I moved in with Tinder match after four weeks — people said it wouldn’t last
A couple who moved in together just FOUR WEEKS after meeting say they’ve proved their doubters wrong after tying the knot.
Kelsey Shutts, 29, met her husband, James, 39, on Tinder in May 2020 and he sent her a video saying hello.
After meeting during the pandemic, the pair quarantined for two weeks separately to be able to go on their first date to an Italian restaurant in Tampa, Florida, US.
Kelsey said she had never believed in love at first sight until she locked eyes with James and the pair hit it off and arranged a second date just two days later.
After four weeks of knowing each other, Kelsey and James moved in together and after three months she was introduced to his children from a previous relationship – aged eight, 11, and 13.
The couple then decided to pack up and buy a house together in Dahlonega, Georgia, after four months.
In December 2021, after just 18 months of dating, James popped the question to Kelsey over Christmas in Chicago.
They then had two ceremonies – one in July 2022, with their children and parents and then another with their friends and family in Lake Como, Italy.
Kelsey, a marketing and graphic designer, from Hartford, Connecticut, said: “After he sent me the video, I knew I had met my future husband.”
“I had never believed in love at first sight until I saw him – I thought it was an exaggeration.”
“He was the most handsome man I’d ever seen in my life.”
“This is the first time I have felt loved and accepted by someone.”
“He comes off all macho and professional but with me he is a big teddy bear and super romantic.”
In May 2020, Kelsey matched with James on Tinder while the US was quarantining due to the pandemic.
After two weeks of isolating, the couple met at an Italian restaurant in Tampa, Florida and hit it off.
Kelsey said: “We had sat outside in the restaurant and went for a walk.”
“It felt so weird, it felt like we shouldn’t have been out on a date.”
James, a Chief Executive Officer, from Hartford, Connecticut, said: “The whole love at first sight, hit me like a wave of ecstasy.”
“A total out-of-body experience I had never encountered before.”
“I was in my living room with my friend, swiping through a dating app, thinking this was never gonna happen for me like I was being punished for all my past mistakes, and then bam there she was.”
“She was the most beautiful woman I’d ever laid eyes on, took my breath away and my heart was racing out of my chest.”
Two days after the first date, James and Kelsey met up again and stayed over at his house.
After arriving, Kelsey said she would rarely go back home as they wanted to spend so much time together.
In June 2020, Kelsey ended her lease in Jacksonville and moved in with James.
Just three months after their first date, Kelsey met James’s children from a previous relationship.
Kelsey said: “We went to Disneyland in the August of 2020 and we told them how we were dating.
“I am so lucky with my stepkids – their mom was dating at the same time so they got used to the idea of it.”
“They were so welcoming, I brought them presents and sweets – they were very young at the time.”
Four months after meeting, James and Kelsey ended the lease on their apartments and bought a mortgage together in Dahlonega, Georgia.
After 18 months together, James surprised Kelsey with a proposal while she was in Chicago with her family in December 2021.
James said: It’s hard to keep things from your best friend, so that was probably the most difficult part.
“The rest was easy, her family always celebrated the holidays in Chicago, they were already all together as a family, so the logistics was taken care of, and then it was all about the venue.”
“I chose the London House, something that is a monumental landmark in the city, we can always visit and remember that moment.”
“I locked in the date with the venue, it was on a breathtaking rooftop in a private bell tower, overlooking the city and river.”
“I lined up the chocolate strawberries, Don Perinon, music, photographer, and her family to be waiting to celebrate with us at the lounge for drinks and lunch.”
Kelsey added: “I was crying my eyes out the whole time, he had a whole speech ready.”
“He had rose petals everywhere and my favourite song playing.”
“When he got down on one knee, I fell to my knees too.”
The couple had two weddings, one in the US that the children could attend as they were still in school and one in Italy for family and friends.
Kelsey said: “We asked the kids to be our best man and maids of honour – they were there for when we were legally married.”
“We then all went on a family-moon with the children and went on a week-long cruise around the Bahamas.”
James and Kelsey then had a ceremonial wedding on Lake Como, Italy, in October 2022.
The pair tied the knot for a second time surrounded by 30 of their closest family and friends.
Kelsey said: “We went out there for two weeks in total.”
“It was a fairytale dream come true, it was raining all day and everyone was a bit disappointed.”
“Right as the ceremony was supposed to start it completely dried up and the sun came out.”
“As soon as the party ended the rain started again, it is like the rain stopped for us.”
