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Erika Ettin: Tinder is launching a $500-per-month subscription service. What does it get you? (Hint: No guarantees)

Life Advice / Dating Advice /

I’ve seen my fair share of head-turning headlines when it comes to news in the online dating world, but this one definitely caught my attention. First reported by Bloomberg with the title “Tinder Offers $500-a-Month Subscription to Its Most Active Users,” the new service from the popular dating app is called “Tinder Select” and is only...Read more

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How a decade of dating apps has changed our dating lexicon

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Believe it or not, Tinder was introduced to the world in 2012. Hinge followed shortly behind in 2013. And Bumble entered the scene in 2014. (Plenty of other dating apps entered the scene around that time too, but one only has so much time!)

With the introduction of these apps, who knew that our entire lexicon as it relates to dating would ...Read more

DREAMSTIME/TNS

Dirty talk can be fun … but not in your profile

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The primary aspect of my job as an online dating coach is scrolling through online dating profiles all day long, selecting potential matches for my clients.

You might call it an occupational hazard, but after reading one too many profiles — often from men — that discuss sex in some form or refer to parts of their anatomy, which I'd rather ...Read more

Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post/TNS

They found love in their accounting classroom. Ten years later, they got married there

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DENVER -- Lexxa Kever and Trevor Bazley did the impossible: They extracted romance from an accounting class.

The newlyweds met in 2013 during their first accounting class while working toward Master of Business Administration degrees at the University of Denver. Running late, Kever rushed to sit in the first empty chair she saw, unknowingly ...Read more

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Erika Ettin: What's honesty vs. oversharing

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A question I get a lot as a dating coach is, “How much should I disclose in my dating profile?” Or: “How much information should I share on the first date?”

We all know that honesty is the best policy, but is it possible to be too honest when you're dating? The short answer is yes.

While transparency is key to building a meaningful ...Read more

DREAMSTIME/TNS

Erika Ettin: Writing the perfect dating profile

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A large part of the work I do is either writing or revamping clients’ online dating profiles. I do this via Zoom, where clients can share their phone screens with me (isn’t technology grand?), and I can see exactly what’s going on in their accounts.

The conversation usually goes like this:

Client: “Online dating isn’t working for me....Read more

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Boston man manages to fetch passport just in time for Italy wedding after dog mangles document

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A golden retriever named Chickie was in the doghouse after chowing down on a groom’s passport, threatening his and his fiancee’s destination wedding in Italy.

Donato Frattaroli of South Boston and his fiancée, Magda Mazri, discovered the decimated document hours after filling out their intention-of-marriage forms at city hall in Boston.

...Read more

Jessica Griffin/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

An engagement ring or a home down payment? Why some young couples are proposing with lab diamonds.

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PHILADELPHIA — Years before Jasmine Ma and her fiancé, Ricky Chen, stepped foot into a jewelry store — before they had even talked seriously about marriage — Ma made one thing clear:

She didn’t want a mined-diamond engagement ring.

“If he was going to put his money toward this, I’d prefer he get something lab-grown,” she said. ...Read more

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Erika Ettin: 5 scripts to have in your online dating arsenal -- and why they work

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Online dating can be a roller coaster: thrilling with your hands excitedly raised above your head at times, holding on for dear life at others.

And while many think finding a potential match’s profile is the hard part, many know that the messaging stage can be just as confusing — even after you’ve met face to face.

To avoid ghosting, ...Read more

Ellen Schmidt/Las Vegas Review-Journal/TNS

'Wedding Capital of the World' lifted by Las Vegas' historic chapels

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Las Vegas’ proud title as the “Wedding Capital of the World” has been fortified by a rich history — and more than five million nuptials.

Locals, but more often tourists, tie the knot here in traditional ceremonies, while some, for example, have Elvis impersonators oversee their nuptials.

Themed affairs or not, the city’s wedding ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Erika Ettin: The two components to getting over someone

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I was on the phone earlier today with a client who, unfortunately, is fresh out of a relationship and going through a breakup.

She asked me, in no uncertain terms, “Can I speed up the healing process? How can I just get over this?”

I immediately thought about a former version of myself. The 10-year-ago version where I was sitting on the ...Read more

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Erika Ettin: You got ghosted. Now what?

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I’m going to come right out and say it: Ghosting hurts! If you've ever been ghosted — that heart-sinking feeling when someone you were connecting with or dating suddenly disappears without a trace — you're not alone. Far from it.

Ghosting can be confusing; there’s no way around that. But, that feeling doesn’t have to rule your life. ...Read more

Patrick Hruby/Los Angeles Times/TNS

A 'failure to launch': Why young people are having less sex

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Vivian Rhodes figured she would eventually have sex.

She was raised in a Christian household in Washington state and thought sex before marriage would be the ultimate rebellion. But then college came and went — and no sex. Even flirting "felt unnatural," she said.

In her early 20s, she watched someone she followed on Tumblr come out as ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Erika Ettin: Can online dating work for introverts?

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Online dating can be overwhelming for even the most outgoing person — writing a bio about yourself, putting photos of yourself out there for anyone to see, sending a message to someone you find interesting with no guarantee they will ever reply — it’s a lot.

But for introverts, people whose energy typically gets drained by meeting new ...Read more

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Erika Ettin: Help! I can't get over the age difference!

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I received two similar questions within the last week I thought were worth sharing:

1. “I need your tough love/thoughts. I’m a 37F and I have been dating a 29M for three months now. We met out in the wild (not on a dating app), but I just can’t get over the age difference. It’s fun right now and we have a lot in common, but how could ...Read more

DREAMSTIME/TNS

Erika Ettin: Every dating term and acronym you need to know, from DTR to LDR

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Navigating the landscape of online dating can sometimes feel like learning a new language — and in a lot of ways, it is. Like most people browsing dating websites and apps, you’ve probably found yourself Googling terms like “ghosting” or acronyms like “DTR” and “ENM.” Since when did everything become an acronym, BTW (by the way)?...Read more

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Erika Ettin: Do opposites attract? According to a new dating study, no -- at least not when it comes to looks

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Ask anyone who has a sibling whether they think their brother or sister is attractive, and you’ll probably get a hard “no.” (Maybe even a disgusted “no.”) That’s not a surprising answer, and it’s just biology to not be romantically attached to family members.

Yet the phrase “opposites attract” seems to ring false — at least ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Erika Ettin: How to effectively express your needs

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In our lives, we encounter countless opportunities to communicate our desires, wishes and needs to those closest to us. Yet, why is it that when it comes to the most important person in our lives — often our romantic partner — we tend to find it incredibly difficult to ask for these things? For better or worse, it's a common struggle. Let’...Read more