Courtney Dacosta was about to appear on a reality dating show, ready to find love, until she found it in the most unexpected place. Courtney had sworn off dating apps and, looking for something fun to fill the gap, turned to Words With Friends, when fate intervened in the form of her “match of the day.”

Thomas caught Courtney’s eye right away from his player profile pic, but the would-be lovebird’s first match expired before they could play. Luckily, cupid’s arrow hooked a curve and circled back to give them a rematch, and, this time, Courtney was quick to challenge Thomas to a game.

After some playful trash talk over a triple word score, the two turned into fast competitors, even hosting their own mini-tournaments to prove who was the better player. Courtney had a feeling Thomas was special early on and took a screenshot of one of their first game boards together, later giving it to him as a first-anniversary gift, and eventually using it as part of their wedding invites.

Soon after matching, the two realized how much they had in common. Both 35, they loved traveling, playing games and possessed shared obsessions with Harry Potter, fantasy and sci-fi. Their storybook encounter in Words With Friends felt even more serendipitous when the couple discovered they had already crossed paths in real life, more than once. As it turned out, both Courtney and Thomas had worked at the same bar together, shared mutual friends and even lived just five minutes apart. The timing wasn’t right then, but as Courtney likes to say, the universe knew when to step in.

What started on Words With Friends soon moved to texts and taco dates. Courtney even backed out of the dating show she had been booked onto once she realized she had already found her match. Years later, Thomas proposed under the Northern Lights in Iceland, and this September, the couple celebrated their wedding surrounded by more than 100 friends and family members.

Knowing how central Words With Friends was to their story, Courtney and Thomas even invited the game’s development team to their big day. While the team couldn’t be there in person, they did celebrate from afar, dedicating a special Word of the Day to the couple and turning single-player game modes like Word Search and Letter Lock into wedding themes on Courtney and Thomas’ wedding day. The team also surprised the couple with a custom Words With Friends cake that was unveiled at the reception.

Just like finding the winning combination of letters in any match of Words With Friends, love can be hidden right in front of our eyes. Or, as Courtney summed up in her wedding vows: “If someone had told me I would meet my future husband by letting him win at a game of Words With Friends, I would’ve played sooner!”