Meet Matchmaker Jennifer Zucher [2024 Profile & Review]

Curious about NYC matchmaker Jennifer Zucher? She’s been in the industry since 2009, when she co-founded Project Soulmate. 

Read on for all the details you need to decide if she’s the right person to lead the search for your ideal partner!

Our team of matchmaking experts knows firsthand what clients value most in a service  - we’ve been helping singles find love since 2009.

With so many NYC matchmaking services to choose from, we know it’s not an easy decision. That’s why we’ve reviewed more than 200 matchmakers, diving deep into their cost, process, client experiences and more. 

Let’s dive in!

From Real Estate to Matchmaking: Jennifer Zucher’s Backstory

Jennifer Zucher has a degree in Marketing/Management from NYU. She lives in New York with her husband, Ron, and their two kids. 

A long-time residential sales agent, Zucher added professional matchmaker to the mix when she co-founded Project Soulmate in 2009. 

Zucher says she’s long had a passion for matchmaking, often insisting couples tell her how they met. She’s been playing Cupid for people in her personal orbit from a very young age.

In fact, Zucher told the Hello & Goodbye podcast that she and Project Soulmate co-founder Lori Zaslow have known each other since they were 10 years-old, but they didn’t reconnect until they were both fighting burnout in their 20s. 

In her words:

“I was doing real estate at the time and Lori was doing recruiting. We both always loved to set up our friends. And we’re like, you know what, she was getting tired of her job. I was getting tired of mine. We were like ‘okay, why not? Let’s set people up for a living’.” 

In addition to matchmaking, Zucher offers her clients plenty of dating advice throughout the process. As it explains on the Project Soulmate website, the matchmakers are all about “exposing people to ideas, to other people, and even sometimes to a new way of thinking about love and dating.”

Here’s a taste of the type of dating tips she’s dispensed around the web…

Dating Tips From An Expert Matchmaker

In an interview with Yahoo, Zucher provides first date outfit tips so singles can dress confidently and feel attractive when they meet someone for the first time.

According to Zucher, it all starts with the perfect outfit. These are her top three tips for dressing confidently for a first date:

Moreover, Zucher and Zaslow recommend going to a speakeasy, restaurant, or a low-key lounge for the first date, as long as it isn’t too loud to chat. 

And in a different interview with Parade, Zucher offers more general dating tips:

A Quick Peek At Project Soulmate

Many of Project Soulmate’s paying clients are in their mid-thirties to early 50s, but Zucher and Zaslow have said that they can be as young as 24 and as old as their late 60s.

The company is headquartered in New York and geared toward helping local singles. But the matchmakers are also open to helping anyone interested in dating New Yorkers, such as singles who travel there often or are open to relocation. 

Jennifer Zucher is a boutique matchmaker, meaning she and the team only take on around 20 or so clients at any given time. 

As a client, you’ll be matched with other paying clients, or singles from their database.

When it comes to identifying potential matches, Zucher and Zaslow first consider age, height, and religion before further narrowing down their search. In their words: 

“When matching couples, we look at the basics as far as age, height, religion and once [two people] are a match from there, we narrow the matches down based on personality, interests, and just overall connections.”

In fact, Zucher told the Hello & Goodbye podcast that creating a match does not always require a list of similar interests. Sometimes gut instinct is enough for her to make an introduction: 

“It’s not always about who shares the same exact interests. There’s a lot of things that go into it… a few of our marriages was because we just had a really good feeling. It’s that gut feeling sometimes.” 

Want more details about what to expect if you sign up? Check out our Project Soulmate review next!

What It Costs To Hire Matchmaker Jennifer Zucher

Matchmaking packages at Project Soulmate begin around $25,000 and go as high as $100,000+. 

Singles can join Project Soulmate as a database member for free. But this only entails having your profile considered for matching with paying clients. 

It does not guarantee any matches, and you may never be contacted. Members in the internal database only receive introductions if they fit a paying client’s criteria. 

Curious how high the price might go as a paying client? Let’s take a quick look at how Project Soulmate’s prices compare to a few other NYC matchmakers!

Enamour, for instance, is a popular choice for highly accomplished, uber-selective New York singles. That’s because Enamour maintains an exclusive, invitation-only database of exceptional singles.

The matchmaking team also scours an array of other sources for compatible candidates, using an extensive network of scouts and recruiting tools. 

Packages start around $20,000.

Modern Love Club, owned by Amy Van Doran, is another option that may be on your radar. Like Jennifer Zucher, Van Doran is a boutique matchmaker who takes on a limited number of clients at once.

Potential matches are selected from within her curated database, with matchmaking packages starting at $70,000.

VIDA Select is another elite matchmaking service worth considering, since their modern approach leverages the largest source of eligible NY singles there is. 

Founded in 2009 by Scott Valdez, VIDA offers matchmaking packages on a month-to-month basis rather than requiring an investment in a long-term contract.

Basic matchmaking packages start at $1195 per month, and Premium options begin at $1795 per month. Elite packages begin at just $2595 per month. The cost highly correlates with the number of hours your dedicated personal matchmaker should spend on your search, given factors such as the geographic scope and matching criteria. 

On average, VIDA clients meet someone special within 3 months of starting service. Discover if VIDA’s approach is right for you, too!

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