How Online Dating is Standard, Practical and the Catalyst for a Large Proportion of Weddings

Naturally one of the first questions as a Marriage Celebrant that I ask a couple planning to marry is ‘how did you meet’?

Many couples often exchange a swift glance and then rather coyly tell me ‘online’. I hasten to reassure them there is absolutely no stigma at all attached to this as perhaps there once was in years past. It is considered practical and sensible and I rather like the feature that enables outpouring of the heart and soul through dialogue that builds a solid foundation prior to actually meeting in the flesh so to speak. Almost akin to decades past when lovers would communicate via copious reams of letter writing, opening their hearts to each other across delicate sheets of paper that were then cherished for years to come.

Online Dating can also provide far more access to compatible suitors than one is likely to encounter in today’s eclectic lifestyles with people working away and 24 hour shifts etc. With technology such a major force in every other aspect of our lives, why shouldn’t it also be the obvious avenue to find a mate?

The online process enables us to narrow our selections in a reasonably safe environment ensuring we match with people that share similar likes and values as ourselves. I would state with fair confidence that greater than 50 per cent of the couples I perform Sunshine Coast weddings as a Marriage celebrant for, have met through one online platform or another and I may add that this seems far safer than meeting someone in a shady bar. You really have no idea if they may be of a similar leaning, background or share the same interests and values or at least some that complement your own.

When the day to finally meet comes around after weeks or months of online chatting, I find that most people are incredibly nervous; not that they may be confronted with someone who may have misrepresented their self, but rather they have already established a bonefide relationship and so don’t want this to be spoilt or shattered when the actual person is in front of them. After initial nerves, most take up with a really strong foundation and have endless fun and excitement discovering the real person.

Online dating can eliminate the awkwardness of working out if you both are on the same page as far as anticipated longevity of a relationship, i.e. that one of you isn’t looking for a fun fling while the other is actively seeking a long term spouse.

The process of discovering if you have children and similar interests can be simplified because these will be a category that presumably you will have will selected.

No dating process can bypass inherent safety concerns; however online dating can be no more fraught with danger than the traditional method. Rely on your first instincts, get your trusted friends’ opinions, employ the usual safety methods and same caution you would when meeting or going on the first few dates with any new partner, and if it seems too good to be true it probably is!

In summary, there is no stigma with finding a mate or marriage partner online but whatever the universe has in store for you, you are just as likely to find online as on a bar stool!