One of our (male) spies went Speed Dating the other week and is now sharing the experience with you...
I arrived at the London venue with my friend, feeling strangely relaxed, having imagined the nerves would be kicking in by this point. Although the venue was a busy London bar, we had a very private area at the top of the venuie with its own bar and bathroom, so we didn't feel in the glare of the other patrons.
The set up was we were all given a number, the girls sat at and stayed at the table with that number and the boys started off there and then moved to the next one after the 3 minute 'date'. There were 18 boys and 15 girls at the event, which also meant a bit of a breather for the boys as well, which was nice.
The age group for this one was girls 24-36 and boys 26-38 and everyone was comfortably within the age range. The guys mingled well by the bar before kick off and the ladies seemed to be mingling quite well too. You are given a card and a pencil and you need to fill this out as you go along, deciding if the people you met were a match or not or whether they may be a 'friend'.
Relaxed with a vodka and coke, the proceedings were launched by the friendly organiser ringing the bell. We took our seats and soon the buzz of conversation filled the room. I'm not going to give an account of each and every 'date' but there was a real mix of people, a few Aussies and Kiwis mixed with some local nurses and girls from up north. What struck me was the ease of the whole evening. every conversation was enjoyable, some were flirty, some weren't but that's the nature of attraction. But all the conversations were disturbed by the bell rather than an awkward silence waiting for the 3 minutes to end.
Once everyone had their dates there was an opportunity to mingle afterwards and we did, having the chats we hadn't managed to finish in the 3 minutes. The atmosphere remained relaxed and fun. Finally, by about 11pm the call of some food and home after a hard week's work was calling but not after saying farewell to some new female acquaintances. Once home, you can either put in your matches or if you have not met anyone you would like to see again (unlikely but possible) the good people at Speed Dater will give you a credit to attend another event.
Whether you are new to the dating scene or have been single for some time, we really recommend speed dating as something different to try. It's great fun, gives you a chance to flirt, practice your lines and just meet a whole group of people you would not normally meet. After all, when was the last time you spoke to 15 members of the opposite sex on a night out? Give it a good, we don't think you will regret it.
Our Mr X went speed dating with Speeddater.co.uk click here to visit the site.
