Matchmaking makes a comeback

A few years back, we all fell in love with dating. It can probably be traced (like many things) to Sex and the City. What fun it looked: dressing up in gorgeous dresses, with shoes so expensive that no man could ever appreciate them, to flit between gallery openings and fashionable restaurants with a series…

The Dating Agency

“Older men have it easy. I’m coming back as a bloke” There are always slightly more women on our books. Why? God made it that way. Women have it better when they are younger, men when thy are older. A girl in her twenties or thirties can go for older men, but 40-year-old men can go…

My top tips for a perfect first date

Tomorrow is National Dating Day and with a record 11 million singletons searching for love in the UK, the etiquette of romance has never been more complicated. Follow these 12 golden rules of dating and you will be well on course to true love.   Do’s WHERE TO MEET Ideally choose a quiet wine bar…

The ‘past their sell-by’ daters

There are more over-thirties looking for love than ever before. But why so many – and where do they start their search? Sally Brampton meets the adults who, like amorous adolescents, find themselves anxiously waiting for that email or phone call… A friend, recently divorced, is in a state of high excitement. She has a…

Beautiful Friendships Start Here

THEY eyed each other nervously over their glasses of champagne — successful TV scriptwriters, lawyers, surveyors and accountants.   Most of the faces in this small, select and glamorous gathering had three things in common: they were very good looking, very successful and, surprisingly, single. These were just some of the attractive clients who had…

Money can buy you love

Introduction agencies are some of the fastest-growing businesses of the last decade. And its all because of you. An increasing number of directors now pay third parties to help them find the perfect mate. Wendy Smith explains why. FABULOUS SALRAY, FABULOUS HOME, fabulous prospects – and still free and single. That appears to be the…

Bring on the Brides

KAREN MOONEY has cause to smile as she admires dresses that could be adorning radiant brides before the year is out. Business is booming for Sara Eden Introductions, the dating agency she launched in her kitchen in 1988. ‘We are seeing huge Milestones such as birthdays ending in a zero or the dawn of a…

All Work and no Romance

  If you find you are working so hard that there is too little time for romance in your life, Karen Mooney may have the answer. She is principal of Sara Eden Introductions, a dating agency for the professional and managerial classes. Since it was founded in 1988, the Windsor-based agency has achieved remarkable success…

Breakover MOTs

Has the end of a relationship left you on the verge of a nervous breakdown? Let Cosmo’s RAC* (Relationship Advice Counsel) put you on the road to recovery!   “I treated a good man badly – and I miss him”   Claire White, a PA, was with John, a 29-year-old banker for three years before…

Lonely heart Britain floods dating firms

One in five single men and women, an estimated 2 million people, are turning to dating agencies to start relationships. Researchers who produced the figure say it will double over the next five years, amid evidence that modern lifestyle demands are killing off traditional courtship. Richard Scase, professor or organisational behaviour at Kent university who…

For Those in Search of Paradise

Karen Mooney sold just about everything she owned, and only had two months’ mortgage repayment money in hand when she launched her introduction agency, Sara Eden. Initial publicity stressed Sara Eden’s “Beautiful People” image. Anyone eyeing them up at a party would assume they were already fixed up. “We certainly do have clients that are…

Mens Fitness

The strength of a dating agency is that you have a better idea of people’s long-term intentions. By going through an agency, you can cram a whole lifetime of dating into three months because you know exactly what you want. Sara Eden specialises in blue-chip professionals in banking, law, medicine and the media and currently…

The best introduction and marriage bureaux surveyed

Alice Robinson This agency has a reputation for bringing the beautiful people together. Director Karen Mooney, who is vice-chairman of the Association of British Introduction Agencies (ABIA), chose the name because it means ‘royal princess in the garden of paradise’. It was an apt choice. Mooney, a blonde fairy godmother with a degree in personnel…

The Love Business

Karen Mooney runs Sara Eden Introductions, a dating agency in London and Windsor that she set up in 1988. Business, she says, is booming. ‘Love conquers all things,’ she says, ‘ even in the credit crunch. In fact we’ve seen a 19% growth in sales over the last six months of 2008 and we’ve had…

Being Alone and At Peace with Yourself….

If you are single just now and would rather not be, you are probably feeling somewhat despondent. With all the anxiety around work, the health of vulnerable friends and family, on top of your own, the prospect of being alone now heaps on more misery.   But, your single status is not something you should…

Dating Your Forties and Beyond.

It can feel fraught and even frightening. You’ve been hurt before and the memory of that pain may be influencing you now, making you feel desperate to get things ‘right’ this time. The trouble is that desperation may also make you more inclined to rush. When you rush you’ll be more demanding, less discerning and…

Understanding Heartbreak

Now is the time to realign your expectations and your approach to dating. Ditching the behaviours and thoughts that are holding you back will open up new options for you to explore. Follow your instincts from there – you’re already on the right road to true happiness.   To position yourself better, I recommend the following:…