Gwyneth hadn't originally planned on joining a dating app. She wanted to meet someone organically, but after asking her mum whether she should give Hinge a try, her mum's response was rather persuasive: "I'm trying to have grandbabies. What steps are you taking to make sure that happens?"
So, Hinge it was.
Gwyneth was intentional about what she was looking for — a Christian man, over six foot and with a job. Within her first couple of weeks, she matched with Shemar. They started chatting, quickly moved over to WhatsApp, and then had their first phone call — which lasted three hours. Clearly, there was plenty to talk about.
For Shemar, Hinge was something of a last attempt. He was ready to settle down and thought, "This is the only dating app I haven't tried. Please work!" Thankfully, it did.
He spotted Gwyneth's profile and noticed they both liked horror movies, so he sent her a message. They hit it off almost immediately, and Shemar suggested moving to WhatsApp — partly because he didn't want to give any other guys the chance to steal her attention!
There was just one small complication: distance.
Shemar had his Hinge settings set to a ten-mile radius, but somehow the app had stretched that to around 100 miles. Gwyneth was considerably further away than expected. Luckily, she happened to be visiting a friend near Leamington Spa that weekend, which put her much closer to Coventry — and gave them the perfect excuse to meet.
Their first date was a full one: brunch at Boston S, an escape room, and a walk around the museum. They got on just as well in person as they had over the phone.
Then came date number two.
Shemar asked Gwyneth to be his girlfriend.
She said no.
The reason? There were no flowers.
Determined not to give up, Shemar returned for their third date with two bouquets of flowers — and this time, Gwyneth said yes.
From there, things moved quickly. One of the first things that stood out to Gwyneth was how comfortable she felt around him. She'd normally feel nervous and uncomfortable around someone new, but with Shemar, she felt at ease almost immediately. In her words, it felt like meeting someone who felt like home.
There were other green flags too. During their first phone call, Gwyneth asked Shemar what his red flag was. His answer was that he was "too honest" — something Gwyneth could relate to rather well.
Within just a couple of weeks, Gwyneth remembers thinking, "This is my person."
Shemar felt it too. After talking and then finally meeting her in person, his feelings only grew stronger. He remembers thinking that Gwyneth was completely out of his league — but, as the saying goes, you miss every shot you don't take.
So he took his shot.
And thankfully, Gwyneth said yes.
Now, here we are — getting ready to marry our favourite person and start the next chapter of our story together.
