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The valentines dinner thread got me thinking that I have never been on a "traditional" date in my life. I think it's a lot less common for younger people in Europe anyway- my friends these days who aren't in relationships seem to have to tolerate it, so it seems to be a late twenties onwards thing. Up til I was about 25 I mostly just got inebriated in the same location as girls I liked after I'd chatted them up during the day or whatever. Seemed to usually work out fairly well for me.

My current girlfriend is the exception- I met her on an online forum for grad students attached to a webcomic! She's german, so I would likely not have met her outside of that.

To be honest, much as that sounds like a disaster, it's worked out really well. Meeting via text only at first meant we've a good understanding of each other's sense of humour and so on. Luckily, when we finally, after a few years of online correspondence, met in person, there was mutual attraction. After a couple of years doing the long distance thing I took the plunge and moved to Germany.

There you go, lads, Fora- good for your love life!

(Another thing: How common is this whole "The guy pays!" thing? Jesus, I've never done that in my life. Feels a bit like prostitution! My girlfriend and I usually split the bill down the middle, or the one that travelled doesn't pay, or something like that. Overall we don't and never have worried about money in that way though! Definitely self selecting, but none of the girls I ever went out with expected me to pay for stuff.)

So, what's your story? Traditional "dating", met through work, the dreaded online dating thingy?

High-school sweethearts. Been together/dating for 9 years, married in October.

Online dating is how I met my fiance. Before her, I had met some chicks at Meetup.com events doing stuff I was interested in (hiking, wine tasting). I figured anyone I met there would at least have 1 common hobby. Being one of 3 dudes (and obviously the most handsome) in a group of 20 at the wine tasting events was most excellent.

When I was dating, I'd never ask a chick out and expect her to pay; however, I'd also never turn down her offer to split the check.

I met my current fiancée while hanging out with a mutual friend. I think traditional dating is still very much alive and well here in the States, though it's not the only way people get together, of course.

I never pay for my date's meal, ticket, etc., a resolution I began while I was an undergrad and have stuck to ever since. Chivalry's dead. Like you, I either split the bill down the middle, or some other form of going Dutch. It's ruffled feathers once or twice, but no big loss since I never planned on being anyone's meal ticket anyway. Most of the people I've dated were grad/law/dental/medical school types and didn't expect a free ride, so it never really blew up in my face the way I often imagined it could.

Met at a pool party. She cheated by wearing a swimsuit. Former triathletes rest easy on the eyes in swimsuits.

Remember kids, wear the pants in the relationship. Make them propose to YOU.

But again she cheated. She was wearing a belly dancer outfit at the time (and a real one-those are expensive). Cheater.

3,000 years later and we're still married. We're going to start bike lessons in the summer, as prep for the big USA bike tour we take when GC graduates in three years. The threat to her that we may show up at her future dorm in non matching bullet bike and Harley Hog is completely...real.

College, started as feth buddies. Over 5 years together now.

 Soladrin wrote:
College, started as feth buddies. Over 5 years together now.

Still a better love story than twilight!

Met my girl at band camp. 5 years and going strong plus she's studying to be a pharmacist so I get to let her make bank while I relax

 kronk wrote:

 Soladrin wrote:
College, started as feth buddies. Over 5 years together now.

Still a better love story than twilight!

That isn't a very high bar.

I was with a friend of mine and he went over to a friend of his to play Warhammer 40k (2nd Edition), oddly enough. The friend's friend's sister was visiting at the time and we just hit it off.

Met the wife at an Open University study week.

I say met, she was attracted to me I just didn't read any of the signals and was a bit of a spazz ( oh you are touching my leg? maybe you need some more room.)

Luckily, fellow students intervened on last night disco (whooo!) and set me straight.

She has been stuck with me for 10 years now.

Originally she came over to me at a freshers party back in College in 2004. After that we had some ups and downs, split up and saw each other the odd day in a year. We then got back together January 2006 and have been together ever since. We bought our first house together and moved in last year after renting for 3 years. Will probably propose sometime soon, the prospect of trying to arrange a wedding involving our 2 families (Split over 5 countries) is going to be extremely fun........

Met my wife when I was 11 years old.

She lived down the street from my aunt and uncle and was (and still is) my cousin's best friend. When I was 11, my cousin brought her to a pool party at a relative's house. Three years after that, my dad got a job in Las Vegas and we sold our house in Virginia. My dad went to start his new job in Vegas during the middle of the school year so my mom, little brother, and I moved in with that my uncle so we could finish the school year and leave for Vegas in the summer. We "dated" during this time (as much as two eighth graders can date each other) and after I moved we still kept in touch, considering she was such a close family friend. We would see each other once a year or so when we would come home to Virginia to visit family, and while we were seeing other people throughout high school, there was always a "thing" between the two of us.

After high school, my parents moved back to Virginia and I stayed in Vegas by myself until I moved back to Virginia when I was 20. My wife was seeing someone else but I never stopped trying to court her. She wanted to be with me but thought it would just be "too easy" and we would end up getting married and settling down. I explained to her that was the entire point! I saw other people in the meantime but when I started getting serious with another woman she finally decided to give me a shot. She moved in with me and a 6 months later I asked her to marry me and a year after that, in 2007, we got married.

Now we have two daughters, a 2 year old and a soon to be 5 year old, and I still couldn't be happier that I married my best and longest friend!

Met my wife through a mutual friend, who set us up thinking we'd work out. Turns out we did. It also turns out that we both secretly hated the mutual friend and were only associating with her because we each kind of had to. (She was married to my best friend, and was my wife's co-worker.)

Five years and one kid later, and I couldn't be happier!

Side note, as an answer to the second question - pretty common. My wife has always made WAAAY more money than me, but I've still tried to pay for our dates whenever possible.

My girlfriend introduced us. Took her to the restaurant I worked at for lunch as a birthday present. My wife turned to her as I left the table and said "you just messed up, that is MINE!"

Much later I realized she was either going to marry me and make me a very happy man for eternity, or kill me slowly for missing the opportunity. The ol' "cake or Death" question. I got it right!

The Wife is the sister of one of the guys in my gaming group. We also worked at the same company for a bit. Well, sort of; sister companies, I worked part time for the retail branch while she worked for the wholesale distributor side. Same building for part of the time, so we’d run into each other in the break room. Eventually I asked her out on a real date. She’s big on equality, so insisted on splitting the checks, but I payed for her when I could, and probably on the first date. Date was at Tai Pan, an Asian restaurant in Clifton Park NY, followed by coffee at Uncommon Grounds in Saratoga Springs, and ice cream at the Ben & Jerry’s scoop shop. It was a drizzly August day, so we ended up kissing goodbye* in the rain before parting ways.

We dated for around 3 years before I proposed to her (on new year’s eve day) Got married in 2000 (easy to remember anniversary FTW!) Must be doing something right because we are still together ~14 married years later.

* Little know fact: The Wife can’t hold her kisses. Years later, after breaking away from a kiss she staggered into a corner and slumped to the ground. The whole “weak in the knees” thing has a basis in reality. She has since learned to hold on tightly until she is capable of standing on her own. We still laugh about it (and I try to replicate it) today.

Met the missus when she worked in my local for a bit. 7 years on and married with two boys. She had definitely seen me at my worst over the course of drinking sessions in there so fortunately nothing shocks her anymore.

I met mine at a party. We have tons of mutual friends, but never really talked/hung out until that particular night. We really hit it off, and I've been stuck with her ever sense I suppose we didn't do "traditional" dating; I'd make dinner after she would come over, and we would watch Netflix/play video games. I think we were "seeing" each other for about two months before we had an official "date night", haha.

3rd grade, liked here from the start. Bumped in to her 8 years after we graduated high school. Walked up to her and told her she was the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen and asked her out to lunch. Been together ever since.

Stockholm syndrome - I eventually released her from my love dungeon only to find that she didn't want to leave.

I had to build a dungeon extension so she could her own one, too; and a shared one of course.

Met though OkCupid. I spotted her profile, messaged, she replied. Met for a date starting with cake and drink at Patisserie Valerie and then an afternoon at the British museum. Second date started with cake again before going to the UCL zoology museum and later the Huntarian Museum of Surgeons to look at pickled foetuses and tumours in jars. After that we met again and decided we'd be gf/bf and have been together six months.

She was dating a friend of mine, and left his ass when confronted by my sheer masculine awesomeness.

I make better money so I pay for most things, but not everything. Plus I make her cook - I convinced her she's better at it. I'm mostly just too lazy.

I have yet to have a girlfirend :(

We spontaneously got each other Valentine cards at school. Have now been together for 27 years, married for 17, with 2 kids.

Ain't love grand.

I met my wife in year 10 we lost contact after we both left that school after are GCSEs . we bumped into each other on a bus and rekindled are friendship became BF/GF shortly afterwards sated like that for a few years Got married on May the 4th last year (yeah were both geeks)

thebarnet wrote:
...Got married on May the 4th last year (yeah were both geeks)

I'm 100% okay with that marriage date

I'd say my technically 'last' girlfriend I met at a party.

The girl I brought with me introduced us, then that night she gave me her number and we dated when I left that other girl lol. I've been single since December now, I'm gonna chalk it up to a super rough winter, the club scene has been absolutely dead. Summer's coming, and I'm going to be out of control in a few months.

I haven't met the one I want to marry yet. I'll know it when it happens, I've been keeping an eye out.

Met her at uni. She gave me a choice: Leave her and get with the hottest girl on campus or stay with her. I chose stay, (being an angel of a boyfriend now husband) and asked her to marry me four years later. I chose just when she was getting bored and surprised her. (tried and proven method)

Met my girlfriend of 5 years at a party. She was a coworker of my best friend at that time and he had gotten her hooked on some music I had dug up, so he invited her out to a house party. She was a complete dork and hugged the wall most of the night. I managed to get a few words out of her and thought she was cute but unavailable. After a couple of months she was single and tricked me into coming over and replacing a PC power supply (she admitted she had done it before, afterwards).

Best part of that "first date" was reaching under a desk to pull cables and hearing her giggle. As I turn my head to ask her what she's laughing at, I notice the two identical rubber dongs inches from my face that she then referred to as the Twin Towers. It's been a lot to live up to...

We met at college. We lived in the same dorm.

She claims the first day we met, it was at a hall program and someone said make a new friend, so I turned to her and said "Hi, I'm Dan"

I claim the first time I met her was at the hall front desk (friend worked there so we hung out there all the time) and I said hi, and she blew me off.

It took a year before we started hanging out, then she started dating some idiot, then a few months later they broke up and I swooped in for the kill. We have been dating for almost 2 years now.

In response to who pays for dates, she may pay, but she uses my money. But we are basically married and we just pool up our cash anyways.

I met my wife when I was 19(?). She was a flatmate of a friend of mine (who is definitely no longer my friend due to later 'financial irregularities'/thefts). I was really drunk and she thought that I was a dick.

The following year we ended up flatmates due to our mutual friendship with my ex friend and one thing lead to another....

We have been together now for 16 years (and have been married for 6) and we a 3 year old son.

The moral of the story is: don't discount obnoxious drunk people.