only 18+
Gold Coast · Lincoln Park · West Loop · North Shore
A private matchmaker for people who want something serious
in Chicago
Chicago is a serious city. People here work hard, stay close to family and tend to want a relationship that leads somewhere. What they often lack is a way to meet the right person outside the office and the circle they grew up with. Velin Privé is a private matchmaker for men and women in Chicago, and every introduction is made by a person who knows both sides.
Built on work,
family and long winters
Chicago careers run on early starts: trading floors in the Loop, hospital rounds at Northwestern, consulting and law firms on Wacker Drive, founders in the West Loop and Fulton Market. Weekends are often for family, many of whom live twenty minutes away. It is a good life with very little room in it for meeting someone new.
Then there are the winters. From November to March social life moves indoors and narrows to people you already know. Many members tell us they meant to start looking in the spring, every spring. A search that runs whether or not you go out in January is part of the point.
One search across the city
and the suburbs
A lot of Chicago lives in two places. You may work downtown and live in Lincoln Park now, but picture a house in Evanston, Winnetka or Hinsdale once there are children. The person you want to meet may already be there. We write that into the brief so geography never quietly narrows the search.
Chicago also sends and receives people constantly: to New York for a promotion, to Texas for a lower cost of living, back home from both coasts. If the right person is more likely to be in another city, the search goes there. Our matchmaking network is national and international for this reason.
Velin Privé Target Search
in Chicago
We work with men and women alike, because every search runs on Velin Privé Target Search. Velin Privé Target Search is executive search for your personal life, built on marketing expertise. We use the same tools that businesses use to find a specific customer, and apply them to finding one specific person: a precise portrait of who you are looking for, targeted outreach to the people who match it, first in our own database, then far beyond it. Every candidate is personally vetted before an introduction.
In Chicago the portrait usually includes what a lot of apps leave out: faith, family closeness, whether someone wants to stay in the Midwest, how they feel about a house on the North Shore. We write it down precisely and then go looking, across the city and the suburbs first, then wherever in the country the person you describe is more likely to be.
Memberships start at $1,840 for 6 months. Velin Privé Target Search is available on any membership, from $700. All tiers are on our pricing page.
Ready for marriage,
tired of guessing
Many accomplished women in Chicago are clear about what they want: a partner who is serious, kind and ready for family. What wears them down is the guessing, the months spent finding out whether a man means it. A targeted search starts from a written portrait and from men who have already told us they want the same thing, and every one of them is vetted before you hear his name.
We explain the reasoning in more detail in why successful women choose private matchmaking .
Ask your questions
on a call
Bring the Chicago questions to the call: a family that expects a certain kind of partner, a move to the suburbs in a few years, a schedule set by a hospital or a trading desk. We will tell you plainly how the search would run before anything is signed.
From a call
to a first meeting
- 01
First, a conversation. Half an hour about your work, your family and the life you want to build, whether that is in the city or out on the North Shore.
- 02
The portrait. After a questionnaire and two in-depth interviews we write down who we are looking for, including faith, children and how close to family you want to live.
- 03
Looking, then reaching out. We check our own network, then contact people in Chicago, the suburbs and other cities who match. A written report lands every two weeks.
- 04
Meeting, after two yeses. Each side agrees independently. The first meeting is a video call your matchmaker hosts, and a first dinner is planned after it.
What happens between the brief and the first name is explained in what a professional matchmaker actually does .
A big city
where everyone knows someone
Chicago is large, but professional Chicago is close-knit. People went to the same schools, belong to the same clubs and sit on the same boards. A public profile is seen by colleagues and patients. With us nothing is published: your name reaches a potential match only after you agree, and the first meeting is a private video call.
If your career may take you to Texas, see Dallas . If you split time with the East Coast, our New York page covers it. Memberships and what each includes are on our pricing page .
Chicago matchmaker prices,
from lunch dates to retained search
Chicago has matchmaking at every price point. It is also where Selective Search was founded, one of the most expensive models in the country, with retained search reported from about $50,000. At the other end, It's Just Lunch arranges lunch dates for a few thousand dollars. Most people we speak to in the Loop or on the North Shore have looked at both ends before they call us.
| Service | Model | Published or reported price |
|---|---|---|
| Velin Privé | Own network + active search, worldwide | $1,840–$6,210, 6 to 18 months |
| It's Just Lunch | Lunch dates, local offices | $1,500–$6,000 per contract |
| Tawkify | Online matchmaking | $4,400–$15,000 per contract |
| Three Day Rule | Matchmaking, US cities | $5,900–$20,500 per contract |
| LUMA Luxury Matchmaking | Matchmaking + search | $2,800–$250,000 per contract |
| Selective Search | Retained search | $50,000–$500,000 per contract |
| Kelleher International | Elite agency, 12-month minimum | $30,000–$300,000 a year |
Prices in US dollars, checked 23 October 2026 from the firms' own sites, press coverage and independent reviewers. Several are estimates, because most firms quote only after a consultation. The full comparison of 19 services is in our matchmaker cost calculator.
What changes along this scale is how much of the search is done for you. A lunch-date service picks from people who have already signed up. Retained search goes looking. Velin Privé does the second at a published price: our network first, then active outreach in Chicago, across the Midwest and further away when the brief calls for it.
What people in Chicago
ask us first
I want to get married. Is a matchmaker in Chicago the right route?
If you are clear that you want a long-term relationship, yes. We work with people who are ready for one, and the brief records what marriage and family mean to you. We do not promise outcomes or timelines, but every introduction starts from the same intention on both sides.
I am a woman looking for a man in Chicago. Can you help?
Yes. Your search runs on Velin Privé Target Search: a written portrait of the man you want to meet, covering faith, family plans and whether he wants to stay in the Midwest, followed by direct outreach to men who fit, in our database and well beyond it, in Chicago or anywhere else. Every man is vetted before you hear his name.
Can you find someone who shares my faith or cultural background?
Yes. Many Chicago members want a partner from the same faith or community, and it goes into the brief as a real criterion, not a soft preference. It shapes who we reach out to, in Chicago and beyond, as much as age or career does.
I live on the North Shore. Do you work outside the city?
Yes. Members live in Evanston, Wilmette, Winnetka, Lake Forest and the western suburbs as well as downtown. The brief records where you live now and where you would live with a family, and the search covers both.
My schedule is set by a hospital or a trading desk. Can this work?
That is a common situation here. You do not manage anything yourself, and introductions are planned around your rota. The first meeting is a short private video call, which fits between shifts better than an evening out.
How discreet is it for someone well known in the city?
Nothing about you is public. Your name and photograph go to a potential match only after you agree, and both sides are vetted before anyone hears a name. We are used to members whose work makes them recognisable.
How much does a matchmaker in Chicago cost?
It ranges widely. It's Just Lunch is reported at about $1,500 to $6,000, Three Day Rule at about $5,900 to $20,500, and retained search firms such as Selective Search start around $50,000. Velin Privé publishes its prices: $1,840 for 6 months, $3,496 for 12 months and $6,210 for 18 months, with Target Search from $700. All tiers are on our pricing page.
How soon could I meet someone through a matchmaker in Chicago?
With us, the first introduction typically comes four to eight weeks after your brief. A search that stays in the city and the North Shore often moves faster than one that needs to reach Minneapolis, New York or abroad. In the meantime you receive a written report every two weeks.
Apply
If Chicago gives you everything except the right person to share it with, book a private call and tell us who you are looking for. It is free and there is no obligation.
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