MTN Matchmaking Reviews [Maureen Tara Nelson Cost & More!]

Looking for love in the Big Apple? With so many New York matchmaking services to choose from, narrowing down your options might get a bit overwhelming. 

Don’t worry, this MTN Matchmaking review has all the information you need to decide if Maureen Tara Nelson and her team deserve a spot on your short list. Keep reading to find out how she got her start, what her clients have to say, how much the service costs, and more!

Use the links to jump straight to what you want to know about this Long Island matchmaker, or start at the top!

How Matchmaker Maureen Tara Nelson Got Her Start

Maureen Tara Nelson has lived in New York her entire life, growing up on Long Island. She’s passionate about the people and businesses there which is why she caters to the greater Long Island area. 

Before becoming a certified matchmaker in 2001, Nelson worked as a pharmaceutical sales representative for Prozac. As she shared in an interview with Newsday, her work as a rep gave her insights into human behaviors, and she started to recognize problems within her own marriage. 

She ended up pursuing a divorce, and pivoted into matchmaking when an opportunity arose to work with a local dating agency.

As she puts it, 

"My goal has always been to help people marry the right person so they don’t get divorced."

In 2006, she opened MTN Matchmaking in Melville, New York, and works with singles throughout Long Island and Manhattan. In 2023 her firm began taking on national clients as well. Her clients are typically busy professionals seeking a committed relationship.

Nelson and her team have also launched an international program, “MTN Matchmaking Ireland” that caters to Irish singles who want to relocate to New York and get married.  

MTN Matchmaking clients span a wide range of age groups, from 20s to 60s+.  

Maureen Tara Nelson’s Matchmaking Philosophy

As Nelson explained in an interview with Long Island Press, as a matchmaker she tries to take the focus off of chemistry.

“The problems with today’s dating culture is that too much emphasis is placed on chemistry. While chemistry can be immediate - and oftentimes is based strictly on looks - chemistry does not breed compatibility, which is why oftentimes relationships fail in the early or secondary stages as the proverbial shine wears off.”

Instead, she believes that “compatibility breeds compatibility”, which is one of the reasons she highly encourages clients to go on at least 3 dates with each other.

But before any dating takes place, she recommends singles get themselves in the right mindset for a relationship. As Nelson, who is also a dating and relationship coach, shared in an interview, 

“People must learn to love themselves again before others can fall in love with them.  That is why my first advice to people is to work to become your best self, meet your personal goals, and regain the confidence you need to get your best foot forward to find love.” 

Once you’re ready to mingle, Nelson advises keeping your wish list to a minimum. She encourages her clients to stick with only 5 “must have” qualities, otherwise you risk crossing the line into unrealistic expectations - making your perfect match nearly impossible to find.

Many MTN Matchmaking services include dating coaching, and she’s shared plenty of advice for daters via her media appearances. She even has her own radio show which airs weekly on KJOY 98.3.

Here’s a sampling of her best dating advice:

How MTN Matchmaking Works

Nelson says the secret to her success lies in her screening process. 

“What we do at MTN Matchmaking is research. We speak to people. We find out their likes and dislikes, their hobbies and passions. We ask them: ‘What are you looking for?’” 

Potential clients participate in a screening process to make sure they’re right for her service, which includes making sure they’re looking for a long-term relationship. If they pay the screening process, they’re invited in for a complimentary consultation.

The next step is a compatibility analysis. This involves a 3-part compatibility test that she designed herself, which includes a personality quiz, an assessment of how you see yourself, and the matchmaker’s analysis. 

At the end of the interview, you’ll have photos taken by a matchmaker to include in your profile. This process, which takes about an hour, helps her ensure she provides compatible matches. 

As she explained to Dan’s Papers, “Every match I send out, they are compatible in three different ways and each match will have all five of their must-haves.”

Clients are paired with the other 2,000+ clients in Nelson’s database, and she also works with a network of other matchmakers to broaden her reach. 

The particulars of your matchmaking service will depend on which program you purchase. She has one designed for all budgets, from those looking for a minimal cost to those who are “financially secure.” 

MTN Matchmaking Cost

MTN Matchmaking costs range from around $1,000 to $6,500+. Nelson’s service offers several packages to choose from:

• Trial
• Deluxe
• VIP
• Elite
• Celebrity 

The Trial program is geared towards singles in their 20s who are just entering the dating world and want to work with a professional matchmaker. It’s designed to be an introduction to the rest of the services on offer. 

The Deluxe program and the VIP program are for those who are ready to make a more substantial financial investment, and include dating coaching. The VIP level comes with unlimited matches. 

The Elite and Celebrity packages also include dating coaching, and you’ll be working directly with Maureen Tara Nelson rather than someone on her staff. As she explains on her website, the Elite program is for singles “wishing to meet singles that are all very financially stable.”

And if you’re looking for an added layer of confidentiality, the Celebrity program maintains that your name and photo won’t be shown to potential matches prior to meeting in person without your permission.  

But is it worth the cost? Taking a look at some of the online reviews for Maureen Tara Nelson’s matchmaking service will help you decide!

MTN Matchmaking Reviews 

This New York matchmaking service is accredited by the BBB, and has a rating of A-. There are 4 customer reviews, resulting in a 4 out of 5-star rating.  

There are 3 5-star reviews, with this client saying she met her soulmate through the service: 

The remaining review only gave MTN Matchmaking 1 star. This client was dissatisfied with her matches.

There were also 6 BBB complaints filed within the last 3 years, however, 2 of them were marked as resolved in the last 12 months.  

MTN Matchmaking has a rating of 3 stars on Yelp. Out of the 25 reviews, you’ll find multiple 4 and 5-star reviews. 

These reviewers shared how Maureen's guidance helped them gain confidence: 

And this reviewer was in the early stages of a promising relationship:

On the other end of the spectrum, you’ll also find multiple 1-star MTN Matchmaking reviews on Yelp. Many of them mentioned the lack of matches, or being matched with incompatible people. 

Google reviews for MTN Matchmaking are predominantly positive, resulting in a 4.4-star rating.

This 5-star reviewer felt at ease during the interview process, and looked forward to the matchmaking process:

This reviewer also enjoyed the initial interview process:

This reviewer shared that he met his fiancé through the service:

There were only a handful of negative reviews, again citing lack of matches or meeting incompatible singles.

Is Maureen Tara Nelson the Right Matchmaker For You? 

With 20+ years in the industry, there is no doubt Nelson is an experienced matchmaker.  

But the million-dollar question is whether her company is the right choice for you. Before you decide to hire any matchmaker, one aspect of the service you’ll want to consider is where your matches come from.

Many matchmaking services match clients with other clients, pulling them from an internal database. And while your perfect match may have indeed signed up with the same company you did, it’s difficult for any matchmaker to make consistently high-quality matches from a limited source.

The reason is simple: compatibility has to flow both ways for a successful pairing. And that can be difficult to accomplish from within a small dating pool. It’s why one of the most common complaints you’ll see in online reviews for matchmaking services is dates with people who don’t match what you’re looking for. 

That’s why some matchmaking services, like VIDA Select, take a modern approach that vastly expands the dating pool. VIDA’s matchmakers carefully select highly compatible singles from NY’s largest source of eligible singles, and that means you can look forward to first dates with people who truly check all your boxes!

Find out more about VIDA’s modern matchmaking service here.

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