Do you know a couple who got engaged during the pandemic? It’s likely that you do. According to Texas Monthly, Match.com, a Dallas-based company, garnered $2.39 billion in 2020, up 17 percent from $2.05 billion the year before. Dating during the pandemic was big business but so was the business of falling in love.That’s exactly what happened to Ali Thompson of Berthoud and John Lehner, who was living in Loveland when they met on Match.com. Their first date was at Kó-fē House in downtown Berthoud in August 2020.

Ali Thompson and John Lehner

“We were all masked up and of course, it’s Berthoud so I ran into three people I knew,” recalled Thompson.

The two were both married before, with Ali’s first husband having passed away 12-years-ago. They had children of similar ages, all teenagers. Normally, Thompson didn’t introduce her children to anyone she dated unless she knew it was going to be serious. For Lehner, she made an exception.

With  pandemic raging, a month and half into dating, they realized dating was going to be different. While they could go out to dinner, the normality of playing pool or watching a band or going to a movie afterwards was not accessible to them. They were going to be spending time together at home and had to meet one another’s children.

“There were a lot of fire pits on the back porch, dinners at home, game nights and a lot of movie-watching on the couch,” said Thompson. “It was actually good because it allowed everyone to talk more, and we merged really well.”

In a December 2020 article The Washington Post wrote, “Although annual statistics for engagements are virtually nonexistent, there’s evidence to suggest the coronavirus pandemic has produced a bumper crop.” In some documented instances, the pandemic gave couples a chance to reflect on long-term relationships leading one or the other to pop the question.

There is little doubt that dating and wedding engagements have been trending in 2020 and 2021. A Loveland-based event coordinator says that five weddings her company is organizing this summer are pandemic romances, meaning the couple met during the pandemic.

The pandemic also meant new couples were spending more time either together via screen, or together at home because there wasn’t anything else to do. This led to getting to know one another at a faster rate and perhaps more intimately than they would have under normal circumstances. This certainly happened to Thompson and Lehner.

While they had combined households and had talked about marriage, Lehner still managed to surprise Thompson with a proposal at Horsetooth in Fort Collins this past September.

John Lehner had planned to ask for Ali Thompson’s hand in marriage during a trip they had planned to the West Coast. However, he couldn’t stop thinking of the scenario that happened in the film “Meet the Fockers,” when an engagement ring is lost on a flight.

“I had the ring on the way to date night and I just decided to do it right then,” said Lehner.

Thompson was confused as he rerouted their drive to Horsetooth Reservoir. Lehner stopped the car at a pullout and they both got out to watch the sunset over the water.

“I got down on one knee and asked her to marry me and her response was, ‘is this happening now?’” laughed Lehner.

Of course, she said yes. The two will wed alongside their four children at Sweetheart Winery in Loveland in May.