7 couples who met on Tinder share their love stories as the dating app turns 10

Popular dating app Tinder officially celebrated ten years this September. According to its website, the app has led to more than 75 billion matches and helped set up an estimated 1.5 million dates per week.

Insider spoke with seven couples who shared how Tinder sparked their relationships.

Baker and Brooker, who live in London, told Insider they first met for drinks in 2018 after matching on Tinder, but a relationship didn't blossom until much later. Brooker said he liked Baker from the get-go, but she had begun dating someone else she met on the app.

"Like very quickly turned love, but I also loved our friendship and everything we had," Brooker said.

Baker and Brooker became best friends during that time, chatting and hanging out often. They remained friends for two years, but their relationship shifted during the pandemic. By then, Baker had broken up with her previous partner.

"[I] realized whilst wandering round the park during March 2020 lockdown that I loved Andy. So told him," Baker said.

The two were forced to text instead of meeting face-to-face during the UK lockdown but finally had their first official date in May 2020. They went for a walk on Wye Downs, a trail in Kent.

"We had been flirting outrageously in the weeks before, but couldn't see each other. The weeks that followed were full of lots of getting drunk in the park," Brooker said.

Baker soon moved into Brooker's home during a second national lockdown in November 2020, which she said "accelerated things quickly."

After two years of dating and living together, Brooker took Baker to Berlin in March 2022 for her birthday. There, Brooker popped the question. As of September, Baker and Brooker have been dating for almost two and a half years.

A close friend was the reason Luchessi swiped right on Wright.

"My best friend was actually on my Tinder account and was swiping through guys when she came across Daniel," Luchessi said, adding that her friend had met Wright at a bar in Rome two years earlier while studying abroad.

Luchessi "super liked" Wright's profile, and Wright liked her profile back. Their first date was a Taco Tuesday night at a local restaurant in San Diego, California. The couple kept seeing each other for a few months, but in April 2017, Wright moved to Madrid, Spain, to pursue a Master's degree.

Luchessi said they initially didn't continue their relationship when Wright moved overseas, but they "accidentally kept talking to each other" every day.

Luchessi visited Wright in Spain for her birthday that August, when she and Wright decided to make their long-distance relationship official, with Luchessi in San Diego and Wright in Madrid.

"When I came out to visit him in Europe, we realized just how well we clicked, and I think that's what made us think 'maybe we should give this a shot.'" she said. "But the 8-hour time difference made it pretty inconvenient to keep in touch.'"

Luchessi moved to Spain in December 2017 and they both moved back to San Diego in August 2018. After five years of dating, they're preparing for their wedding.

Garza told Insider that he initially joined Tinder to meet new people as a single dad. He matched with Gonzalez ahead of the pandemic in 2020.

"I had reservations because he had a lengthy bio that basically said 'good vibes only' and a lot of pictures of him out with big groups of people," Gonzalez said. "I eventually swiped right because his smile seemed really warm and inviting, and he seemed like a fun time."

After exchanging phone numbers, Garza and Gonzalez said they fell into a "witty banter" that led to their first date. The pair decided to do a onesie-themed bar crawl.

"After our first date, I knew he was the guy for me," Gonzalez said. "I even went out with my friend after and told her we were going to get married one day."

The feeling was mutual.

The rest fell into place, with Gonzalez making the first move and telling Garza that she wanted to make their relationship official. They got engaged in 2021.

"Our third date ended up being a trip to New Hampshire," Gonzalez said. "I had reservations about going across state lines with a stranger, but it ended up being a fantastic time. The following year we went to the same place and that's where he serenaded me and proposed."

They share a two-month-old daughter and Garza's 6-year-old son from a previous marriage.

Arnold swiped right on Seah in 2021.

"Darryl's pictures felt very cool," they said. "He looked like he had a fun friend group and got up to interesting stuff, which was exactly what I wanted to be a part of. Plus, they were super cute!"

Seah was attracted to Arnold's "smile, love of plums, overalls, and just general vibe."

They met in May of that year at Seah's home. Arnold also matched with Seah's roommate at the time, and that roommate invited Arnold to hang out at their home.

"My friend and I went over," Arnold said. "The boys all ended up fixing our skateboards, DJing, and had a chill evening. Then, Darryl and I chatted about mushrooms and music and decided to go on a date the next morning."

Arnold described their date as a "classic alt date — plant shopping, thrifting, developing film. After that, we never left each other's side."

Soon after, Seah knew he liked Arnold, saying, "I knew they were someone that matched yet also balanced out my energy. Not to sound cliche, but I definitely felt like we had some yin and yang connection going on. It just felt like I'd known them forever, too."

Both Arnold and Seah said the relationship progressed naturally but they made things official while attending a Pride party.

"Darryl and I were bouncing on the trampoline, and I began using sign language to say, "I love you.' It took him a while to click, but when it did, we both had a consensus that we loved each other and wanted to be with one another."

Arnold and Seah have been dating for more than a year.

After trying online dating for the first time for a few months, Evans was about to take a break from Tinder before she matched with Savic.

"The holidays were coming up and I'm like, 'He's going to be my last date and I'm just going to focus on getting through the holidays, the new year, and then decide what I'm going to do or not do,'" she said.

Savic was visiting Greenville, South Carolina, where Evans has lived her whole life. She said she was drawn to his profile because it said he was from Montenegro. The ability to meet people from difference places was one of the reasons she downloaded Tinder, she said.

Savic swiped because he liked the way Evans looked and wanted to meet someone in Greenville.

For the next week and a half Savic was in town, they met up and walked around, using Google Translate to communicate between English and Montenegrin. Even though it was hard to communicate verbally, both of them found it was easy to understand the other.

"It's hard to explain. It's like for some reason, and it maybe sounds stupid to some people, I feel like there are some people that for some reason you're supposed to meet them. I don't know. I kind of felt like that," Evans said.

Savic eventually came back to Greenville to see Evans again before returning to Montenegro.

They talked all the time over text and, after a few months, Savic moved in with her. A year later, they were married.

After four years of dating, Evans said good communication keeps their relationship strong.

Polson and Merrick swiped on each other because they both had kids in their profile.

"Honestly, it was a weird mindset, I was like, 'Oh, maybe I can make friends with him. I don't have friends at home. He has a kid, looks like around my daughter's age,'" Polson said.

After messaging for a few days, Merrick felt a strong connection and told his friend that she was the one.

"Just so you know, I'm putting all of my eggs in your basket," was the last message Merrick sent to Polson on Tinder.

"I'm like, 'This kid doesn't know me!'" Polson said.

Polson said that the biggest challenge with their relationship early on was that Merrick had to keep it a secret from his family, because he had promised them he wouldn't date before his previous marriage was annulled.

For their first date, they met for half an hour at an In-N-Out, because Merrick had told his family he was at the grocery store. Polson said the experience was a turn-off and she told Merrick she just wanted be friends after that.

Luckily, Merrick was persistent and Polson said taking the pressure off the relationship helped them connect.

"I was able to open up a lot more in a friend sense, in a friend relationship, because I felt trying to date him and talk to him and get to know him, you hide a little bit more," she said.

Two days into just being friends, Polson wanted to try things again.

Merrick moved in with Polson after two months and after dating for almost a year, the two got engaged in May.

Aygistova swiped right on Ibrahimi because he seemed approachable.

"I don't know why I liked it, but the mirror selfie was cute. And it kind of felt genuine. You felt like someone I could talk to and you had a cute face, so that worked," she said.

Ibrahimi said he was instantly attracted to Aygistova and liked that her pictures indicated she seemed to travel a lot.

They quickly found out after matching that Ibrahimi, who was in Moscow for a few days for work, was having his meetings in the same building as Aygistova's apartment. It was also the day before Ibrahimi's flight home to Amsterdam and, while they messaged a bit, they didn't meet up before he left.

For three months they talked every day and Ibrahimi kept insisting they meet up in different places. Aygistova finally came to Amsterdam in November 2017 to visit a friend and see him.

"I think we were already probably a little bit in love because we were constantly connected," Aygistova said.

Although the initial car ride from the airport was awkward, they felt more comfortable the next day walking around the canals.

The two met the next week in Paris and later in Milan, where Ibrahimi asked Aygistova to be his girlfriend.

After 4 months of dating, Aygistova moved in with Ibrahimi and they immediately got a dog together.

Ibrahimi proposed in Paris in June 2021. They have dated for just under five years.