Sex & Relationships

As a professional matchmaker, I’ve helped dozens of women meet their one true love. But for every happy ending, I have many more stories of delusional expectations and rejection. Here’s what I’ve learned about the real nature of romance.

I met Lana on a tour bus in Paris and we became instant pals. In your twenties, it doesn’t take much more than matching Canadian flag patches on weathered backpacks to cement your status as travel besties.

It took me years of dating and introspection to separate what I personally wanted from all the messages about what I should be wanting. (6) It's true, once you get to your 30s, a lot of single people are divorced and have kids. This was never a dealbreaker with. It took me years of dating and introspection to separate what I personally wanted from all the messages about what I should be wanting. (6) It's true, once you get to your 30s, a lot of single people are divorced and have kids. This was never a dealbreaker with me at all, I am not sure why this is such a terrible thing.

Lana was cute, whip-smart and sarcastic as hell. The more I talked to her, the more she reminded me of someone I knew. I went through a mental Rolodex of my female friends but just couldn’t place her. Later, she said something a bit geeky and I felt a jolt of recognition. The person she reminded me of was Cameron, a university pal.

I asked Lana if she was single (she was). I asked her if she had a type (she didn’t). I asked her if she’d be open to meeting a funny doctor with a penchant for bar trivia when she got back home (she very much was).

Five years later, I was toasting Cam and Lana at their wedding.

I started introducing single people to one another and they just kept falling in love (or, at least, lust). After the third or fourth like-minded couple dated courtesy of my meddling, I took a huge gamble. I walked away from the 9-to-5 job I hated and started my own matchmaking company.

Now, I had no actual training as a matchmaker. Yet somehow, lonely stranger after lonely stranger entrusted me with their money and their heart. Forty clients registered in my very first week. I was in business.

Gushing, grateful emails and smiling couple selfies started piling up in my inbox. For the first few years of matchmaking, I burst into tears at every client engagement, wedding invitation and birth announcement. It was good and meaningful work—with the added allure of having power over people’s fates. Early on, I remember seeing a production of Hedda Gabler. In it, the tragic anti-heroine says, “I want for once in my life to have power to mould a human destiny” and I sat up very straight in my chair.

The vast majority of my female applicants were in their 30s and 40s with amazing lives. A lot of them were homeowners and were absolutely killing it in their professional and creative endeavours. They were doctors, lawyers, ad executives, entrepreneurs, writers, politicians and powerhouses. But no amount of hard work could help them find love. These women were done with endless hours of swiping on Tinder. Done with the flakes on OKCupid, the crickets on eHarmony. Done with the disappointing set-ups by well-meaning family and friends. They were ready to find love, settle down and maybe start a family.

There was unfortunately one roadblock to running the ideal matchmaking business: there weren’t enough men in their 30s and 40s signing up. Those who did were mostly looking to date women in their 20s.

If you’ve ever been unwillingly single for more than a few months, I don’t have to tell you the romantic playing field is uneven. In general, people of all ages, shapes, sizes and appearances value the young, slim, tall and objectively beautiful. Straight men are particularly guilty of ageism in dating. I’ve had men in their 50s and 60s tell me their dating age cut-off for women is 33.

“Humans aren’t hot meals made to order. People aren’t paper dolls. I’m a matchmaker, not a magician.”

That said, the women could be just as fickle as the men. One early client was a beautiful, stylish and successful woman in her 40s. She told me she wanted to date a tall (minimum six feet), handsome, never-married man between the ages of 40 and 50, ideally with salt and pepper hair. Oh, and also? He had to be a firefighter. I tried to talk her out of her rigid preferences, but she was resolute. I went home discouraged. How was I ever going to find a firefighter to ignite her heart?

The following week, a wonderful man signed up for the service. Who happened to be a firefighter. I practically leapt with joy and relief. But when I presented him to her as a potential match, she turned down meeting him…because he was 39—one year below her preferred age range.

That wasn’t the first or last time I failed to convince a client to be more flexible. I’ve tried, time and time again, to talk rigid clients out of unhelpful preferences. Thick hair doesn’t last and neither do washboard abs. Fancy cars chip and rust. Designer suits fall out of style. “Be open to what different people have to offer,” I’d tell them. “You might be surprised.”

Here’s the thing: You can customize just about anything you want these days, but you can’t customize a partner to suit your exact specifications. Humans aren’t hot meals made to order. People aren’t paper dolls. I’m a matchmaker, not a magician.

Eventually, my matchmaking successes were eclipsed by my frustrations. Clients would Google their dates before meeting them and reject the match, saying they didn’t find them attractive. Other clients would ghost on their dates or on me. Clients would write sad or angry emails when they hadn’t had a date in a while, or if it took too long to send them their first match. Sometimes they’d tell me I was pushing them to settle, when I gently encouraged them to go on a second date with someone kind but short. Or smart but bald. Every good match felt overshadowed by tantrums from people who came into the experience with difficult standards and questionable expectations. I started to wonder why I’d become a matchmaker in the first place.

There’s a lot to be said for helping people find love. So many people feel disconnected and lonely. But I’m done with the ugliness: later this year, I’m getting out of this business and focusing on other things. I’ve started a new career in communications. I’m working on a book of short stories.

And I’m spending lots of time with my partner. Last year, at the practically geriatric (for women) dating age of 37, I fell hard for a sweet, smart and funny man over Twitter. I may not have ended up with him had I not taken the advice I’d given to so many of my clients over the years.

He’s a little older than my ridiculously arbitrary age cut-off of 45 and is a quiet, thoughtful introvert—far from the gregarious comedian/actor/journalist/whatever I’d always imagined myself with. But our online chemistry translated big-time in person—we now have that beautiful cheeseball kind of love where I hear a Phil Collins song on the radio and think, “Holy wow! I totally understand those lyrics now!”

Had I come across my love on OKCupid instead of slowly getting to know him through his tweets, would I have given him a chance, despite our (totally unimportant and completely unnoticeable) 10-year age gap? I’m not sure. I’m so glad things unfolded the way they did.

Singledom can feel interminable, but if you’re openminded and know your needs, I have faith you’ll find your person, too. Despite having helped so many others find love, I was certain I was going to be alone forever. Now, I’m the luckiest person to have ever loved and to have been loved in return. But I had a professional matchmaker’s inside advantage: I got to learn from hundreds of other people’s mistakes.

As the rules of society evolve, thankfully, so are the rules of dating. Millennials are statistically getting married later or choosing not to get married at all. In fact, the 30s are now widely considered the beginning of the prime dating years (thank you, Sex and the City). Why, you ask? Well, according to relationship experts, dating in your 30s (and beyond) presents some very real benefits.

'I find that people have more clarity with what they want and what they need in their 30s as opposed to their 20s,' explains Dr. Hernando Chaves, a licensed marriage and family therapist. 'They have a better understanding of what makes them happy and what qualities in a partner complement them best as they mature as individuals.'

Dr. Valeria Chuba, a clinical sexologist, sex educator, and host of the Get Sex-Smart podcast, also weighs in on why dating in this decade is better. 'As a woman, dating in your 30s can be a great deal more enjoyable and satisfying than dating in your teens and 20s,' she says. 'By then, women begin to care less about what society thinks of them, or what they 'should' be doing, and begin to focus on what’s really important to them.'

Ahead, find more expert insights on why dating in your 30s is the best, and hear from two single women who have experienced it firsthand.

You Have A Better Understanding Of Who You Are

'For a number of people, our 30s is a period in our lives where we look to create balance, manage mental health concerns, focus on self-care, and deepen our social relationships,' explains Dr. Hernando Chaves. 'This can create happiness in our lives and help fill the voids we didn't realize existed in our 20s.'

Dating After 30 Reddit

Lena Minervino, a 38-year-old development director and single mother of three, says a shift in perspective completely changed her dating life. '[My dating habits] continued to be similar until my mid-30s when I took a long, hard look at who I had chosen to be in relationships with,' she recalls. 'So much about who I dated had a lot to do with my insecurities, making similar (bad) choices in partners, and lack of self-care.' Fueling her self doubt was the fact that she had children from a previous relationship. 'As a single mom to three kids, I used to be insecure about sharing my story,' she admits. 'I worried about what [my dates] would think.'

But Minervino's confidence began to build when she started putting herself first: She landed a great job, got into a healthy routine, worked through some issues with a therapist, and became more involved in her community. 'The work I did and continue to do for myself, the self-care I make a priority in my life, and [making sure] I have a life outside of being a mom has been key,' she says.

Dr. Chuba notes that mature women are not only better at identifying their needs, they're more equipped to take action. 'Qualities that many women are still developing in their teens and 20s, like good communication skills (especially the ability to advocate for themselves and ask for what they need and want), healthy boundaries, assertiveness, emotional maturity — all these qualities become more available to women by the time they reach their 30s.'

You Know What You Want (And Don't Want) In A Partner

'In my college years, I settled hard,' states April Cohen, a 38-year-old realtor. While she's dated plenty of people who were not right for her in the years since, 'I cut them off much quicker than I did when I was younger.'

Although both Cohen and Minervino have grown less tolerant of anyone who wastes their time, they're also more open-minded when it comes to dating. 'I used to be wicked selective and had this perfect man in my head,' Cohen reveals. But she says that, in retrospect, this was a hindrance. 'You never know who a guy is going to turn out to be. [...] You just have to give it a date or two to really figure it out.' Worst-case scenario? A bad date 'will help you further figure out what you don't want and [give you] the confidence that the right man will come along.' Minervino adds that she, too, dated 'different types of people' as she became more self-aware. Not only did it help bolster her confidence, she explains, 'nearly three years of just dating [with] no intimate relations was the most empowering experience I've had.'

'I see a lot of my female clients in their 30s dating casually for awhile before focusing on finding a more permanent relationship,' Dr. Chuba points out. 'What matters most is that you have clarity about both who you are and about the kind of relationship you’re looking for.'

You're Less Likely To Settle

Often maturity brings a new set of priorities. When the proverbial timeline is no longer a factor, you can focus on the relationship, as opposed to the milestone it represents. 'I'm not as focused on checking off the list (getting married) or finding my soulmate,' says Minervino. 'My freedom, alone space in my home, feeling confident and comfortable attending events alone, are things I never thought [I would enjoy]. Even dating without labels, enjoying the time I spend with people, being present, and not thinking too far in the future is fantastic.'

Dating In Your 20s Vs 30s Reddit

Cohen, who was formerly married in her 20s, agrees. 'I'm in no rush to find 'that person' because I really want it to be right,' she says. 'Going through a divorce is not fun. I hope to never have to go through that again.' She'd like to find her 'forever man' eventually, but 'until then, I'll keep dating until it clicks and we are both 100 percent in ... and I'll have all the fun doing so!'

Datingoverthirty

In addition to refusing to settle for a partner, women who date in their 30s are less likely to settle for perceived societal expectations. 'It’s important that your choices are based on what you truly want and need, rather than on societal pressure, other people’s expectations, anxiety, or fear of being alone,' reminds Dr. Chuba. 'We make our best choices when we feel calm, centered, and confident about our self-worth and value. No matter what kind of dating experience you’re trying to create, do it with that mindset in mind, and you will be successful.'