- Two couples meet through a dating app, get to know each other, find love, and marry.
HAPPILY EVER AFTER – Dwight and PJ Tagapulot (left) and Nico and Angelu Rey-Hipolito (right) found 'The One' through the Bumble dating app, and are now married. (Photo courtesy of PJ San Antonio-Tagapulot and Nico Rey-Hipolito)
Two of these couples—Dwight and Pamela Joy Tagapulot and Nico and Angelu Rey-Hipolito—found “The One” through the Bumble dating app. They are now married.
BREAKUP CONNECTION
A breakup from long-term relationships brought PJ and Dwight together. PJ, 28, from Pasig City, had ended a four-year relationship when she started to use the application in June 2018. After a series of unsuccessful matches, she decided to give it a final shot, and stumbled upon Dwight’s profile. PJ, an engagement manager at Globe Telecom, said it was Dwight’s mention of the American series "Friends'' in his profile, which attracted her attention.
Meanwhile, Dwight, 27, from Antipolo City in Rizal, used the application in July 2018 for the same reason.
HOW THIS WORKS
In Bumble, individuals create a profile by uploading their photos and writing short and appealing biographies. Then they go to the swipe deck to search for matches. A ‘swipe right’ on a profile expresses interest, while a ‘swipe left’ is for ‘pass.’ A match is made when two people ‘swipe right’ on each other’s profile.
CONVERSATION STARTS
Their match was “born” on Aug. 19. And a conversation started. "The conversation started like friends because we both came from a breakup,” she told Manila Bulletin in Filipino.
TAGAPULOT FAMILY – PJ and Dwight were all smiles at their son Isla Gael, enjoying the field of sunflowers in Bukidnon. (Photo courtesy of PJ San Antonio-Tagapulot)
She started the conversation by responding to the question in Dwight’s profile, “Coffee or milk tea?” She answered, “Coffee! game? Haha.”
After that, the couple spent the night talking until 4 a.m., even moving to a Facebook call on the same night. Two days later, they agreed to meet.
PJ admitted being shy to look him in the eye on their first meeting. Meanwhile, Dwight got the impression that she didn't want to speak to him. But gradually, they felt comfortable and exhibited their “kalog” personalities.
As their romantic feelings grew, PJ worried about Dwight’s sincerity so she told him to formally ask her parents for permission to court her. And he did!
Dwight, now the owner of a small garment business, revealed that she was the first woman he courted: “Pinatunayan ko sa kanya kung anong klase akong tao, pinakilala ko parents ko. Mali 'yung judgment niya sa akin (I proved to her what kind of person I am, I introduced my parents. Her judgment of me was wrong."
The relationship got another push when Dwight was diagnosed with a medical condition. PJ, who said she had fallen in love, decided to take it to the next level. On Oct. 10, 2018, she handed Dwight a letter and a Spotify playlist right after he had left the hospital at about 10 p.m. She wrote that she was making their romantic relationship official. An hour later, Dwight went to her home in Pasig City just to confirm what he had read.
“I answered him because I felt fear. I always want to be with him, so I said ‘perhaps it’s time to try to see where we’re really going’,” she said in Filipino.
Their story has two happy endings that would begin their life together – a civil wedding on Nov. 26, 2021, and a church wedding on Oct. 15, 2022. The civil wedding took place in a restaurant in Antipolo. The church wedding happened at the San Pedro Calungsod Parish in Antipolo – this time, with a new-born son.
NICO AND ANGELU
FINALLY MARRIED – Nico and Angelu showed their wedding rings as they got married on Oct. 29, 2022 at Enderun Colleges in Taguig City. (Photo courtesy of Nico Rey-Hipolito)
Another couple who met through an online dating app is Nico and Angelu Rey-Hipolito, who began talking in late June 2019. Their match had actually “expired,” but Angelu reconnected with him. (A match “expires” after a set number of hours after two people had expressed interest in each other.)
Angelu, 28, a born-again Christian from Manila, had prayed to God to guide her in finding true love. She found her match – Nico, 29.
When she started online dating in June 2019, she had three “non-negotiables” before swiping right on a profile: they must share the same religion; be family-oriented; and have the same wavelength – all of which she found on Nico’s profile.
She recalled being drawn to Nico because they attend the same church—Christ's Commission Fellowship— although she attends in Pasig, while he, in Alabang. “It's far, I swiped is far, but okay Lord, it's up to you,” Angelu, a graphic artist, said in Filipino when interviewed.
Meanwhile, Nico, an IT specialist from Cavite, had been using now and then online dating since 2013. He said he was attracted to her profile, and called her a “crush.”
In Bumble, women have only 24 hours to start a conversation with a man of her interest before their connection expires. Angelu was unaware of this rule so she reconnected and paid P319 to get a “rematch.”
Not long after, in August 2019, they decided to meet at a church. Nico, an extrovert, remembered feeling hot because of being nervous since he was introduced to her parents that day.
"It was cold … it was raining, it was August, rainy season, but I felt hot," he said in Filipino.
In November 2019, he formally asked her parents' permission to court her.
Meanwhile, they nurtured their relationship through their faith. Nico proposed a Bible plan where they read the Bible for 365 days.
They also "recalibrate," as she called it, where they gave compliments to each other and discussed how they could strengthen their relationship.
“Lahat naman tayo nadadala ng emotion kapag may nagawang mali or nagawang something na kahit minor pero alam mo yun, pag-unawa talaga … and of course, … prayer. Without Lord, wala. (We all get emotional when someone does something wrong or does something even minor but you know, understanding ... and of course, ... prayer. Without the Lord, nothing will happen),” Nico said.
Then the Covid-19 pandemic struck. They had a series of video dates since they can’t go out, so when the lockdown eased on June 12, 2020, they decided to meet, and Angelu finally said “yes.”
Nico teased in Filipino: "Independence day, the day she became free from being single!"
He also recalled praying to God to give him two years to determine if Angelu is the girl meant for him; if not, to give them a way to go on their separate ways as early as possible so both would not get hurt.
His prayers were answered. On Oct. 29, 2022, the couple braved the threat of tropical storm Paeng as they tied the knot at Enderun Colleges in Taguig City.