People love Meet Cutes! Brainstorming the sweet and unexpected ways a couple might meet at Christmas generates many romance story starters.
A Meet Cute is a happenstance interaction between two strangers that leads to romance. It’s the moment of spark, like in many, many rom-com examples. My favorites are 50 First Dates, The Wedding Planner, Love Actually, and Legally Blonde. The main characters don’t know it yet, but we do—these two people must end up together. How that comes to pass makes up the romantic comedy.
The Meet Cute sets the tone for the love story, making it the inciting incident. It’s essential to get it right. Love at first sight or not, the future couple must connect in a way that makes us root for them (even if they can’t stand each other yet.) The Meet Cute sets up the romance and gives us a reason to see it through to the end.
There are a million ways to meet someone. Okay, maybe not a million. Hundreds, at least. Maybe less, considering our online, work-from-home, face-to-screen world. Whatever the number, it seemed a fun exercise to brainstorm romance story starters featuring Christmas.
Here are romance story starters for Christmas Meet Cutes:
- Waiting in line to buy the next big thing for Christmas. I envision this as the release of a well-anticipated video game and the two strangers as Twitchers (is that a word?) who later play competitively. And hate each other a little. At first.
- In the emergency room with minor injuries after a Christmas Eve pile-up on the interstate. Both characters were headed to Christmas dinner, and perhaps one of them caused the accident.
- At a gas station picking up last-minute gifts for family dinners neither wanted to go to, and the place gets robbed while they’re fighting over the last Starbucks gift card.
- At grandma’s house—she’s trying to fix up her granddaughter again.
- At a funeral or cemetery—Christmas isn’t a joy for everyone. Why not go a little dark with a Meet Cute?
- At the soup kitchen or food bank where one of the characters always volunteers, and the other is being charitable, maybe for the first time, or needs food.
- At the worst Christmas play ever produced by the local theater troop, who settled their stage fright with peach schnapps backstage and nearly took out the front row with their stumbling. One of the characters could be the frustrated theater owner.
- At a Walmart on Black Friday, when one character nearly gets trampled.
- Or at a Walmart on Black Friday, when one character gets into an altercation over the last widget, ends up with Walmart security, and the significant other is the store manager, local cop, or loss prevention person.
- At a Christmas tree farm picking out the perfect tree (hello, Hallmark)
- At the outdoor ice skating rink.
- At the annual Holiday Flotilla (a boat parade of Christmas lights)
- At the neighborhood’s annual golf-cart parade (golf carts decorated for Christmas)
- At the toy drive, where one character steals from the donation bin to get the perfect gift for her nephew.
- At the Christmas movie marathon, when he accidentally sits beside the wrong girl in the dark, crowded theater, the wrong girl ends up being the right one.
- At the Christmas Eve church service, squeezed into the back row.
- At the gift-wrapping counter where she’s disgusted over wrapping multiple negligees for different women.
- It’s her first Christmas house-sitting booking, and she’ll be caring for a beachside mansion and two playful golden retrievers. Nothing can go wrong, but then she meets the curmudgeonly neighbor.
- Ronny goes all out for his annual Santa department store gig, even dying his hair and beard stark white to look authentic. He hopes to inspire Christmas magic in every child he meets. So, when he’s paired with a disgruntled, grumpy Mrs. Claus last minute, even he struggles to maintain his holiday spirit.
- At an overweight support group, two strangers bond over their shared frustrations about holiday eating or an AA group talking about holiday drinking.
- When the town’s most popular florist suffers a computer glitch, the owner, Meg, fears she won’t fulfill her online orders for wreaths and table settings in time for Christmas Eve. A surly computer tech from the nearest Best Buy is her only hope.
- Just because Amber resembles Elle in Legally Blonde doesn’t mean she’s a ditz, but that’s how her family and coworkers see her. So, for Christmas this year, she’s getting them all books and is determined to speak intelligently about each gift to chisel away at their mean misconceptions. So what if she has to flirt with the pretentious bookstore owner to squeeze some insights and ideas out of him?
- Selling his grandmother’s Hummel figurines is the only way for Eddie to score a decent Christmas for his mom, and someone on Facebook Marketplace is offering top dollar. He expects another grandma but is pleasantly surprised when he meets…
- A bag-snatching gone wrong… the victim chases the suspect through the mall, but it’s the quick thinking of a lovely stranger that saves his Christmas gift.
- A busy chef on Christmas Eve meets the only woman in three states who dares to complain about his famous figgy pudding.
- A chef fighting to save her restaurant gets a surprise visit from a top reviewer on Christmas Eve, and she’s so desperate to score a good review that everything backfires.
- An antisocial bookstore owner who lives upstairs from her shop is left with no electricity on Christmas Eve. So, she books the only room in town—the honeymoon suite at a bed and breakfast, where the owner prides himself on providing a magical Christmas stay, whether his guests want it or not.
- A father desperate to make his daughter’s Christmas wish come true seeks the author of her favorite books, determined to finagle some signed books, a phone call, or maybe even a visit from the reclusive writer. But the task proves impossible when the author refuses to listen to him. What will he do to convince her?
- With all the holiday bustle, shop owner Jenn wants nothing more than to lock her doors on Christmas Eve, binge old movies, and have a quiet few days recovering from her long week. But then, her brother calls—he’s in trouble again. Not with the police, thank goodness, but with the manager of a comic book store downtown. She hurries to the rescue, wondering what it will take to get him out of another mess, and not expecting to find…
- The park is empty on Christmas morning. Lucy imagines everyone’s home, opening presents with their families, and she’s glad she’ll get a peaceful run out of it. But a small misstep lands her on the ground, writhing from a twisted ankle, and her phone shattered next to her. And no one’s around to help her until…
In Sea-Devil, a Delilah Duffy Mystery, the Meet-Cute happens during a traffic jam and a pet emergency. Though not at Christmas, any romantic would love Sam and Delilah’s story & you can read it for free! Find out more on my author page!
If you’re a mystery lover, like me, check out my Meet Strange Story Ideas & Mystery Novel Ideas.
So, what’s your best meet-cute story? Share your ideas below, and your romance story starters might inspire the next Serendipity or When Harry Met Sally.
For more writing prompts and other fun stuff, check out my blog.
