Matchmaker, matchmaker.

• Author: Bohland, Kathleen
• Position: Bon Jour dating service - Brief Article - Statistical Data Included

When it comes to dating, men want trim and taut. Women want height and hair.

Matchmaker Michele Fields' clients may fantasize about meeting that perfect 10, but she tosses a dose of reality into the equation.

"I'm a matchmaker, not a magician," said Fields, owner of Bon Jour Inc. in Denver.

A former legal secretary, Fields, 43, has had a lifetime of dating, six proposals and one marriage. She created Bon Jour Inc. 10 years ago.

I always used to date people and think, 'Who would he be better with than me?'" Fields said.

Fields considers Bon Jour Inc. "the total opposite" of the bigger dating services that have annual fees of $1,500 to $4,000. She charges a one-time fee of $800 and $35 for each introduction.

Most of her business comes through referrals. She has little overhead, working out of her Denver home. She has no employees and doesn't advertise.

Bon Jour Inc. has 250 clients, about evenly divided between men and women.

On average, her women clients earn $70,000 and the men, $90,000. Everyone is college-educated, some with master's degrees and Ph.D.s.

"You should be able to do this by yourself in your 20s," she said. "But at a certain age, you may be working or traveling a lot, or you don't have that oomph to go out and meet people."

Each client helps Fields fill out a detailed questionnaire. They talk for about two hours. The discussion covers the person's opinions on a variety of sticky issues from capital punishment to abortion to living together before marriage.

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