1. “I kind of just stopped looking. I was single for what felt like forever, and was tired of hooking up with people who clearly didn’t give a shit about me. When I got so fed up with men in general, I learned that being on my own wasn’t so bad, and that’s when I met my husband.” —Morgan, 28

2. “I don’t think ‘find’ is the right way to describe it because I wasn’t searching for him, I didn’t find him. I was just living my life the way I wanted to, and he happened to make an appearance. And I’m so glad he did.” —Lindsey, 29

3. “I always hear people say you have to love yourself first before you can find someone else to love you, but I definitely didn’t love myself when I met my husband. He helped me to love myself, and I think that’s how I knew he was someone I wanted to keep around. He didn’t save me or rescue me like a damsel in distress, but we started dating when I was at a very low point, and I think he played a huge role in helping me get out of it.” —Gabriella, 30

4. “I met him at one of our mutual friend’s party. I had just gone through a pretty bad breakup, so I don’t think I was open to the idea of jumping into another relationship, but either way we were definitely attracted to each other. We exchanged numbers and texted a little bit, but lost touch after three weeks or so. I ran into him again at another party this same friend threw, and I think we both were hoping that the other person would be there. This time we didn’t lose touch, and 3 years later, we still haven’t (he’s my husband).” —Natalie, 27

5. “Don’t listen to people who tell you you won’t find your husband in a bar. I met my husband in a bar and we’ve been happily married for 5 years. Sure the venue has a lot to do with the types of people you’ll meet there, especially when you’re single and dating, but if you know what you want, you won’t waste your time chatting with someone you know isn’t worth it. When I first met my husband (yes in a bar) I knew he wasn’t just looking to get laid like they say all men in bars are. Use your judgement, it’s that simple.” —Kim, 31

6. “My husband and I met at work. Policy was coworkers couldn’t date each other. We dated without anyone finding out for about 5 months, and after that we both started looking for other jobs, I think because we both knew we were keepers, and that we couldn’t keep our relationship secret very much longer.” —Natasha, 30

7. “My fiance and I both lied to each other when we first met. We each told the other we had significant others (even though we didn’t), I guess because we both weren’t immediately interested in one another but were curious and bored because we were each at a bar alone and had no one else to talk to. Turns out he was pretty cool after talking to him, so when I had a few more drinks I told him I didn’t actually have a boyfriend. He said he didn’t actually have a girlfriend either. And then we started dating, and here we are.” —Sara, 28

8. “We went to the same high school but never spoke to each other while we were actually in high school. I had a serious boyfriend all throughout college, went through a sort of mid-life crisis where I got dumped and lost my job in the same 4 months and had to move back home with my parents. I ran into him while I was out in my hometown and even though we didn’t really know each other, we each said hello and acted like we did. Then we actually got to know each other and surprise we’re in a very committed relationship.” —Annabelle, 26

9. “I think he’d say he found me. One of my coworkers is his sister-in-law, she said her brother-in-law was super single and attractive and naturally she wanted to set us up. One of many side effects of always being single is having to always be set up with someone. Usually it never clicks, but this time it did. We really liked each other, and after about 4 months of dating I found out that we weren’t truly set up, he sort of creepily scouted me. He saw a photo of me and his sister-in-law together and was like, ‘I want to meet her,’ and he got his wish.” —Stacey, 29

10. “Online dating. No we did not meet on Tinder. It’s a site you have to pay for, but it really does work. Some people hate that you instantly judge someone based off of a small profile of their life that they themselves created, but I didn’t just choose to meet my current husband because we liked the same movie, I chose to meet him because I saw potential. And look what it turned into. Sometimes optimism can work wonders in the modern dating world.” —Cassie, 31

11. “I think the key to finding someone you’re ‘meant to be with’ is to not try and find someone you’re ‘meant to be with.’ As soon as I stopped focusing entirely too much on meeting the right guy, whatever that even means, I did.” —Dana, 29