Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
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SALT LAKE CITY — About a month ago, 10 billboards went up along I-15 that captured the attention (and disbelief) of innocent commuters minding their own business.
“LDS Millionaire looking for his wife. Exclusive VIP Event June 7,” the billboards read.
Those hoping to meet and marry a Latter-day Saint millionaire could visit LDSMillionaireMatchmaker.com and submit an application for the chance to do so. It turns out 2,500 women wanted that opportunity, most of them from Utah.
Of those 2,500 women, 200 were interviewed via video conference by matchmakers from LDS Matchmakers — the company hosting the event. The pool of 2,500 was soon whittled down, based on the millionaire's preferences, to 50 women, then finally to 20. The initial application asked questions like “What is your body type?” and “Are you currently a worthy temple recommend holder?”
“(The finalists) all were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, were beautiful, well spoken. … Most were college educated and seven had graduate degrees,” a news release from the matchmaking agency reads. “While many finalists were from Utah, there were also women from New York City, Louisiana and Idaho.”
On Friday, those 20 women met their potential future husband: a “tall, dark and handsome” man who is “between 31 and 45 years old” and “is 6 feet, 1 inch tall.”
The women were asked to sign a nondisclosure agreement, and no press were allowed at the event, so the mystery millionaire remains a mystery. The matchmaking agency, however, sent out video clips from the event as well as interviews with some of the women vying for the man’s attention.
Here’s how this all went down, according to the agency’s cryptic news release and video:
The 20 “finalists” arrived in a limo at a secret location, and the women exited to walk a red carpet, pose for the small crowd and take a few glam shots.
They were then ushered into a room where they took seats at round tables set for dinner and were given a “welcome gift:" a Kate Spade necklace in a “classy box with an LED light shining on the heart pendant when it was opened.”
A man emceeing the event asked the ladies to “put (the necklaces) away for now” while a woman from the matchmaking agency hyped the women for “the reveal,” and family and friends shared “endearing stories” about the millionaire bachelor.
Before the women saw the millionaire, however, he stood behind a sheet clamped to some poles with a light shining behind, so the women could see his silhouette. The ladies cheered as he mimed actions while the emcee read off some of his hobbies: being a Little League umpire, watching Breaking Bad, eating ice cream and drinking Diet Coke.
Finally, the sheet dropped, “and (as) the women finally got the first glimpse of their mystery guy, they appeared to breathe a sigh of relief that he actually was the tall, dark and handsome man they had been promised,” the news release reads.
Unfortunately for anyone who wanted to know the mystery millionaire's identity, the sheet drop was not part of the video released to the media. The news release went on to state, however, that “he then proceeded to entertain (the women) with his PowerPoint of the top 10 reasons he decided to do this event to find his wife."
Those reasons were not disclosed.
The agency did disclose interviews with the matchmakers who said, “These women were so fun and genuine — most of them."
The women shared why they applied for the event, and the reasons ranged from wanting to find a life partner with whom to share their accomplishments to thinking "it was a joke." One woman said she just really didn’t “want to have to tell my children I met their father on Mutual or Tinder.”
After his PowerPoint presentation, the bachelor rotated from table to table getting to know the women during dinner, then each woman had a quick five-minute date with the millionaire.
The night ended as each woman was given a “hug and a rose” from the bachelor and got back into the limo to be “escorted back to reality.” After the women left, the matchmaking team sat down with the millionaire and decided which women would be invited on “millionaire type one-on-one dates” over the next few days.
“He selected several women for one-on-one dates Saturday and Sunday and stated that he was blown away by the quality of women,” the news release reads. “We expect good things to come for him and wish him and the women in attendance all the best.”
The matchmaking agency is currently “teeing up” for its next event for an “amazing, beautiful, female bachelorette looking for love!” It's still to be determined whether she is also a millionaire.
The full video released by the agency was uploaded to Vimeo by The Beehive.
The LDS Millionaire from The Beehive on Vimeo.
