I take the liberty of posting without reading through the whole thread.
PROFESSIONAL SHADCHANIM? Who needs ’em? When my class was in shidduchim, we discussed making a trip to a well-known shadchan who works with bochurim in a particular yeshiva of the type most of us were looking for. We decided against it, and no one in my class (about 15 girls) went to ANY professional shadchan. B”H, close to fifteen years later (actually, much earlier already), only 1 of us is still single (not to minimize her plight, c”v).
Everyone’s shidduch came through family, friends, networking, etc.
But, THAT ONLY HAPPENS WHEN WE TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR EACH OTHER!