Lynsey Butler Lynsey Butler (right) is marrying Jess Friesen in Canada after a modern-day fairytale romance A mum-of-two is set to marry her Canadian lover after she proposed following a few days together.
Smitten Lynsey Butler will travel 3,000 miles across the globe to take Jess Friesen down the aisle in a zoo next month.
The 39-year-old met Jess on an online dating site in February 2019, and she admits it was love at first sight.
After viewing her profile, Lynsey made the first move and nervously sent Jess a heart and a message complimenting her.
Lynsey Butler Lynsey Butler and Jess Friesen with Lynsey's children Patrick and Daisy The mum-of-two, from North Shields, told Chronicle Live: “I instantly fell in love with her picture she was beautiful and her eyes were amazing. I was intrigued and I wanted to know more about her.
“She seemed very similar to me, an outgoing and positive person, so I took the plunge. I thought she was too beautiful to ever reply to me and of course, she was on the other side of the world so I never expected anything to happen.”
To Lynsey's surprise, 33-year-old Jess replied and the pair then added each other on Facebook and since then have messaged each other every day after initially meeting on Pink Cupid.
After months of constant messaging, Jess one day then tried to call Lynsey and after weeks of putting it off, Lynsey built up the courage to answer.
The Age UK befriender said: “It felt like we were back to the traditional way of courting. We got to know each other without physical contact, created a special bond and the foundation for our relationship.”
Three months later Jess and Lynsey had their first video call - and their romance blossomed.
Lynsey's children, eight-year-old Patrick and five-year-old Daisy began to start building a relationship with Jess through video calls where they would have virtual discos, colouring competitions and tell each other stories.
Following months of talking about their hopes and dreams, in May 2019, the day they had all been waiting for came and Jess travelled over to the UK where they met for the first time in real life.
Lynsey drove down to Gatwick Airport with her children, and she explained to them that Jess is her girlfriend which they willingly accepted.
She said: “I was blown away when I first met her, it felt like I have known her my whole life.
“I was very cautious about inviting Jess into my family at first but the leap of faith has paid off.
"We took a huge risk as she was staying for two months but it all worked out.”
Just a few days into her stay, Jess proposed on 4th May 2019, whilst in the bath together.
Jess had squashed an engagement ring inside a strawberry and Lynsey went to take a bite before realising what was inside.
After an emotional farewell, the love birds had to wait until October 2019 when Lynsey flew over to Canada for two weeks to meet her future in laws and experienced the world that Jess lived in.
The following month the couple decided to plan their wedding. They set their hearts on getting married in a way that would reflect them by being different and standing out so decided to get married in Calgary Zoo.
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