Apply for your Free Dating Guide "Three Ways to Meeting the Soulmate of Your Dreams" |
If you are wondering whether you should join a professional dating service such as Perfect Strangers, consider what the following people have to say:
HENNIE BOTHA AND RENE DU TOIT, CORPORATE QUALITY MANAGER AND MUSIC TEACHER, PRETORIA
There were many benefits and results we both experienced as a result of joining Perfect Strangers and working with Marilyn.
Firstly we saved a lot of money and time as Marilyn does all the screening and her matching is spot on. Indeed, Rene was the very first person I met through Perfect Strangers!
We also learned a lot about ourselves through meeting the variety of people that Marilyn introduced to us. Meeting and interacting with them taught us to communicate with others a lot better. We will definitely take our new communication skills into our marriage and do it better this time around.
Before joining Perfect Strangers our lives were boring. The saying “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” applied to both of us. Our lives have changed significantly for the better and we now have the prospect of a happy marriage ahead of us.
CHRISTA FOURIE AND JACO BADENHORST, PSYCHOMETRIST AND IT CONSULTANT, PRETORIA
Christa:
Christa: Marilyn conducts a very professional service. She personally screens everyone, so you can be sure of meeting someone of substance. Furthermore, because of feedback that you provide to Marilyn after each date, you can be sure that your next match will be even better. Marilyn has a niche for matching people.
Jaco and I each met on our fourth dates! We have been inseparable since that evening. It was wonderful to meet my soul mate in such a fun, comfortable and safe way.
CELESTE AND ANTON SMITH, SOFTWARE TRAINER AND GRAPHIC DESIGNER, PRETORIA
The benefits of working with Marilyn were countless. We didn’t want to wait until friends introduced us to new people, because through past experience we knew that it only ended in disaster.
I met Anton after 3 coffee-dates and he met me after only 1! Excellent results!!!! I found Marilyn to be an extremely good listener, and each time I reported back after I had met a new person she really went out of her way to match me with the perfect partner.
Before we met, we were both lonely and bored. We have now met our soulmates! Who can put a price on that?
RENE HORNBY AND ANDRIES SCHOLTZ, AUDIOLOGIST AND BUSINESS CONSULTANT, PRETORIA
We both joined Perfect Strangers two years ago and are now engaged. For us, the benefits of using Perfect Strangers were that people join Perfect Strangers to meet other people, and not to play hard-to-get on the internet via chat lines or similar non-formal communication methods.
Initially I (Rene) was quite nervous to join a dating service, but being with Perfect Strangers is not at all like internet matching/dating services. Marilyn meets everyone in person and also receives constant feedback from people you have met, which guides her in the process of selection and ensures that each successive date is better than the last. Meeting each other through Perfect Strangers was a fun and exiting journey!
FIORENZA, PHARMACIST AND CONSULTANT, PRETORIA
It is not easy to be a single person at any age. It is even more difficult to find good people to meet and to date as one becomes older. At some point one finds oneself, despite the wisdom and experience that age brings, completely at a loss as how to meet like-minded and decent people, a good partner – someone to love.
Very recently, I found myself at age fifty, in a new city, single and completely at a loss as how to even begin making friends never mind meeting decent men. A previous very unsatisfactory and dismal experience with a less-than-honest dating agency and my fear for internet dating had left me feeling there was no way out of this terrible and lonely tunnel.
I have been divorced for a long time, and due to an academic, high profile and stressful job with long and often solitary working hours, I always had difficulty meeting the right kind of men. In fact, I did not know even where or how to start looking.
My daughter, feeling my plight, did some serious internet searching one evening and came upon Marilyn’s website. She thought it said all the right things and looked 100% for me. She was excited and enthusiastic, but I felt somewhat more world-wise and sceptical. Nevertheless, after a few weeks of my daughter’s continued prompting, I gave it a try and gave Marilyn a call.
I was pleasantly surprised meeting Marilyn and I was impressed by her professional, yet empathetic approach. She came across as inspiring, dedicated and extremely positive. However, knowing that there is no Nirvana or quick-fix solution to any of our dilemmas in life, I remained cautiously optimistic.
Now, a few months on, I am pleasantly surprised at the change, not only my social life, (happily meeting quality men, going on dates and forging new friendships) but also in my attitude. I really thought there were no nice men left anywhere in the universe and that I was forever doomed to living in ‘the singularity’.
Yes, there have been those meetings in which both parties acknowledged one another as being excellent or interesting, but perhaps not suited to walk a path together, but nevertheless none of those experiences were ever negative or bad in any way. What a refreshing change from your aunt, colleague or best friend (who with all best possible intentions), sets you up with some highly inappropriate fellow.
When I tell my single friends in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town about my experiences through Marilyn’s introductions and how pleased I am, they groan with envy and wish that they lived in Pretoria.
I have also grown in my understanding of myself in the process. I have come to understand my until now, hidden likes and dislikes, strengths and limitations in socialising with men. Each new meeting is exciting, a potential for personal growth and for getting to know someone new. Marilyn’s regular and relevant newsletters continue to provide one with a very useful guide to relationships and dating. I feel much more content to take the time to get to know myself as well as the other person, develop and savour a relationship or a friendship rather than rushing along.
Marilyn has a gift, a wonderful gift of really understanding people, – a deep wisdom of sensing the uniqueness and worth of each individual and how those qualities would possibly match up with another individual. I am pleased that she has the good fortune and grace to use her gift as her life’s work. With this gift she becomes a gift to us.
Thank you Marilyn.
DUNCAN, CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT, PRETORIA
Most men and women need a close companion with whom they can share their lives. When one moves out of the twenties, finding such a companion is often challenging in a society where there is either a reluctance to take emotional risk, or, for a variety of reasons, opportunities to meet suitable individuals are limited.
Perfect Strangers offers a safer environment, as the people you meet are on the same page as
you. As Marilyn screens very strictly, I personally found that the ladies I met were pleasant, well educated, and socially acceptable. To be frank, I had lots of fun meeting new people, learning about the life experiences of others, and, perhaps most importantly, about myself.
I must admit that I was hesitant to phone Perfect Strangers. I firstly had never done something like this before, and was also uncertain whether the people I would meet would fit into my social circles. I do, however, believe that reward does not come without risk. Having considered it carefully, I arrived at the conclusion that in reality what did I really have to lose by taking such a positive step? I was actually quite proud of myself after having made the phone call. Life is like a checkerboard: it has 64 blocks that you need to complete.
The nice thing is that no one forces you to complete it in a specific sequence but you need to complete all the blocks. Perfect Strangers allowed me the opportunity to explore what attributes I want from a partner, and perhaps to reaffirm many of those I knew to be important to me. I find that having gone through the experience, I arrived at the other end having completed a few more of the blocks. I feel an amazing peace of mind and am much more certain of what I want from a companion.
Yes, I have arrived at the other end with a relationship with a really nice lady.
I have had the opportunity to meet a variety of people, which has allowed me the opportunity to explore what attributes I want from a partner, and perhaps to reaffirm many of those I knew to be important to me.
I find that I have an amazing peace of mind and am much more certain of what I want from a companion. This can only lead to a strong and lasting relationship.
YOLANDA AND CHRIS VENTER, DIETICIAN AND CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT, PRETORIA
The benefits of working with Marilyn have been the following:
The results I've had with working with you, well that speaks for itself - I've met my husband and we are happily married (for 8 years now) with a lovely daughter and one on the way. I think what made this easier for us was the fact that we were perhaps older and hopefully wiser when it came to relationships, and we were very open to our expectations of others.
Before I joined Perfect Strangers, I had just come out of a relationship, and found it quite difficult to meet people, especially men. The places I went to weren't really the sort of places I wanted to meet men (except for church-but everyone knew me there and they were all happily married), for instance the workplace, gym and daily activities like shopping etc. I was also 28 years old and became a bit anxious as to where I would meet a decent man.
Chris was recently divorced when he joined Perfect Strangers. He also wanted to meet friends and didn't know where to start. He saw the advertisement of Perfect Strangers in the newspaper and prayed about it and decided to join. He phoned and said that he only wanted to meet a Christian girl.
Those were the same words I told Marilyn when I first joined, and her advice to me was to meet as many men as I could with common interests, as not many people state that they are Christians, but they might well be. She of course remembered my initial request when Chris phoned her that day. By then I was already a member for approximately 4 months. Chris (sad to say-ha-ha-ha) didn't get the chance to meet many girls, as Marilyn introduced him to me first, and voila! The rest is a fairytale.
The value of joining Perfect Strangers, as stated before, was that I met a wonderful, Christian man with many interests. We have a lot in common but we also complement each other. I obviously thank God for giving us such a wonderful relationship, and I thank Marilyn for being the instrument by introducing us.
The most significant results I have gained from joining Perfect Strangers were:
I surely wish that your business will grow from strength to strength.
MARIA PETRAKIS, FINANCIAL PLANNER, PRETORIA
A significant result I had from joining Perfect Strangers and working with Marilyn was that I was able to find a suitable partner at my second introduction. I was not meeting suitable partners before joining.
I wanted to meet someone who was committed to being in a serious relationship and someone that I could love and spend the rest of my life with. Through Perfect Strangers, I have now found love, am in a serious relationship and am happy.
MIKE HATTINGH, IT MANAGER, PRETORIA
By joining Perfect Strangers and working with Marilyn, I came to realize that my situation was not unique. Meeting others in a similar position also helped my self confidence to grow.
Prior to joining Perfect Strangers, my social life was very unstable, spur of the moment and I often was the "third wheel". The people I met were seldom at the same place in their life as I was. After joining Perfect Strangers I suddenly was meeting people on a regular basis.
At first I did not meet my soul mate, but the introductions still served a purpose, helping me realize what I was looking for.
My life has now moved forward.
My confidence levels in a social situation are improved.
Most importantly, because of Perfect Strangers, I am now happily involved in a serious relationship abounding with mutual love and respect.