When Matt met Toni, their first date was anything but spectacular. But proving that old adage 'first impressions last' wrong, the Auckland-based couple are now happily married.

Matt, 36, and Toni, 33, had their first date at a Thai restaurant in Ponsonby - and it was nearly the only date they ever had. "To be honest, it wasn't a great start as I was pretty nervous and spent most of the time answering Toni's questions without reciprocating," says Matt. "It was a good first date, but not great. Matt seemed a little self-centred as he didn't ask me many questions. It turns out he was just nervous and he is actually one of the most giving, self-less people I know," says Toni.

The pair first connected on FindSomeone around seven years ago when Toni 'smiled' at Matt, and having just upgraded his account to Gold, he messaged her back. At this stage he had been on a couple of dates, but none of them "really clicked". Toni, meanwhile, had just come out of a two-year relationship with someone she'd also met on FindSomeone.

"When that relationship ended, I once again turned to FSO. I went out with a couple of other guys before I met Matt." After their first nerve-wracking date, Toni shared her experience with workmates. "Luckily when I told my colleagues about the date the following day, they convinced me to give him another chance," she says. "My friends and colleagues were really supportive. Most of my friends were coupled off and they knew I didn't fancy the thought of meeting someone in a bar, so the options of how to meet someone were limited."

Matt says many people in his life were sceptical as the online dating world was still quite new and a bit unknown. "Apparently axe murderers and the like found other places to hangout. My usual response was at least on FSO I can find out a bit about the person in my own time which is surely safer than heading down to the local pub, filling up on booze, then taking the first opportunity that passes!"

Matt didn't let this opportunity pass and in December 2011, the pair married. Matt says his biggest piece of advice is to stick with it. "The first couple of dates can be quite nerve wracking, however it does get easier... and you will start to enjoy it. Once you do find a potential partner that you are interested in, it's best to shut your account down to remove temptation to keep on looking - you can always reactivate if it doesn't work out," he says.

"Internet dating isn't a silver bullet, while it makes it easy to search for potential partners, you still have to present yourself smartly, take an interest in your date etc."

Toni says her biggest tip is to "get personal". If you're messaging or emailing someone, make it sound personal. Don't spam the same message out to loads of people and hope you get a response. It's obvious you're doing this, and it is not likely to deliver quality results. "Give it a chance. Yes, you may need to wade through some messages from some people who can't write that well, or have obviously sent the same message to hundreds of people, but block them or delete their messages, and do some searching yourself," she says.

"Don't focus on their ideal eye/hair colour etc, but on the things that count such as common interests. And once you do meet them, just remember that they are likely to be a bit nervous too."