Stephanie, 52, and Andrew, 58, met through Maturity Dating. After seeing each other for 18 months, they have decided to tie the knot. We asked Stephanie if she wouldn’t mind putting her story into words for us, what follows is her amazing story.

I met Andrew through an online dating site a year and a half ago. To be honest, if you’d have told me then that we would be getting married, I would have laughed in your face! Andrew was not the typical guy I would go for. He is loud, outspoken and can sometimes be rather crass. He also wasn’t my usual tall, dark and handsome dreamboat that I pined after. But after recovering from my divorce in 2013, I had joined online dating in the hope to find love again.

I was having no success pursuing the type of man I had etched in my mind as The One; a carbon-copy of my ex. I ignored most of the guys who contacted me because they weren’t anything like my ex, and instead wasted countless hours on men who had the same attributes as the man who broke my heart. It took me a year of repeating this vicious cycle before I stumbled upon a really interesting and helpful article about online dating and how to succeed as a mature single woman.

I realised that the type of man I wanted when I was younger was completely different to what I needed now as a grown-up, independent, strong woman. Looks were not everything, and the personality traits that I thought I found attractive, were in fact a fancy from the past. Once I clocked-on that my priorities had changed, I began to re-think what was really important in my life. And that’s when Andrew came on to the scene.

He was so out-there and bold in his introduction to me, I was nervous about responding. Even though I had already decided to have an open-mind and be willing to date men I wouldn’t typically consider, I was secretly preparing myself for a disastrous date. With an escape route planned (my girlfriend was to call me 45 minutes into the date to tell me that my cat was sick – cliché I know) I set out with the lowest of low expectations to meet Andrew at a sushi bar.

We had a hoot! With my guard down, my usual first-date nervousness was non-existent and instead of harbouring high expectations and wanting desperately to impress him, we had a relaxed, enjoyable date. It was more like meeting a long lost friend. What was even better was that online dating had already equipped us with valuable knowledge about each other; we knew what we had in common and the conversation flowed naturally. I saw him as my equal, not some Perfect Prince Charming who I had to win over in order to sweep me off my feet.

When my phone rang, I ran to the bathroom and happily told my friend that I was having the best date I’d ever had.

I’m so glad that I gave Andrew a chance, he’s my soulmate I’m sure. It wasn’t long before we both deleted our online dating profiles and introduced each other to our families. We moved in together shortly after and just last week, Andrew completely surprised me by proposing to me at our family BBQ! I am so happy that our families have bonded so naturally and that I am finally living my Happily Ever After. If it wasn’t for online dating, I never would have met him. But furthermore, if it wasn’t for opening my mind to different possibilities, I would still be kissing Frogs disguised as Princes.