As part of our 2025 dating trends, we’ve chosen a few of our Success Stories that speak to how dating is developing. From “micro-mance” to “on the same fan-page”, these couples remind us why we love love. Our research* shows that our members are finding romance in unexpected ways—from sending memes to sharing playlists. Because sometimes, it’s the small things that inspire big feelings.
Sitting around a firepit one fall evening in 2021, Callie couldn’t possibly have known that the love of her life was just over the garden fence. She was visiting her best friend Molly in Fayetteville, Ark., and, while sitting out in the yard one night, her friends convinced her to download Bumble.
“I hadn’t dated for a while,” explains Callie, a city councilor who worked in banking and lived two hours away in Springfield, Mo, at the time. “My dad passed away in 2020 and taking care of him towards the end was my main focus. After he passed, I spent a lot of time with my mom, so my friends were like, ‘it’s time to do something for you.’”
They helped her create a profile, and she swiped a few times before closing the app to focus on spending time with her friends. When she opened Bumble up again a few weeks later, she had a match with Seth. She was immediately drawn to his warm, authentic bio in which he described himself as “a fun uncle, an avid traveler, and a St. Louis Cardinals fan”.
“Sounds like you’re a triple threat?!” she sent as an opening line, which had Seth, an account director for a tech firm, instantly hooked. Living near the state university didn’t provide many opportunities to meet women in his age bracket, so he joined Bumble. He was looking for someone who shared his ambition and zest for life, and it seemed like Callie fit the bill.
“Callie had great pictures—one of her feeding a giraffe, laughing, and another in New York dressed up as Samantha from Sex And The City—so I knew straight away she was going to be fun,” says Seth.
They skipped the small talk. “By the second day of messaging we were talking about finances, religion, politics, family—we dove in!” says Callie.
They chatted for two weeks on Bumble before Seth suggested they have a video call. As it happened, Callie’s friend Molly was visiting, and over dinner, Callie told her about Seth. She showed her the pictures he’d sent, including one of him standing outside his house.
“Molly said ‘Wait a minute, that house looks just like mine,” says Callie. “‘Does he live in Fayetteville?’”
Callie texted Seth and asked. He confirmed he did. Even more coincidentally, he lived in the same neighborhood. Then Seth texted the name of his street and they realized it was the street that backed onto Molly’s. In fact, they shared a fence. It seemed like a sign. When Callie and Seth had a video call later that evening, they talked for four hours. As the festive season approached, they planned to meet up on New Year’s Eve. Callie came to Fayetteville to stay with Molly, and she and Seth went out for dinner. A first date on NYE sounds like it could be a lot of pressure, but Seth says nothing could be further from the truth.
“Callie showed up that New Year’s Eve and it was just electric between us,” he says. “We went out to a steakhouse and then we ran into some friends, so we hung out with them for a little while, and then we went back to my place to chat some more.” As the clock struck midnight Seth turned to her and said, “I will kick myself for the rest of my life if I don’t at least kiss you on New Year’s Eve.”
Callie didn’t need to be asked twice. “Oh I was ready for a kiss by that point,” she laughs.
Callie headed back to Molly’s place, but the next morning, she woke up to a text from Seth saying he’d made breakfast. It was just a short walk around the block to his house, and by the time she got there, they were diving into waffles and bacon. Then, out of nowhere, the snow started coming down—hard. By the time they finished eating, they were completely snowed in.
“We just hung out all day watching movies, talking, and taking naps,” says Callie. “Sitting there, doing nothing and still having fun, I knew this was something special.”
When they’re not snowed in watching movies, Callie and Seth lead busy lives—but they say that’s exactly why they clicked.
“We both live our lives very much on the go, and I think that’s one of the things that attracted us to each other,” says Seth. When they first matched, Seth had just signed up for a big fundraising event and within weeks of it ending, Callie decided to run for city council. It was obvious they shared the same passions and had each other’s backs.
For the next ten months, Callie and Seth drove the two hours between Springfield and Fayetteville to visit each other often. But they knew long-distance couldn’t last forever, so in the summer of 2022, they began looking for houses in Springfield.
Callie’s mom still lived in her childhood home and, while chatting about their plans one day, her mom suggested she talk to “Jim next door.” Callie had known Jim and his late wife Joanna her whole life, and because he was moving, the house next door was empty. She called up her former neighbor and asked if he wanted to sell, and a few months later the couple moved in. It was the second time she’d found what she was looking for just beyond the garden fence.
In December 2022, the couple took a trip to New York where Seth proposed in front of a rooftop view of the city. Their wedding took place in October 2023, two years after Callie spent that serendipitous night around the fire pit, not knowing her future husband was just a few yards away.
*Research was conducted by Bumble using internal polling from September 19 to 23, 2024, with a sample of 41,294 Bumble members aged 18 to 35 worldwide.