Mary Balfour
Mary Balfour
25 Essential First Date Tips
First date tips and advice that will help you be more successful when you go on a first date. The do's and don'ts that will guide your dating journey.
Mary Balfour
Five great ideas for museum dates in London
Given that many museums are now choosing to hold events or special opening hours in the evening or later into the night, the idea of a museum as a nice, refined date venue is not likely to change any time soon.
Mary Balfour
At what age should you join a matchmaking agency?
Joining a matchmaking agency is a great way to improve your search for love. But dating agencies are not always right for everyone.
Mary Balfour
Five great ideas for classical music dates in London
Are you looking for a classical music date night in London? Follow these tips on five of the best classical music venue in the capital.
Mary Balfour
Five great ideas for art gallery dates in London
Art galleries make for great places to go on a date. Here are five of the best art galleries for dates in London.
Mary Balfour
10 places to start looking for the love of your life
If you're looking for love but struggling to find the right person, maybe you are looking in the wrong place. Here are 10 ideas of where to meet people.
Mary Balfour
Learning how to flirt in London
‘Help! I’m not a born flirt’, I can hear some of you say. Wrong. You were born a fabulous flirt. We were all born fabulous flirts. Learning how to flirt is natural.
Mary Balfour
Be a happy singleton – First step to a fulfilling relationship?
Being in a relationship won’t make you into an amazing human being filled with interesting hobbies and knowledge. That’s all up to you as an single person as an individual.
Mary Balfour
Identifying Relationship Blockers
Any of us can have something that holds us back from taking action, and to minimize its power over us we need to confront it. What, in your present situation, is blocking change – the change from being in a single state to in a relationship?
Mary Balfour
Marriages are Made in Bond Street
I recently had the great pleasure of lunching with Penrose Halson, the author of this just-published and fascinating book.
Mary Balfour
Are you stuck with the wrong “your type” template?
The French writer, Proust, in Swann’s Way talks of the protagonist feeling his deepest love for a woman who was not “his type”.
Mary Balfour
Big congratulations to all the wonderful UK Dating Awards finalists!
Drawing Down the Moon has been shortlisted for Best Matchmaking Agency of the Year and I’ve been shortlisted for Dating Expert of the Year.
Mary Balfour
‘Why we need love?’ Mary Balfour Radio 4 next Tuesday midday
Edith Hall, the classicist, is interviewing me on why we humans need love. And how the Greek myth about the gods, Glaukis and Chrysis, inspired the name of my matchmaking agency
Mary Balfour
Cocktails and matchmakers at Marylebone Fayre this Sunday
Be my guest and claim your complimentary cocktail and canapés at the Drawing Down the Moon stall at the Marylebone Summer Fayre this Sunday 28th June.
Mary Balfour
Moving On After Divorce
'They'd say no', 'It's too soon', 'I'd be embarrassed'. You'll find that people are often surprisingly receptive. You never know what will happen if you just take a chance.
Mary Balfour
Don’t Be a Dating Cliché
No matter who you are, no matter what you did, no matter where you’ve come from, you can always change, become a better version of yourself.
Mary Balfour
What to Wear on a Date – Colour Options
So, we’ve been over the basics on what to wear on a date before: keep it smart but comfortable, don’t bare too much flesh, make sure it’s CLEAN etc.
Mary Balfour
Love Myths – If it’s not perfect in the beginning, there’s no point
Love Myths – If it’s not perfect in the beginning, there’s no point. Here at Drawing Down the Moon we’ve seen it time and time again...
Mary Balfour
Following up after a first date – Second date rules and etiquette
The end of the first date is often the best time to secure the second. But if that didn't happen, text the following day...
Mary Balfour
Would You #DateTheseShoes?
They say so much about who we are and what’s important to us. Here at Drawing Down the Moon we’ve been discussing the importance of good footwear and the impression...
Mary Balfour
Optimizing Your Dating Opportunities
Well….. it might be! Perhaps you’re giving off the wrong vibe, you talked too much, not enough, you appeared too intense or too opinionated.
Mary Balfour
Don’t Get Attached Too Soon
One of the problems our DDM experts often see in our clients' past relationships is the 'falling too hard too fast' scenario. They've gone on 'a' date, met...
Mary Balfour
Date with destiny
Last week, amidst the craziness that pervades any introduction agency in the run up to Valentine's Day, I took some time out to meet up with the lovely Jean-Paul from the Marylebone Journal.
Mary Balfour
Dating Success and Everlasting Love
Dating in London? Dating in this beautiful city of ours is hard. Yes there are lots of intelligent, attractive, available men and women out there, but how do...
Mary Balfour
Single Parent Dating Tips
It's a matter of fact these days that many people themselves single and with a family. But that doesn't mean you don't deserve to find love and companionship, although it's likely going to be more complex than in those carefree days before children.
Mary Balfour
We Welcome Sapiosexuals
According to Urban Dictionary - Sapiosexual means 'One who finds intelligence the most sexually attractive feature.' (Yes I had to look it up!).
Mary Balfour
Imperfect Partners
With so many lovely people in the world why are so many of us attracted to the ones who make us unhappy?
Mary Balfour
Keeping Romance Alive
Romance. What does it conjure up for you? Candlelight, soft music, dancing together, longing looks? Perhaps a walk in the park or a picnic together in a favourite location. But no matter how you see it, romance is really the act of wooing or being wooed.
Mary Balfour
Christmas Dating Tips
It's party season and opportunities abound for meeting interesting, and hopefully available, people. The Christmas party can be a prolific hunting ground for a potential mate.
Mary Balfour
Going on a First Date – Part Two, How to make a First Date Successful
So last week we explored how to overcome nerves, what topics are up for discussion when you're trying to make a first date successful and how keeping it light and relaxed can make it an enjoyable...
Mary Balfour
Going on a First Date – Part One, How to Make a First Date Successful
Even though you’re socially skilled and could, without batting an eyelid, chair a conference or give a speech to a roomful of people, going on a first date may make your knees turn to jelly.
Mary Balfour
5 romantic Christmas date ideas in London
'Tis the season for some festive frivolity, which might mean you are looking for some Christmas-themed dates over the next few weeks. You know, something to get you and your date into the holiday spirit...
Mary Balfour
Drawing Down the Moon’s 30th birthday party
Drawing Down the Moon, the UK's very first personal matchmaking and introduction service, founded in a Bloomsbury bookshop, is celebrating its 30th birthday this week.
Mary Balfour
Artist Julien Blanc shouldn’t colour your judgement of date coaching
At DDM date coaching sessions, there is no short-circuiting and no bamboozling of anybody's "emotional and logical mind".
Mary Balfour
5 most romantic cinema dates in London
One of the best points of being in or near a city like London is that is is still possible to track down something of the old fashioned way of doing things. The large metropolitan audience allows some to swim against the tide...
Mary Balfour
5 of the best parks for romantic walk dates in London
In London, we're blessed with lots of beautiful parks, which means it is easy to head out of the hustle and bustle to find fresh air, a bit of greenery...
Mary Balfour
Drawing Down the Moon shortlisted in the UK Dating Awards
Drawing Down the Moon managing director Mary Balfour is shortlisted for both the Matchmaker of the Year and Dating Expert of the Year awards.
Mary Balfour
Dating agency for thinking people
That's where the phrase 'dating agency for thinking people' comes in. It reflects the fact that many of our members are highly trained professionals, while others have perhaps built-up a wealth of intellect through self-education...
Mary Balfour
Marriage agency in London: great vintage footage
Watch great vintage footage of a marriage agency in London, with comparisons to a modern day matchmaking agency.
Mary Balfour
Elite matchmaker services
Within the role there are a number of match maker services that, taken as a whole, will help clients to find love. These things might vary between different matchmaking services, but we will look at some of things that are offered by DDM in this article.