1. “We met at a Halloween party, like straight out of a freakin rom-com, except I wasn’t in a playboy bunny costume like I would hope to be on the night I meet my future husband. I was legit a Smurf. Painted ENTIRELY in blue, like I had blue boogers when I showered that night. Whenever he talks about meeting me he jokes about his favorite color being blue. At least I know if he liked me when I was a blue, he’ll like me when I’m old and gray.” —Lisa, 29

2. “I was riding my bike in the city and my friend happened to be stopped at the same red light. She rolled down the window to say hi, and I noticed a really cute guy in the passenger seat. I texted her that night asking how she knew him, and she told me he was single (with a wink emoji). She introduced us, and that’s when it all started.” —Hailey, 27

3. “I was moving into my new apartment and he lived upstairs. My friends were being a bunch of assholes that day and decided they were too busy to help me move. I legit had to carry a La-z-boy up 3 flights of stairs by myself. He was coming home from the gym (all sweaty and still looking fine AF) and helped me move all my stuff in. I was praying he wasn’t straight, and after inviting me up that night for a glass of wine I quickly figured out he wasn’t. After a year of dating I moved out of my apartment to his upstairs, and he carried the La-z-boy.” —Mark, 28

4. “This is going to sound terrible, but I met him at one of those traffic school things that you go to after you get too many speeding tickets. The class was the dumbest thing I’ve ever had to sit through. We all had to go around introducing ourselves explaining why were there. We both bonded over our irresponsible driving habits. You wouldn’t think two terrible drivers would make a great couple, but we’re pretty great.” —Deanna, 26

5. “We were both dating someone else. My girlfriend at the time made me go to her friend’s art show, which I REALLY had no interest in going to (I’m not an art guy). We went and it was boring like I thought it would be, but while I was there I was introduced to this girl (my current fiance) who looked equally as bored as I was. She was dating some other guy who worked with the artist, so we were both dating artsy people who we had nothing in common with. About a year after that show, we ran into each other at a party, turns out we had a mutual friend, but this time we were both single. We immediately recognized each other, exchanged numbers, and that’s where it all began. She always refers to it as fate, I just say she couldn’t stay away from me.” —Anthony, 30

6. “The day I met my wife she was working in a coffee shop down the street from my apartment, not as a barista, like she was on her laptop working there. I go in there every morning at the same time before work and grab a coffee to go, but that day I took a sick day (I was extremely hungover) so I got breakfast and actually sat down. She was at the table next to me and her pen fell on the ground. I leaned over to pick it up for her, and after she thanked me she tried striking up some casual conversation. I was hungover as fuck, but I figured alright, cute girl in coffee shop trying to talk to me, why not? To this day I say she dropped her pen on purpose because she wanted to talk to me. She doesn’t deny it either.” —Tucker, 30

7. “Completely unromantic, but we met at a bar. I know they tell you to never meet guys at bars, but it wasn’t like that. At that time, I didn’t go out with the intention of meeting anyone. I just went through a breakup and basically swore off all men, and he came up to me and told me my smile caught his attention, and I was like OH, ABSOLUTELY NOT. I wanted to tell him to go away, but I was too nice, so I just let him do all the talking. Turns out he was actually kinda nice, and he still talks about how my smile caught his attention that night. Some guys can be genuine, even in bars with what you think is a cheesy pick up line.” —Margaret, 28

8. “We met at a labor day pool party. My friend and I were the only two girls who didn’t bring our bathing suits. We didn’t even realize there would be a pool there, we just thought it was a party, and the entire time there was a guy there who would NOT STOP picking on us for not getting in the pool. He was relentless, he’s also currently my soon-to-be husband.” —Claire, 29

9. “We were in each other’s freshman seminar class. I of course immediately thought she was the most attractive girl in the room and was like, I need that in my life. I’d always ask her for help with assignments and quickly learned she was not only beautiful, but smart. After one whole semester of her helping me with homework, I got the courage to ask her out, and we’ve been together ever since. She already knows I want to marry her…eventually.” —Nate, 27

10. “We went to high school together. We aren’t technically high school sweethearts though because we didn’t date til way after high school. We both went to different colleges, and honestly weren’t even really that great of friends in high school anyway. After college though, turns out we both moved to the same area of the city, and I ran into him on the street when I was trying to find my uber. He gave me a hug and asked how I’d been and said we should get together some time…and shocker, we did, and we’re still together now too. How romantic.” —Leslie, 28

11. “He would probably tell this story differently, but it was at an alumni reunion thing. We both had one too many drinks than we probably should’ve (which is why our stories differ), but he CLEARLY made the first move. Basically we ended up on the same couch the next morning in his old frat house, and after that we surprisingly stayed in touch. So let this be a public service announcement, no matter how bad you’re avoiding that alumni reunion, GO, you could potentially meet the love of your life there.” —Caroline, 27