My name is Suzanne Russell, I'm from the United States but moved to the U.K. six years ago. I was approached by Zimbi.net to write an article regarding my experiences with online dating. This is my personal story on the steps I took to find true love by using an internet dating site.
It all started shortly after being given a recommendation by 2 colleagues at work. I didn’t have anything to lose so I headed over to the online dating site I was informed of. I registered for free, filled out the questionnaires, added a recent photo of myself and began to browse the free member profiles to see if I got a feel for the site. After a few days of testing out the dating site I decided to upgrade my account to be granted full access, it was a small monthly fee and didn’t seem to much of a concern considering what was on offer. Another great thing was that I wasn’t tied in to contract, if I wasn’t happy after receiving full access I could cancel straight away, however, it turned out this wasn’t a problem either as after just a day or two I received a match from Gary. I checked out his intriguing profile and I knew I was attracted to him straight away. We followed the advised path of communication and over time we both grew a lot more interested in each other.
About a week later Gary left me a message saying he was heading off to Greece on a sailing trip, he said if I wanted to get in contact to send him a text and gave me his mobile phone number. I was just about to head off to the States for work so I thought I’d take him up on his offer before I left and dropped him a text. I don’t know if he was actually expecting me to but he sounded like a guy who had lots of energy and was the kind of person I was looking for. I also loved his interesting photo on his profile, a picture of him sailing, which turns out to be one of his most passionate hobbies.
Gary and I went on a date shortly after he returned from his travels, the day before our very first date I had been participating in Race For Life (for those who don’t know it’s a 5 kilometre run that helps raise money for cancer research). It was by far the best, although a little out of the ordinary date that I’ve ever been on. We climbed up to the 311 steps of the Monument Of The Great Fire in London, I’m pretty sure Gary didn’t expect me to survive after I had just ran 5 kilometres the day before, however, always the one to take up a challenge, I accepted the invite and we made it the top, chatting and laughing as we went. For the rest of the afternoon we spent another 4 hours chatting in a tucked away little pub in Islington.
After the first date we continued to see each other, all of our dates were always exciting and good fun. Our fourth date was extremely memorable for both of us as I invited Gary to join me in climbing Mount McKinley, Alaska, which we both completed early last year.
Our exciting relationships is now just over 9 months old and every single day I’ve spent with Gary has been exhilarating and exciting. I have met and already feel like a member of his family and early this year Gary followed me to the States to attend my brothers wedding. My older sisters had us married off in seconds and little did I know that my dad (now deceased) said that I was always going to get married to an Englishmen. Ironic isn’t it?
Just recently Gary whisked me away for a weekend in Venice, I was told I’d need to bring myself, a swimming costume and a nice dress. I followed my strict instructions and later arrived at our hotel. I was greeted with a bottle of champagne, some nibbles and a small card which said: For My Bass… (This is a nickname Gary has for me, I can’t even remember how it came about). In the evening before heading out to dinner - wearing my dress I was told to pack, Gary took my hands and Said to me: wait, there is something missing, between our bodies he was holding something in his hand, I was so scared to even look as I had an idea it may have been a ring. He then got down on one knee and asked if I would spend the rest of my life with him. All I could do was kiss him and cuddle him, I was absolutely speechless. Once I got my breath back I said YES - whether it be in the US or in England.
Gary has been by my side from the beginning and I will continue to stand by his. I honestly believe that Gary is the only man for me and we will have a wonderful, exciting and prosperous life together. Every single day I thank my 2 work colleagues for introducing me to the online dating site where I met Gary. I’m not a big believer in soul mates but I have travelled the world to so many different places for years now and I never ever thought I’d be lucky enough to meet a man as perfect for me as Gary.
The monthly subscription to the dating site cost me £34.95 and I can quite honestly say it was the best investment I have ever made in my life. Gary and I are getting married in August at a castle in Sussex where are family and friends will be joining us from all over the world for our special day!
With so many dating sites to choose from, singles are finding it increasingly difficult to choose an online dating service to join. Internet dating services like eHarmony offer thousands upon thousands of user profiles of singles, men and women all looking for love. There is also a large collection of other online dating sites that purely concentrate on a certain age, ethnicity or single religion. However, my first word of advice would be not to join a specialist dating site like this first off, as you will only be putting all your eggs in one basket. If you can’t find that special person or relationship you are looking for on one of the general dating websites, maybe then go ahead and try a specialist dating service out.
The majority of online dating sites offer security and privacy policies to help protect you whilst dating online, the dating websites that don’t are best to be avoided. A legitimate and reliable dating service will review their members and have certain policies in place within their terms and conditions that state they will remove or bar account holders from the dating site for unacceptable behaviour. Whatever online dating site you choose you should be positive that these protective measures are in place to guarantee you won’t experience any problems or issues with other members. Another important thing to bare in mind when talking of security is; when choosing a dating website always be sure to choose a difficult password to help protect your account and private information.
The best internet dating websites will always be conscious of women’s issues when online dating is concerned and will have a policy in place letting women block other members whom they don’t want to communicate with. There is a chance you will come across online dating sites that will issue members a penalty for blocking other members, obviously we don’t advocate that you use these dating sites.
Our next piece of advice is regarding your email address. This is something that should always be kept private whilst internet dating. All good online dating websites will keep your email address private, locked away within the site. The best dating sites will also offer you a personal on-site inbox where you can receive and transmit private messages with other singles. A fairly new feature that singles dating sites are offering is private messaging, this is a great feature and allows instant communication with other singles who are currently online. By utilizing the online dating sites instant messaging feature you can facilitate private chats which help towards building a positive bond with that member.
Another great feature of the online dating site is a chat room. Not every dating service offers this but I think they are very useful for singles who like to speak to other singles at the same time. By using the dating sites chat room it will help eliminate nervousness and also help boost confidence and will give you that extra edge when joining the online dating scene. Another good thing about using the chat room is that you can have an alias to your regular profile name to keep yourself anonymous whilst testing out your flirting techniques! Some sites also offer a voicemail service, so not only can you chat to other singles using the messaging features, you can also leave voice messages without ever having to reveal your real telephone number.
Below are some things to bare in mind when choosing an online dating service to find true romance:
I hope you have found this online dating article helpful in your search for your perfect online dating website. Below is a link to the website that I would recommend to all new and experienced online daters. This site ticks all the boxes from the list and is responsible for 3% of marriages in the United States.