THE BEGINNING...

In 1998, Eight at Eight Dinner Club had stagnated - its owners were out of new ideas and membership remained consistently low. At that point, Sarah Kathryn Smith, just 22 and a recent college graduate, stepped in, purchasing the flailing company and turned Eight at Eight around. She set out to make it the premier dating service in Atlanta. Her entrepreneurial adventure in matchmaking, Eight at Eight Dinner Club, capitalized on an untapped market.

THE CONCEPT

The idea was simple - Four Single Men and Four Single Women meet for dinner at eight o'clock. Members of Eight at Eight meet in groups for an evening of friendly conversation, good food, and the chance to increase their circle of friends over dinner. The Club members are brought together based on age, mutual interest and backgrounds. The relaxed group setting relieves the pressure of one-on-one dates and increases the chances of meeting someone interesting and compatible.

Sarah Kathryn and the hostess staff work closely together to choose hip restaurants, match like minds, and make introductions while buying the first round of drinks. We're the social leaders of the group. Our research involves trying new restaurants, sampling potent potables, and chatting with singles out on the town.

Elizabeth
 

EXPANSION

After hundreds of successful dinners in Atlanta, Sarah Kathryn became restless and decided to challenge herself by expanding Eight at Eight to other markets. Under her guidance and based on hundreds of requests to bring this concept nationwide, Eight at Eight has expanded to Chicago, Dallas, Denver, New York, and Washington, DC.

Eight at Eight's member database contains over 25,000 profiles and continues to grow - an amazing turnaround for a company on the verge of dissolving under previous ownership.

An increased demand necessitated opening membership to men and women outside the original age parameters established when Eight at Eight began in 1998.  We’re currently welcoming applications from from singles ages 21-50 who are interested in attending Eight at Eight dinners.  More expansion to come!

SUCCESS

Eight at Eight takes credit for over 100 marriages, thousands of first dates, hundreds of serious relationships, dozens of first kisses, a few children.

Eight at Eight has been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, Entrepreneur Magazine, Cosmopolitan Magazine, Men's Health, Fox News, New York Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Atlanta Journal, Dallas Morning News and other local media outlets.