What Should I Say in My Ideal Match Section?

Your Ideal Match description should include any "make or break" factors in your search for your match.

A great starting place when writing this section of your profile is to think about the types of things you would want to know about someone else's preferences to feel confident reaching out to them.

Do mention these things.

By mentioning basic qualities, when someone views your profile and meets those qualities, they'll feel much more confident reaching out to you.

• Definitely mention your preferences for age. If you strictly "will not date anyone under/over __ years old", include that information. If you're more open to age, mention that instead.
• Be specific about your preferences for distance. If you'll only date someone who lives in your town, say that. If you're looking for someone within an hour or two, mention that instead. If you travel or have family in another area where you're open to dating, share the names of those cities. If you're open to long distance relationships, specify any limits that you have there, like "only within my state" or "only within a day's drive" or "only within my country" or "only within these specific countries."
• Any other "make or break" characteristics. For example, if you absolutely won't date a smoker, mention this. If you're allergic to pets, mention that you can't date someone with pets. These should be things that are absolutely 100% non-negotiable in your search.

Leave these things out of your ideal match section.

• Checklists of your exes' less desirable personality traits. We all have certain traits that drive us nuts, but in a lot of cases people tend to be aloof to these qualities in themselves. Instead of driving away those with those qualities, it tends to drive away the good ones purely because of the negativity expressed by the checklist.
• Extremely specific traits. It's important to be realistic about what you're seeking in a match. Yes, it would be great to find someone who is 6'3" with a BMI of 22 with dark hair, blue eyes who enjoys sunsets, walks on the beach and each of the other ideal traits that Hollywood movies have planted into our minds, but this isn't realistic, which leads me to:
• Anything that wouldn't cause you to discount someone you met at a parish event. For example, ideally you'd like to find someone with blue eyes but a very respected member of your parish with brown eyes asks you to dinner—if you wouldn't turn him or her down based on eye color alone, leave that out of your requirements on your profile.

Have more questions about online dating? Visit our FAQ center or shoot an email over to support@catholicmatch.com