The first time I went into an internet chatroom was just to relieve the boredem at work, I never intended on making friends and keeping in touch with anyone. It was July 1999 and I was 26.

The second person I spoke to was a 21-year old girl from Sydney, Australia who worked in a bank.She really enjoyed 'Goodnight Sweetheart', saw that I was English from what I was saying the chatroom, and asked me about the show.

Paul at Urbis

Three days later I got an e-mail, saying hi, asking how I was and apologising if I got into trouble at work for chatting the other day. There then followed a lot of chatting online (at work!) and emails, progressing to phone calls, and the sending of sweets - she loves citrus polos!

I'm not sure exactly when I decided to go over to Australia to meet her, but when I told Ren'ae of my plan, she was delighted. Things developed in early 2000 when she asked the question - did I think of her as anything other than a friend? I answered yes, she was more than a friend. I didn't know exactly what we were, but I knew I cared about her.

Games for a laugh - as volunteers

Face-to-face
I flew to Australia in July 2000 and we met on the steps of Hyde Park in central Sydney. Those first few minutes, and maybe the hours that followed, were a bit strange, sometimes awkard. But it wasn't too long before we started to relax and realise we were the same people that had chatted online.

When it was time to leave, there were more than a few tears at the airport. I'm not sure how it had happened, but by then it was already agreed I'd be coming back to Australia in December to bring her back to England with me.

Living together
We came back via Sri Lanka, Paris, Disneyland Paris and London - a dream holiday! But the reality was that Ren'ae was moving to another country with someone she'd only seen in the flesh for less than two months. I must admit there were moments during the journey home that I took a step back and wondered if we were doing the right thing.

She floats my boat: Paul pops the question to Ren'ae

Pretty soon we moved into a flat in Heaton Mersey in South Manchester and Ren'ae got a job at NatWest. Understandably, she missed her family and friends. In September 2001, - after 9 months living together - I finally proposed on a rowing boat in Stratford-upon-Avon on a nice sunny day. Ren'ae was shaking afterwards! (as did the boat when she leaned across to kissme!)

We now have a house and, on Saturday 19th July 2003, exactly fours years to the day since we met online, we will be getting married at St. Anne's Church in Wilmslow.

My thoughts
I think meeting people off the internet is good, as long as you're sensible. I'd met a couple of people before, although they were never anything more than friends. But Ren'ae is the only person I've chatted to on the net who I've had feelings for. Maybe I was lucky, I don't know.

I wouldn't say my story is typical of 'internet dating'. With the distance factor we were forced to stay online longer. Because of this I think we knew each other very well by the time we met. I think I was more confident of it working out than Ren'ae was - I knew what I wanted from the moment I went back in December 2000 to get her.

And as we're getting married on Saturday, it's all worked out pretty much as I'd hoped.