Does the Catholic Church have any guidelines as to what is the ideal age to start dating? What is the ideal age for a Christian to start dating? I'm not sure when to start, but I know a very devoted Christian family who thinks the age should be 16.

Does the Catholic Church have any guidelines as to what is the ideal age to start dating?
No. There are only official guidelines for marriage: by the Code of Canon Law (book VI, can 1083)


  
  A man before he has completed his sixteenth year of age and a woman before she has completed her fourteenth year of age cannot enter into a valid marriage.
  The conference of bishops is free to establish a higher age for the licit celebration of marriage.
  


Anyway, local churches often follow civil laws for the age of marriage (18 y.o. in most of Europe)