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Pretoria couple who met on Facebook are all set to wed

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PHOTO: Supplied
PHOTO: Supplied

It’s a story of modern-day romance!

She, 26-year-old Mandy van Heerden from Equestria, was commenting on a post on the Ekse van die Ooste group page and he, 31-year-old Tiaan Joubert from Moreleta Park, happened to comment on the same thread.

On the page, one group member posted a picture of a spider and had asked for help in identifying its type. Mandy and Tiaan commented with the same response.

“I saw him and he looked like a really nice guy,” she says with a giggle.

“At that stage I wanted nothing to do with men but something about him was just right. I thought, either he’ll be a good friend, or you’ll never speak to him again,” she shares.

She sent Tiaan a friend request along with a message acknowledging that it might be alarming to get a request from a stranger.

He accepted that request and they started talking on Facebook Messenger.

About two weeks later, Tiaan invited Mandy out on a coffee date

“I overslept and woke up with a huge headache and cancelled like 15 minutes before, but he was okay with it – a little disappointed but okay,” she says laughing.

He then asked her out on another date and she made it.

“We enjoyed talking to each other so much the date started at 2pm and we left at 10pm. We talked nonstop for 8 hours. It was the longest date I’ve ever been on.

“We started at Panarottis at the Grove and we eventually ended up at McDonald’s.”

On that first date the pair had already decided what they’d do for their second date – watch a movie. Their shared love of Leornardo DiCaprio movies made it an easy choice since both of them hadn’t seen The Revenant for which he’d won the Academy Award.

The third date was fishing, and somewhere along the line their friendship developed into a relationship.

The couple got engaged in January this year, on Mandy’s birthday.

“He came back from work and had surprised me with a cake. When I opened the cake box, the ring was in there,” Mandy says.

The wedding tomorrow, will be at a church in Moreleta Park.

“We’re having a small wedding, intimate and casual. It’s going to be beautiful but laid-back, if you want to come wearing jeans that’s okay.”

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