For centuries, Vancouver Matchmaking Services held esteemed positions in communities as revered advisors, there to help people find suitable spouses and unite families. But if you asked many people today if they’d consider hiring someone to help them find love, they’d probably tell you it sounded old-fashioned or like a final act of desperation.
I am one of these people.
When a friend first suggested I speak to a matchmaker in Vancouver, what immediately came to mind was the scene in the Norman Jewison film Fiddler on the Roof when Yente, the elderly, cane-wielding matchmaker tells her client, “Even the worst husband is better than no husband!” (I beg to differ, Yente.)
However, Vancouver’s new breed of matchmakers are singing a very different tune. “Our M.O is to make dating fun again. To make it romantic,” something that Annie Garmendia, a matchmaker at Cinqe.com, feels is lacking in today’s app-driven dating scene.