A kiss and a donation -- for a smile

Love at first sight really does happen.

Just ask Begonia Arana and Javier Moner of Spain, whose chemistry sparked love, marriage and, ultimately, a baby who they bundled in their arms as they took a loving smooch under a large mistletoe outside the Flatiron Building in Manhattan Tuesday.

The hanging mistletoe is inviting couples to take a moment for a kiss and a donation of a dollar to Operation Smile, an international charity that offers free surgeries to children with facial deformities.

The young couple, who are living in Manhattan, said they met in 2006 at a mutual friend's barbecue in Spain when Javier overheard Begonia tell someone the name of the street she grew up on in Spain.

"I heard the name and I said I work on that street. 'Are you from Valencia?' " he remembered asking.

Begonia, 37, said: "We were neighbors and we didn't even know it. It was love at first sight."

"I knew right away," said Javier, 34, who smiled back.

The mistletoe fundraiser -- consisting of two oversized mistletoe hung in the pedestrian mall outside the Flatiron -- was organized by Findyourfacemate.com, a new dating website that is signing up singles for free.

The website is donating $20,000 to Operation Smile, which, since 1982, has performed more than 200,000 free surgeries to children from around the world who had facial deformities.

Launched in March, the website matches people with the same shaped faces using facial recognition technology, said Christina Bloom, the founder of the new dating service.

The website's technology zooms in on the eyes, ears, nose, chin and the corners of the mouth to match similarities.

"We will match you right away because facial recognition is more likely to ignite chemistry and passion, which is what you need to build a foundation," said Bloom, 50, of Manhattan.

The website has 50,000 people signed up, but needs at least 150,000 singles to start making connections, Bloom said.

Lauren Israel, 32, and Rob Allaire, 35, both of Manhattan, stopped to kiss under the mistletoe during their lunch break Tuesday. Bloom eyeballed them as a prime example of two facial shapes that connected. "Look, don't you see it?" she said, pointing to the couple.

Israel and Allaire acknowledged their connection was instantaneous. They met at work three years ago. Now they commute and have lunch together every day, said Israel, smiling.

"At first we were sneaking around and then we decided to come clean," she said.

"We just connected," Allaire said.