This Valentine's Day, Let The Stars Align

If you're single in Hoboken and the prospect of spending Valentine's Day alone at a sports bar, chugging down dollar drafts while trying to pick up a desperate date doesn't quite appeal to you – maybe you should look to the stars for love.

Irene Levy, 52, founder of Hoboken Exclusive, specializes in astrological matchmaking, and she pairs couples based on factors like their sun and moon signs, along with personality and physical compatibility.

Although she opened her business last year, Levy had been studying astrology for 30 years and according to her, "found it helpful in finding my own companion."

Levy, married for 15 years, met her husband through personal ads in The Village Voice. "I was working in the medical field and would work late hours, and I thought, there's got to be people like me who work and go home exhausted," she said, explaining that her busy schedule left her with little time to meet men at bars or other social gatherings.

And though this unconventional road to love worked for her, she said that people often don't try personals or dating sites because they are "afraid of who they might meet."

"With online dating, a lot of the time the person's picture won't accurately represent them," she added.

This is where Levy's personal touch and astrological experience can lend a hand in finding the right chemistry between two people.

"I can look up their charts and see if they have a mean streak, for instance, or if their personalities will fit well together," she said. "I actually meet all of the people in person, too."

Levy, who resides in Norwood, chose Hoboken because "there are a lot of young people, they're professional, they like to keep in shape, they like to have a social life."

For those interested in dabbling with astrological matchmaking, Levy's website includes a simple form in order to fill out one's basic stats such as education level, career, height, weight and hobbies. From there, Levy contacts all potential clients directly and will read their astrological charts and place them into her database of singles.

"The chart is a map of where all of the planets are when you were born," she said. "It's a representation of a person's personality."

"The sun signs that you read about in the newspaper, that's just one factor," she said of her reading process. "The moon signs will tell you how you will get along emotionally. Mercury tells you how you communicate, Venus tells you if you have similar values, and Mars tells you if you are attractive to each other."

When a match has been selected and the single guy or gal has approved the date, the client will then fork over a one-time $200 fee, which Levy mentioned is a reduction of what she used to charge.

If the date works out , congratulations. If it doesn't, Levy will consult the stars and promises to keep looking for a match.

"It's really fun for me, and something I'm really passionate about," she said.

Most would assume that Levy's business would get hit pretty hard before Valentine's Day, as people scramble to find a date. But it is after Cupid's holiday that people contact her most.

"There's a bit of an upswing now," she said, "But last year, a little after Valentine's Day, people would log on after the weekend because they would realize that they didn't have anyone, and they would say, 'Let me try this.'"

And Levy maintains confidentiality when talking about clients – "It's hard to tell other people that they used (a matchmaking service) to find someone," she said – understanding that love is a sensitive subject.

But if anyone has doubts about her abilities to create a love connection, Levy says to look no further than her close friends Eileen and George, whom she set up on a date years ago, and have been together – and married – since.

Levy said the extra touch of reading a couple's astrological charts to determine their compatibility only leads to "more stable lasting relationships."

"I try to guarantee that (clients) will like the person they meet," she said of her business, "They won't be sitting across the table thinking, 'Oh my God, why did she put me with this person?'"