Entrepreneur mum launches dating agency aimed at bringing back ‘old fashioned romance’… after modern dating apps failed to impress her daughter
Dennie Smith is hoping her site will be an antidote to the throw-away internet dating culture
AN ENTREPRENEUR mum has launched a dating agency that aims to bring back “old fashioned romance” after modern dating apps left her daughter unimpressed.
Dennie Smith, 56, from Caterham, Surrey, is hoping her site will be an antidote to throw-away internet dating culture - by offering a chance for couples to meet in a more meaningful sense.
Old Style Dating is aimed at over 25s who are genuinely seeking a romantic relationship regardless of race, job or gender.
Potential candidates must submit an image of themselves in modest dress, no beachwear or undergarments, and must specify that they are looking for long term love.
Matches are encouraged to go for a dance, a drive in the country or to the seaside to give them chance to talk to one another.
Dennie is also a successful hair salon owner and it was through conversations with customers and her daughter Laurel that first gave her the idea.
PA Laurel, 29, now has a partner, but it was her discussions of dating apps and sites that inspired Dennie to bring back a more romantic age.
Laurel said: “My friends and I don’t struggle to meet people, but with apps these days it’s all very superficial so it’s hard to find someone who might be genuinely looking for a relationship.
"I think my mum’s site is something different that offers a chance for people looking for love.”
Dennie lives with her husband Graham and the couple have four grown-up children - Laurel, Ellis, 27, Brooke, 26, and 20-year-old Max. She is also now a grandmother.
She said: “My daughter Laurel has been on dating apps, the same as most of her friends, and customers in the shop talk about going on them as well, but they haven’t found what they are looking for.
“There’s no app-ily ever after it seems.
“I think a lot of these apps are for men, and maybe women, who don’t want to settle down, they see an attractive girl or boy and think oh yeah and that’s that.
“Laurel is someone who wants to settle down and have a family and she would get fed up with it all online.
“I don’t know what it is as well with people putting lewd pictures of themselves on these places with everything showing. It’s crazy.
“I think we are overloaded these days, if you want to muck around and go on lots of dates, that’s fine and you can do that.
“But I know from speaking to people of different ages that there are people out there who want to settle down and they want just a normal relationship and to be treated well.
“I think this applies to both sexes, because I think men can get a raw deal too, both want each other to be respectful.”
Dennie said because her site requires a fee (£29.99 for six months) there is an initial effort someone has to go to which they wouldn’t on a free site.
She said: “I’m really encouraging, even by asking for a small fee, people that are serious when they go on the site, a lot of the free ones get you later anyway with fees.
“My rules are completely different, I joined some free sites and I didn’t have to sign up to anything really, my rule is you have to say you are officially single and looking for a relationship long term. Some other sites don’t specify this.
“You have to have a photo on my site, some you can join without even doing that.
“It’s still the same principle of whoever catches your eye, but the photo has to be modest, because again a lot of these sites people show everything, they’re just about showing off.
“When you’re looking at the site we don’t have anyone on show before you’ve joined, it’s not a cattle market.”
Dennie met her own husband at a carnival in the 80s, when they got chatting and arranged to meet for a drink to get know each other.
She said: “It’s not a specific time I am going back to, but it is before the internet age in a way.
“All this winking and liking and chat rooms, I don’t even like that word ‘wink’, I don’t want to be winked at. It’s tacky.
“When my husband and I dated we went out to wine bars and things like that, and we both used to make an effort to look nice and presentable.”
Old Style Dating doesn’t use programmes to match subscribers, but allows people to search for potential dates themselves - they can then start chatting anonymously initially.
Dennie said: “On the site it does say dates could be going to the seaside, I know no one says seaside now, but that’s the idea.
“Most people say going for a drink and a meal is the ideal first date because you can get to know each other.
“I interviewed a couple who have been married for 46 years and I asked the lady why they had been together and she said he was a gentleman, and when I asked why, she said he always walks on the outside of the path and he still makes an effort after 46 years of marriage.
“Then I asked our 16-year-old apprentice the same thing, what do you think makes a woman a lady and she said they ‘haven’t got everything hanging out’ and they are kind and sweet.
“Everyone has their different view of what a lady or a gentleman is, it doesn’t have to be old fashioned.”
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