A Brit singleton has told how she fell in love with a woman and TikTok and flew 5,000 miles to be with her - tying the knot just TWO WEEKS after meeting.
Melissa Herrera, from Upwell, Norfolk, says she felt an 'instant connection' with future wife Stacie after watching her videos on TikTok.
She was so sure that the pair would end up together that she shared videos of Stacie on Instagram, dubbing her Melissa's 'future wife'.
The former healthcare assistant 30, had been admiring Stacie for months before plucking up the courage to message her.
And when the pair video-called for the first time, it was 'love at first sight' - despite Stacie being on the other side of the world in the US.
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After weeks of chatting, the pair agreed to meet but due to the pandemic had to commit to a two-week holiday in Mexico together first before being allowed into the US.
But Melissa says sparks flew instantly when she met her new love at Cancun Airport - and just two days after meeting Stacie popped the question.
Now the loved-up duo is enjoying their new life together in Fort Mill, South Carolina, US, with their two dogs Vincent and Luna - and say babies are 'next on the agenda'.
Melissa said: "It's craziness. We've been married six months now but it feels like I've known her a lifetime.
"It was like love at first sight for both of us. It sounds so crazy but within two weeks we knew we were in love.
"We wanted to meet each other."
Melissa followed her wife on social media in January 2021 and after admiring the 'beautiful' woman from afar, decided to message her after she broke up with her partner.
Melissa said: "I was just on TikTok as a laugh and I was in a relationship with someone else at the time.
"When my relationship ended, I then got into the lesbian world of TikTok. I saw Stacie come up while just scrolling through.
"I was instantly drawn to her, I thought she was beautiful. I followed her but she had quite a big following of about 60,000 followers at the time so she didn't really notice.
"When I first started following her, she had a girlfriend. I would just watch and make little comments. I was seeing it as a friendship then one night, she was on live [video] and she was crying.
"I'd been following her for three or four months and I found out she'd broken up with her girlfriend. I sent her a private message on Instagram and said I hoped everything was okay.
"We started talking from there basically, that was April 2021."
The pair continued chatting and after just a few months, decided to meet up in person, with Melissa boarding an 11-hour flight to Mexico arriving on July 31st last year.
Melissa said: "Before I even spoke to Stacie, I saved her videos and put them on my Instagram story saying I was going to marry her - she didn't even know I existed.
"I suppose if you look back on it now it's a little creepy, but I'm a massive believer in manifestation.
"I feel like when I saw her, her energy, it was an instant connection. The first time we Facetimed, she was in love with me. There were never any awkward silences.
"At this time, America wasn't letting anyone from the UK come into America, unless you had a special reason like a funeral to attend so we couldn't meet.
"Both of our countries weren't letting each other in. We decided to go to Mexico for two weeks. If I spent 15 nights in Mexico, then the US would let me in. I had to prove I hadn't been in Europe for 15 nights."
Stacie and Melissa then spent a couple of days together and celebrated Melissa's 30th while getting to know each more.
The following day, on a trip to the beach, eager Stacie proposed - despite only meeting Melissa just two days earlier.
Melissa said: "On August 6th it was my 30th birthday and we had a really nice day.
"The next day we went to the beach and Stacie proposed. She already knew she was going to propose - she'd already bought the ring.
"She did a message in a bottle with sand in it. It had a script in it and it had a written poem. That was the way she proposed, I obviously said yes.
"I was never actually going to go to America as I had commitments back in England, but while I was in Mexico, England put them on the red list.
"They were going to make me pay £4,000 to stay in a hotel for 10 days when I arrived back in the UK. The option that was the clearest was for me to go back to America with her."
After a blissful trip together, they then returned to Stacie's home in South Carolina where she still lived with two housemates.
The excited friends then asked the newly-engaged couple when they would tie the knot and Melissa claims they both instinctively knew it would be the following weekend.
With loved ones rallying around all week to make sure they had their special day, the new lovers said their vows on Stacie's porch - with a friend acting as minister to officiate the marriage.
Melissa said: "I had a flight booked back to the UK but I didn't get on it.
"We got back to America on August 15 - on Monday. Stacie had two roommates and they did a little party for us getting engaged.
"They asked when we'd get married. We just looked at each other and said 'Saturday'.
"Our friends ran around from Monday to Saturday to make it really nice on her back porch.
Stacie's friend is a minister so we didn't need to go to the courthouse as her friend was legally allowed to marry us.
"We met on the 5th and we married by the 21st."
After selling Melissa's home in Norfolk, the pair are now settling into married life and in six short months have remodelled their house and began discussing building their family.
Melissa said: "I still had my house to sell in England and I only had the stuff I took to Mexico.
"I went back to the UK for three weeks in September and Stacie flew over for a long weekend so she could meet my family.
"It came as a huge shock to them, they weren't overly happy at first.
"It went from 'I'm just going on holiday with someone I've never met' to 'while I was on holiday, I got engaged', then 'I'm not coming back from holiday - I'm going straight to America'.
"I called my mum two days before the wedding to say 'Mum, I need to tell you something'. I told her I was getting married.
"She was upset at first, I'm an only child so I can understand why, she just wanted to be there.
"We have said we'd love to renew our vows in England so our family can be there.
"I've just applied for my visa and I'm not allowed to leave America until I get my visa through now.
"We've remodelled all our house and we're settling into married life really.
"We want to have children, that's hopefully the next thing on the agenda."
Stacie claims she bought the ring to propose to her 'kind-hearted' love interest before she had even boarded the flight to Mexico - counting on their connection translating into real life.
Stacie said: "Apparently, Melissa noticed me before I even noticed her. She would eventually start coming into my lives [live videos] and talking to me.
"One time, she said 'remember my name, you're going to marry me'. I just shrugged it off like 'who is this person in my live?'
"After that, she messaged me on Instagram and apparently I took a couple of days to respond.
"Then once we Facetimed each other, for me, it was love, at first sight, the minute I saw her.
"You don't know someone if you're texting and for me, having such a large following, you don't know who's behind the line until you Facetime.
"We spoke almost every night and her schedule worked out because she worked shifts. We chatted all the time for months and I would go online to see if the borders were open.
"On May 17th essential travel was allowed in the UK but the borders still weren't open in the US. We agreed to meet in Mexico and hang out.
"I already bought the ring before I even went to Mexico because there was a connection, but it's different once you have someone in front of you.
"You have to see if that connection is there and it was. I proposed on the beach. Fate was in our hands because Mexico turned red while we were there.
"She could have spent 10 days in the quarantine hotel or fly to America and stay with me until her quarantine was up.
"We agreed to just get married, it was spontaneous for us. We got caught up in the moment and thought everything was pointing in our direction to do it.
"I love Melissa's heart. When I was on the phone with her, the way she'd talk to the older residents was so endearing.
"She's like that with anybody, she's so genuine. It's a rare quality that people have, being just so kind-hearted without knowing someone.
"She's a very attractive woman too."
