dating website on which we met three years ago.

If you or someone you know is a member of Plenty of Fish, you can help us advance to the next round by voting for us.  People can vote every day until this coming Wednesday, January 23 at noon PST.  Vote at http://www.pof.com/contest_vote.aspx?id=9ED548A5-7CB6-4480-BAB6-9A0DB9431DB3

We aren’t planning to have a showy wedding, but the award can also be used for marriage start-up costs, which is how we imagine using some of the award -- if we should win.

A longer version of the story that helped us advance to our current status in the competition is below.

We're Happy to Tell People Who Ask: We Met on Plenty of Fish!

Tom: Putting our story together caused me to reflect on the fact that there's no other way we would have met if we hadn't spotted one another on Plenty of Fish. 

Laura: We had both tried a few other dating sites without success. But the quality and numbers of people we found on the site was different, and I don't hesitate to tell people that I found my man on POF. 

T: I waited to meet her for the first time. Every woman who walked through the door might have been Laura. None that preceded her quite matched her profile. But let’s face it, I’d met more than one woman who showed up and looked quite different from their photos. When Laura arrived she was exactly “as advertised,” vibrant, warm, smart, and (yes, this one’s important) she was hot. 

L: I was happy that he too seemed like his profile. But having gotten excited by more than one fizzled prospect, I was moderating my responses.

T: The conversation was effortless.  And I detected a quality that’s turned out to be true – Laura cares deeply about other people. 

L: This was the giveaway for me too. Tom has a good word for just about everyone.

T: When we left the restaurant, I watched her drive away and had a pretty good idea that I’d be wrapping things up on POF. 

L: I still find it hard to believe that he was so sure that soon. But Tom doesn’t exaggerate, so I take him at his word on this. 

He seemed like a good guy, but I’d met some of those before. So I wasn’t going to get too excited; at least not until that night

He left me a knockout voice message; his voice was warm and he asked me to go out again. Then he wrapped it up by playing piano for me! It was more than voicemail, it was a pianomail serenade.

T: I still think she makes a big deal out of this. But admittedly, I was out to court this woman. 

L: You did quite a good job of it. I called a girlfriend that night to tell her and she said “Girl, I have never received pianomail. You better pay attention to this one.” So I did. And he continues to do well with the courting action. I’m convinced that his penchant for bringing me flowers isn’t going away. 

But this has got to be said too: our relationship isn’t all flowers. How could it be? We’re human with our own oddball perspectives that don’t always match up. 

What makes us fit together isn’t just romance or the ways we mesh well. What gives us stability and depth is that we’ve already walked through challenges. 

T: She has a penchant for wanting to talk about such things, which isn’t my favorite activity. 

L: That’s why I don’t ask him to do it too often. But when I do, the man has got chops. He sticks up for himself and considers my point of view. I really appreciate these qualities. And we talk about what concerns us with respect. 

T: As I said, this isn’t my favorite part of our relationship. But it’s important to her. 

What I do know is that I firmly believe we’re right together. I love this woman and I’m marrying her and we’re going to continue to enjoy some bigger, more memorable events; but also the small day-to-day ones too. As she said in her profile “even running errands can be wonderful with the right person.” 

L: Before I met Tom, I’d almost given up on the prospect of marrying. So I’m thrilled that it was the mysterious, wacky process of online dating through POF that helped us find one another. 

If you’re a member of Plenty of Fish or know someone who is, you can vote for Laura and Tom at http://www.pof.com/contest_vote.aspx?id=9ED548A5-7CB6-4480-BAB6-9A0DB9431DB3