Lemondrop

Ainsley Maloney had been dating regularly in Philadelphia for two years, but not finding what she wanted. When she decided to try online dating at Singlesnet in July 2008, she met Andy Di Duca the first night.

He was cute and funny, had a job in the sports industry -- and lived in England. At the time, he was just across the river in New Jersey working with the New York Red Bulls soccer team. But after his gig was up, he'd be returning to the U.K.

"I don't know if we would be together if we hadn't met online," said Ainsley, an editor for a health-care trade journal. "I would have been constantly thinking, He's from England. What am I doing?"

But messaging online and then on AIM helped the long-distance daters, both 25, get to know each other without that knowledge being forefront. The two clicked and bonded over a mutual love of sports.

"We were very complementary," Ainsley said. "I could see myself doing a lot of stuff with him."

Andy says candidly that while his intentions with other women may have been purely physical, with Ainsley he wanted something more.

"The way we were speaking with each other and conducting ourselves made me see that I wanted to get to know her," he said.

They met for the first time at a New Jersey restaurant where their interaction didn't come as easily as it had online.

"The first date was funny, because we really didn't click as much," Ainsley admitted.

But they decided to keep talking. Then Ainsley surprised Andy and herself by inviting him to a wine tasting where he would be meeting her friends and family. When she introduced him to her parents, she said she'd met Andy in a bar, because she felt "they wouldn't have liked it had they known we'd met online."

Her friends and parents adored him. In fact, Ainsley's mom saved the wine glasses the pair used that night.

When Andy returned to England for four months, he and Ainsley kept up their overseas affair via Skype. She went to visit him and meet his family in London for two weeks last February, and the two picked up in person without missing a beat.

"I thought, If she definitely does come to England, then something is going to come from there. I didn't think she was going to come. I was worried even up to the week of it."

Andy's pals and parents loved Ainsley as well, and after that, Andy returned to the States for work in March. After getting a chance to be together in person for six months, the two decided in September to get married so that Andy could reside in the States.

The first gift Ainsley received at her bridal shower was the wine glasses she and Andy had used at their second date. They wed on Nov. 28.

"There hasn't been a thought in my mind that this is the wrong decision," Andy said. "I'm very happy. It's been quite hard starting a life in a new country, but it's also been enjoyable."


Want to track down a Brit of your own? The new online dating site I Love Your Accent pairs U.S. and U.K. singles.

"