Speed-dating has died a slow death in the South as singles prefer to hook up on smartphones.
But the woman who started the business believes a ''face-to-face service'' is better.
Mainland Dating owner Jane Metcalfe (41), of Dunedin, said since the speed-dating business started in Dunedin in 2006, it had put more than 900 couples in committed relationships and resulted in more than 100 weddings and the birth of more than 100 babies.
The business had expanded to include Invercargill, Timaru and Christchurch but demand had ''dropped off'' and speed-dating nights stopped in Timaru in 2012, Invercargill in 2013 and in Dunedin last month.
She continued the events in Christchurch but said they would not be held in Dunedin again until more people signalled they wanted the service.
''I would love to continue but I can't advertise events if they are not going to go.''
She believed the decline in demand was due to people using dating technology on smartphones, but said she would not change her business model to include a smartphone app.
''I don't want to put another app in the universe. I want actual people to meet other actual people because that's how the world works and I hope the world continues to work that way, but smartphones are changing the way people communicate.''
Theriza Burgess (37) said she met her fiance, Jason Shea (34), when speed-dating at Dunedin's Toast Bar in 2009.
At the event, they talked for four minutes and answered a list of questions provided, such as hobbies and job.
The couple allowed Ms Metcalfe to share their email addresses and then the ball was in their court.
They have been engaged for two years and their first child is due next month.
Miss Burgess said speed-dating had a place in the South.
''It actually makes you be face-to-face and it's not anonymous like dating apps. You know what you are in for.''
However, another Dunedin woman is not so sure.
Donna (38), who did not want her surname published due to fears of being called ''desperate and dateless Donna of Dunedin'', attended a speed-dating night in Dunedin last winter and failed to find a match.
She has decided to travel to Christchurch to ''hunt a hubby'' after census statistics revealed a man glut in that city.
''There are three men per woman in certain suburbs - Avondale being the main one.''
More men were in Christchurch for the rebuild, she said.
She had planned trips to visit pubs in Christchurch suburbs in September and October.
She went to Christchurch a month ago and visited an Irish pub in the central city but found the gender mix was not conducive to finding a man.
Ms Metcalfe said Dunedin women did not need to go to Christchurch to meet a single man.
At most of the speed dating nights in Dunedin, men outnumbered women, she said.
''There is plenty of single men in Dunedin. She needs to exhaust her options here first.''
She had some simple advice for people seeking love.
''Leave the house - if you want to meet people, you must leave the house.''
