10 Tips- From First Date to a Great Relationship by Ireland's No.1 Matchmaker!

As a professional matchmaker, I have matched over 7,000 people on dates since 2016 all over Ireland. As a result, I have seen what works, what doesn't work and what can increase your chances of dating success. You only get one chance to make a good first impression so here are some of my dating tips!

Nobody ever taught us how to date, most people learn from watching their own parents, friends or from TV so here are my top tips to starting your new relationship.

Here are my top tips to go from a first date to a great new relationship!

1. The person you choose to spend your life with will impact your dreams, your mental health, where you live, how many children you have and your daily happiness, so choose wisely.

2. The initial stages of your relationship is a trailer to the rest of your relationship. Do not ignore the red flags, teach them how you would like to be loved and listen to how they would like to be loved. Be clear on your boundaries and start as you wish to go on.

3. Some couples get very comfortable very fast and quickly fall into a routine. Slow down, date for as long as possible. Go on dates, get out of the house and romanticise your relationship.

4. Love is blind. The initial stages of dating are filled with rose tinted glasses, chemistry and hormones. Do not agree to be someone's boyfriend/girlfriend until you are fully happy with all areas of the relationship and how you treat one another. Speak up if there is something not sitting easy with you before agreeing to have a relationship, getting engaged, moving in together or getting married!

5. You are 50/50 in your relationship. It doesn't matter who earns more money, who owns the house/farm/business. A relationship is about two people, not material items, both people and their dreams and voices are equally important.

6. Pre- empt busy or stressful times in work or life. Communicate in advance with your other half in advance and don't make big plans that may be spoiled at the last minute, push these plans out for when things have settled down.

7. Decide the type of relationship that you would like. Are you looking to meet a best friend that you truly love or a relationship that you will struggle to be appreciated or respected? Choose your life and relationship, do not stay with someone just because you are lonely or do not wish to be single. Treat your partner like they are special and set the tone and energy in your relationship. Champion each other to be the very best that you can be!

8. Synchronising schedules and long distance relationships require a little extra planning and effort from you both at the beginning of a relationship. Put the effort in and whenever possible, choose to spend time together in person, if even only for 30 minutes. The only way you will truly get to know someone is by spending time with them. However, have a plan of when you will be together.

9. Keep the momentum consistent at the beginning of the relationship. I recommend meeting at least twice a week ,mid week and at weekends if possible. Go for dinner, walks, hikes, nights out. If it is weeks in between dates, ask yourself how serious are you or they are about your dating developing into a relationship.

10. All relationships have their challenges and require both people to work together. Overall, everyone should feel safe, appreciated and respected in their relationships. Two questions I often ask people are - Does the relationship enhance your life? - Would you be happy to see your child in a relationship like this? Unless your relationship enhances your life, stay happily single.

About Love HQ, Ireland's No.1 Dating Specialists

Mairead Loughman, Professional Matchmaker has successfully matched over 6,000 clients on dates all over Ireland since 2016 with hundreds of marriages, engagements, babies and millions of kisses along the way.

Mairead meets all of her clients in person in her office on Merrion Square, Dublin or in her consultation hubs in Cork, Limerick, Kilkenny, Galway and Mullingar.

She listens carefully to you about what you are looking for in a partner and gets to know you before arranging all of your dates.

Mairead has clients from all walks of life, business owners, professionals and private and public sector employees and from ages 24-83 all over Ireland.

From there, Mairead arranges your dates for you and follows up with you after each of your dates to see how you got on.

Love HQ's service is 100% confidential with our clients integrity, safety and fun being our client focus.

If you would like more information or to book a consultation visit www.lovehq.ie

If you enjoyed Mairead's tips on How to be Instantly More Attractive to Women, listen to her podcast "Would Like to Meet" on Spotify, Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Each episode, Mairead has special guests - Flirting and Seduction Coach from Channel 4, Gerry Hussey- Performance Coach, Eoghan Tomas McDermott - MD of The Communications Clinic and many more.