Amber McCullough said she decided enough was enough.
After a few unproductive dates and one especially-persistent guy, McCullough, a music education sophomore, was ready to give up.
She was going to close her account with TigerSingles.com. That same day, she got an e-mail from Grant Guillot, her future fiance.
“I had just joined TigerSingles.com,” Guillot said. “Being a male, I searched through only the profiles that had pictures, and I picked the most beautiful one — and it was Amber.”
Guillot, who graduated in December 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in mass communication, said he was instantly attracted to not only her beauty, but also her profile.
A self-described singer-songwriter, Guillot was recording his first CD when he found McCullough’s online profile.
“I loved the fact that she was a music education major,” Guillot said. “Music is very important to me, and I loved that it was an important part of her life, as well.”
Guillot wasted no time in contacting McCullough. He sent her an e-mail, hoping for a reply.
“I read his e-mail and looked up his profile,” McCullough said. “There was such an instant connection, I couldn’t deny it. Everything I wanted was there.”
McCullough said Guillot’s devotion to his faith and love of music was part of her initial attraction.
She began to rethink her decision to quit TigerSingles.com. That night, she e-mailed Guillot back.
“He just seemed so good for me,” she said. “I figured I should at least give him a shot.”
After about three weeks of getting to know each other, they went on their first date.
“He showed up with flowers, and we went to J. Alexander’s,” McCullough said, “It was absolutely perfect.”
Guillot said their first date was one of the best nights of his life.
“The second she walked out the door, I knew she was my future,” he said.
Although their first date was amazing, Guillot said he became nervous.
“It was just too good, too perfect,” Guillot said. “I guess I was just really scared. I knew deep down she could be ‘the one,’ and I was scared.”
Guillot told McCullough through an e-mail he was not ready to date and said they should remain friends.
“It broke my heart,” she said. “I called my mom crying. I didn’t want to just be friends, but I didn’t want to lose him either.”
They both decided to date other people, but quickly realized they were making a mistake.
“It just wasn’t ‘it,’” McCullough said. “It just wasn’t Grant.”
In April 2004, they began dating officially.
Guillot proposed to McCullough on New Year’s Eve this year in the park they visited on their first date.
“It was so amazing and sweet, I just started bawling,” she said. “Of course by this point, my makeup was just running down my face.”
McCullough was so surprised that she forgot to give him an answer.
“I just looked at her and said, ‘Well, what’s the answer?’” he said. “And she said yes.”
McCullough said she is glad she waited just a little longer before canceling her TigerSingles.com account.
“I think as long as you keep an open mind, anything is possible,” she said. “Just be cautious and honest. If you’re looking for fun, let the other person know, because they might be more serious than that.”
Brad Armstrong, CEO of White Buffalo Ventures, LLC., the company that owns TigerSingles.com, said online dating is much like a blind date set up by a friend.
“Our service is very secure and completely anonymous if you choose it to be,” he said. “It’s another tool in broadening your social horizons.”
McCullough said she thinks fate brought them together.
“If that day, I had taken my name off the site, I think I still would have met him somehow,” McCullough said.
With excitement in their voices, Guillot and McCullough talk about their future together.
While their beginnings may not be traditional, the couple said they would not change a thing.
“It’s not exactly the story I envisioned telling my grandchildren, but it’s still romantic in its own 21st-Century way,” he said.