February 14 Valentine’s Day. A time for lovers to express their feelings for each other by giving cards, flowers and chocolates. In the UK, just under half of the population spend money on their Valentines and around £1.3 billion is spent yearly on cards, flowers, chocolates and other gifts, with an estimated 25 million cards being sent. And some people embrace it, while others dread it.
Whatever your feelings on the day itself, there is no doubt that the most precious gift we have in our lives is love. So whether you’re looking for romance, have found love, or are struggling to hold onto it, now is the ideal time to stop and think about what we can do to achieve personal relationship happiness.
As we’ve got that lovin’ feeling, we spoke to a Berkshire love expert who helps people find and hold onto love.
KAREN MOONEY – Founder and Managing Director of Sara Eden Introductions has been running her dating agency in Windsor and London for over 30 years. “I set Sara Eden up in Windsor in 1988 after many of my friends had come to see me, complaining about their difficulty in finding a partner,” says Mooney. Now we also have offices in Westminster. Our goal is to bring together professionals and business people who are looking for a long-term relationship.”
“We have had an upsurge in people signing up recently; the start of the new year is a time for fresh beginnings and in February, peoples thoughts turn to love and relationships because of Valentine’s day, so we find those who are finding it hard to meet the right person decide to return to traditional matchmaking methods.”
“Matchmaking is a skill and an art. We meet all our members personally and at the initial appointment we ask them to bring with them three forms of ID (driving licence, passport, utility bill etc). After an initial chat to find out a little more about them, their goals for the future and the type of person they are looking for, we will ask them to sign a confidentiality contract. This will allow us to make a selection of profiles we feel would be a good match and from these we would need to select the ones the new client wished to meet initially. All our profiles contain several recent photographs.
We are experienced enough to see who might be compatible and which couples have the potential to form loving relationships. We know if people are right for each other as they have similar values, want similar things for the future – and we have thousands of success stories. We have been going strong for 30 years so we must be doing something right!”
Mooney met her partner through friends and is the expert on first dates…..So where would she advise you to go on a first date in Berkshire? ” You need to meet somewhere you can have a conversation”, she says. “Somewhere you can speak and get to know each other. The Two Brewers pub in Park Street is lovely”.
sara-eden.co.uk
Windsor: 01753 944457
London: 020 8106 2113