The
Original Dating News & events Blog...
The latest about our events in London,
that's speed dating, quiz dating, wine tasting and more...
30/04/2008 - We've moved and now we're back online!
After much lugging of boxes and lot's of wrangling with the worlds worst
company, BT, we have finally moved into our new offices along with our
associated companies in London's West End.
Our new address is a follows:
Original Dating
36 Langham Street
London
W1W 7AP
We've also ditched our 0870 number (although it still works) and our
alternative contact number is 020 7193 5326.
17/04/2008 - QuizDating this Tuesday - 20 Girls Attending - Last
Male Tickets Remain!
Guys, what are you waiting for? Join us this Tuesday and meet 20 of
London's finest single ladies. Last male tickets remain.
Click here to book QuizDating!
07/04/2008 - Following the sell-out success of our Valentine's boat
party Original Dating presents: The Start of the Summer Ball on a Boat!
- Saturday May 10, 2008 - TICKETS SELLING FAST!
It's been a long and cold winter but the start of the summer is finally
on the horizon! You are invited to join us aboard our 250 capacity
luxury Thames cruiser to party, flirt and dance the night away
whilst taking in the magnificent London skyline with hundreds of
eligible singles from across the Capital. Think glamour, style and
sophistication, think warm summer evenings and ice cold drinks and think
of meeting lot's fun of new people in one great evening. The ultimate
opportunity to meet your match? We think so!
As always, at our parties we give you our fantastic lock & key
icebreaker. This means you're guaranteed to meet lots of new people from
across London. Of course the icebreaker is optional, but it's always
lots of fun to use it!
Our Valentine's Boat party was the first ever lock & Key party on the
Thames - and it was fantastic. Click here to view some pictures from
that event!
Here's some of the reasons why you can't miss our Start of The Summer
Ball on a Boat!
- You'll meet lots of new people whist taking in the fantastic London
skyline by night.
- DJ and large dance floor on the upper deck playing fun party classics
and chart tracks
- Everyone there is single and looking to meet people!
- Equal 50:50 male/female split ensured by our unique booking system.
- Luxury 250 capacity, twin deck Thames cruiser for our 4-hour party
cruise along the Thames
- Take in the sights from the unique (and very romantic!) perspective of
the Thames.
- Our fantastic icebreaker is included in the ticket price ensuring
you'll meet lots of people!
- Featuring a quieter lower deck chill out and mingling area
- Enjoy reasonable pub prices at the two fully stocked on-board bars.
- Large open rear deck available with smoking permitted.
- By meeting this many people it's certain you'll meet some people you
want to see again...
- Tickets currently on sale for just £25.00 - only throughout April so
be quick.
- The ultimate Summer Party in London? We think so.
- The boat docks at 11.15pm - So there's still plenty of time to hit the
town after the cruise!
Click here for more
info and bookings!
Our boat parties events are, without doubt, our most popular events so
time really is of the essence - book now to secure your places because
once they're gone - they're gone!
Early bird price! - £25.00 - Early Bird
price only throughout April.
27/03/2007 - QuizDating - Book Early
Our Tuesday QuizDating nights are proving seriously popular these days
the last three events have been packed to the rafters and our next night
on Tuesday April 8th is already sold out completely for ladies!
If
you'd like to know what all the fuss is about then you really should
join us for our next event!
04/03/2007 - London Lite Feature QuizDating
Last week The London Lite came
to Polka to cover our QuizDating event at the venue. The story is
appearing in tonight's edition so grab a copy and have read!
25/02/2008 - QuizDating Continues Tomorrow
Our next QuizDating event taking place tomorrow night 26-02-2008 - it's
going to be a great event and all female tickets now sold out.
Guys click here to join in the fun!
12/02/2008 - Valentines Boat Party Update - Only 20 male places
remain!
All of the female tickets for this years Valentines
Party have now sold out - guys, we have just 20 tickets left. They will
go so book yours now to avoid disappointment!
Want to find out more about Valentines Day Lock
and Key party! Click here for more information and bookings!
05/02/2008 - Valentines Boat Party Update - 200 tickets now sold!
Our Valentines night boat party has proven to be hugely popular and in
just over two weeks we have sold the first 200 tickets. This means that
we've only got 50 left - so, if you're interested in attending this
event you'll need to act now to secure your tickets.
Want to find out more about Valentines Day Lock
and Key party! Click here for more information and bookings!
Don't forget! Were running a number of other events over
Valentine's week. As always theres plenty of ways to meet your match
with Original Dating!
15/01/2008 - Valentines Boat Party Announced! - It's another Original
Dating First!
We're delighted to announce the launch of our first ever Original Dating
Valentines Day Boat Party! - We've chartered one of the largest and most
luxurious Thames cruisers for this event. Our Valentines night events
are our biggest of the year and we're making 2008 our biggest yet!
Want to find out more about Valentines Day Lock
and Key party! Click here for more information and bookings!
09/01/2008 - We're Back and our Next Party is this Friday!
Hopefully you're feeling refreshed after the Christmas break. Now,
January is a great time to meet new people and we can certainly help you
with that! The new year is one of our busiest times of the year so why
not join us for one of our events very soon!
Our next big event is taking place this Friday (Jan 11th) at The Polka
Bar in London's wonderful Soho - It's going to be a great. We've still
got a few places available for this event so it's not too late to get
your name down!
Click here for this lock and key party!
Don't forget, we've got loads of events planned to keep and eye on our
newsletters for advance info and speed dating offers.
03/12/2007 - The Countdown to Christmas!
We've now got just SIX events this side of the Christmas break but
there's still time for you to join us and meet loads of new people in
time for Christmas. Why not join us for our BIG Christmas party this
Saturday night. It's going to be a great night so why not join us. It's
going to be a fun night!
Click here:
Christmas Party! - Saturday
December 8, 2007 @ The Slug & Lettuce, London, W1
28/11/2007 - Keep up to Date - Subscribe to our RSS Feeds
If you're into the brave new(ish) world of
RSS we've got a few of them on our website to help you keep up to date
with our array of forthcoming events - speed dating London. Click here
to find out more about them.
19/11/2007 - Christmas Party Dates Released!
Clapham Christmas Bash - Friday
November 30, 2007 @ The Hydro Bar, London SW
Our First Christmas event is taking place on Friday October 8th at The
Hydro Bar. It's a lock and key party and its going to be a big one. Have
you picked up your ticket yet? It's currently on sale at the early-bird
rate to hurry to get yours booked.
Click here for Christmas Party Bookings!
Christmas Partaay! - Saturday
December 8, 2007 @ The Slug & Lettuce, London, W1
Our main Christmas event
is taking place in just under a month! We're expecting 200 people so
it's going to be a night to remember! Book your ticket now to claim the
early bird price!
Click here!
OTHER DATING EVENTS THIS
WEEK IN LONDON: CLICK FOR DETAILS.
Speed Dating - Tuesday November 20, 2007 @ The
Polka Bar, London, Soho
Speed Dating Event - Thursday November 22, 2007 @
Firefly, Clapham London, SW
06/11/2007 - Last Male Places For Our Speed Dating Event at Firefly in
Clapham This Thursday Night!
Our event at Firefly this week has been booking up very quickly - girls
places sold out yesterday but we still have the last few male places to
sell before we reach parity. Our Clapham events are always fun and
attract some really lovely people. If you want to meet some of them you
better secure your places soon!
Click here to book for this speed dating event!
01/11/2007 - Are you booked for our WineDating Speed Dating Event
Tomorrow Night?
Our Friday night WineDating events have proven to be really popular and
a really great night out. Not only do you get to meet loads of fun
single people you also get to taste some great wines from across the
world. There's always a great atmosphere at these events and they always
show a great matching rate too!
Tomorrow's event has sold out for girls. 20 are attending! Guys, we
still have a few places available so book yours now - it's guarantee to
be a great night out!
Click
here to book for our
Wine Tasting Dating Night!
PS: We run these events
every fortnight our next event is on November 16 -
Click here for that one!
29/10/2007 - What a Party!
Hello all. Just a quick update to let you know that our Lock & Key Party
at Hydro Bar in London was a great night! The event attracted
around 100 of London's most eligible singles. There was a great
atmosphere throughout the event and everyone really got into the sprit
of mingling and chatting throughout the night.
Now, as always with our Clapham parties your ticket also entitles you to
free entry to the Clapham Grand. Most people headed down the the
club afterwards for what became a really rather raucous night. We're
announcing another lock and key party very soon so watch this space!
THIS WEEK:
Our events include QuizDating tomorrow
night at Polka Bar in the West End, Speed Dating at Hydro and Wine
Tasting at Champagne Charlie's W1 on Friday night!
18/10/2007 - It's about time for a Party - Next Friday!
We've decided that it was about time we had another Lock & Key party.
What with spooky Halloween and bonfire night fast approaching that's
exactly what we did. Our next Lock & Key Party takes place next
Friday night at the Hydro Bar on St Johns Hill, Clapham!
Although we've used Halloween as our excuse for this bash we're not
expecting anyone to come in fancy dress - just dress to impress as
usual!
We've already sold 50 tickets for this event and with over a week to go
we're expecting about 100 people to attend!
Click here for more info and bookings for this
party!
21/09/2007 - Original Dating Has a Little Sister
Original Dating has been running successful speed dating events London
along with our programme of wine tasting events and quiz dating events
since 2003. In our business that makes us pretty darned ancient! Our
events are still selling out and feedback is, as ever, great - that's
because our events really, really work!
Now since we're not people to rest on our laurels we will continue to
launch new event concepts to bring single Londoners together.
It
recently occurred to us that our dating event models could be applied to
other markets. Original Networks was born. Original Networks is our
business to business events company designed to offer business clients
the chance to connect with each other. If you're in business and looking
to make new contacts, meet potential clients or simply increase the
number of people in your network then Original Networks event are for
you. Click here to view our
business
networking site - Original Networks.
Have a great weekend!
PS: Next week: Tuesday's speed dating
event at Polka is going to be great. For those of you south of the river
- we're going to be at Firefly in Clapham on Thursday night too!
17/09/2007 - This week at Original Dating
We've got two great events this week at Original Dating. Tomorrow sees
another outing for our superb QuizDating format - We've got 20 girls
coming and have the last few male places available for this one. It's
taking place at the wonderful Polka, our brand new venue in the West
End! Wednesday sees another speed dating event at The Hydro Bar in
Clapham. Once again ladies, tickets are sold out but guys, we still have
availability for you!
Hope you can make it!
12/09/2007 - Join our Facebook Group!
Join our Facebook group to get access to
exclusive special offers and even some Facebook-only events!
Click here to see our group!
12/09/2007 - Lot's going on this week!
This week sees the introduction of another great new venue into the
Original Dating stable. The Polka Bar in Poland Street is a top class
cocktail bar and restaurant. Our programme of Tuesday events including
our speed dating and quiz speed dating will take place in the private
upstairs cocktail bar.
Polka is, without doubt, the most prestigious speed dating venue in the
whole of London. Why not join us for an event at this fantastic venue!
Check out their website
here.
Later this week we also have a
speed dating event at Clapham
Firefly plus a
wine tasting event at The Yorkshire
Grey.
We
look forward to seeing you at one of our events really soon!
We're also introducing a brand new Saturday night event at a famous
central London celeb hangout - more details coming soon!
04/09/2007 - Event Tonight Cancelled.. Thanks RMT.
As
several people have contacted us to say that they will not be able to
attend our event this evening in Soho due to the tube strike.
Regretfully we have made the decision to postpone this event. All
participants have been informed of this.
03/09/2007 - Treasure Hunt Approaches!
The first ever Original Dating
treasure hunt is fast approaching!
Click here for more details. This
is going to be an afternoon of fun, fact finding and even a bit of
flirting. Why not join us?
Notice: Unfortunately, thanks to the selfish RMT scum that staff much of
the London underground it is unlikely that our QuizDating event tomorrow
(04/09/07) will be able to take place. Those registered for this event
will be informed when the impact on transport for this event becomes
clearer tomorrow. Note to underground workers. If you're not happy with
your pay and conditions - then please just get another job!
28/08/2007 - This Friday - Our Next Lock & Key Paaaarrttaay!
This coming Friday (the 31st) sees our next Lock & Key and Summer
Cocktails Party! It's going to be a busy event and certainly a great
opportunity to meet lots of new people from across London.
Now that the met office has finally decided we can have a few days of
sunshine and we can't think of a better way to celebrate. Lock and Key
parties, for those of you that don't know are totally different to our
speed dating formats. Much more like a normal night out at a fun bar,
the only exceptions are that we provide the perfect icebreaker to get
everyone mingling and chatting from the outset!
We
also give you an equal male/female split, great fun music that's not too
loud plus a free summer cocktail on arrival to keep you nice and
relaxed.
Click here for more on this event!
We hope you can make it!
10/08/2007 - A Treasure Hunt - The Latest and Greatest way to meet your
match
Original Dating was established to offer Londoners top quality events to
enable them to meet other Londoners. Our first format was of course
speed dating events and boy, we've run a few of them. 593 to be precise
since we started over four years ago, that's an average of 2.85 a week
to be precise. We then launched Lock & Key parties and of course
everyone else followed suit...
Naturally, we keep coming up with new ideas. Recently we've launched
QuizDating. These events have been huge and work really really well
- if you haven't tried one yet you really should. Our other unique
format WineDating has again proven to work superbly as a means to
meet new people and the next event on Friday August 24th as
practically sold out already. Don't worry, more dates to be announced
shortly!
Our latest idea is the Original Dating Summer Treasure Hunt. Now,
this may sound like an strange way to meet people to you. And it is -
it's never been done before, but we think is going to be highly
effective and bloody good fun too! Companies have been using treasure
hunts for years as a means of team building and as a good excuse for an
away day, probably a jolly good piss-up as well.
As
cheesy as they sound they achieve their objective incredibly well. I
know because I went on one when I first joined my last company and we
all had a great time. Our treasure hunt is going to be a bit different
as it's broken into two sections and people join a different team for
each half of the event. This feature is designed to maximise the amount
of people you meet. We're also hiring a casual venue for our an
after-party to allow for some post-hunt refreshments... What a day out!
We're expecting up to 150 people at our first ever treasure hunt on
September 15, 2007 - Wanna come? Well
click here for more info!
Have a great weekend!
Original Dating - Speed Dating London
07/08/07
- It's time for another big party - Announcing our Summer Cocktails Lock
& Key Party on August 31st!
It's been a while since our last big party. In fact it's been almost two
whole months and that really isn't good enough! As a result we've
decided to put together another Friday night Lock and Key party on
Friday August 31st at The Hydro Bar in Clapham Junction. This event is
going to be a summer cocktail and lock and key party and a summer
cocktail is included in your ticket price (provided you arrive before
8pm).
We're hiring out Hydro exclusively for this event and we're expecting
150 people to come. It's going to be a great night of flirting and
mingling and a great way to meet loads of people every from all over
London. Drinks prices at Hydro are cheap in comparison to most places
and the atmosphere is laid back and ideal for a summer party.
If
you're looking for a great way to spend Friday 31st August then join us
for this event. It's going to be great!
Click here for more information about this
event!
PS: Your ticket also
includes free entry to The Clapham Grand after 11pm that's worth £10.00!
***
TONIGHT *** - QUIZ SPEED DATING @ The Amber Bar in
London, Soho - LAST PLACES REMAIN. CLICK HERE.
TOMORROW - SPEED DATING @ HYDRO - LAST PLACES
REMAIN!
06/08/07
- Phew! What a Scortcha!
What a weekend of fantastic weather. It's true that London really is the
best city in the world, particularly when the sun is shining. Now
wouldn't it be great to meet someone to share some of London's amazing
parks and other attractions with through the rest of the summer? Well,
attending Original Dating's collection of speed dating events parties
and other activities is a great way to help you find that person. We're
on the verge of launching some of THE most innovative events (along side
our normal speed dating events) designed to introduce you to people to
do just that with.
Our new events are totally unique but provide you with the chance to
meet and get to know people that you would never get to meet through
your normal social group or through work. Why not give them a try?
By the way, tomorrow (Tuesday August 8, 2007) we have QuizDating at
the Amber Bar - QuizDating is group speed dating combined with a fun
quiz. These events are great fun and really work well. For more info on
this event
click here.
Also, Wednesday (August 9th) we have Speed
Dating at The Hydro Bar in Clapham
-
Click here for more info..
Watch this space...
OD
31/07/07
- Has the Summer arrived in London?
It's the last day of July and it seems that the summer may have finally
arrived in London. But lets not speak too soon... This weeks summer
speed dating in London includes our regular Tuesday haunt, The Amber Bar
plus The Snug Bar in Clapham this Thursday night!
Wanna
check our our London Speed Dating events? Click here!
27/07/07
- What a Week!
This week has been really busy! Tuesday saw the second
ever QuizDating event at The Amber Bar (London W1). The event attracted
a great bunch of people and once again was totally sold out! These
events work differently to standard speed dating at people meet in
groups. We still offer our unique access to our online matching system
and you still meet a lot of people throughout the night. The only
difference being that you have to answer quiz questions as you go round!
If
you haven't tried a Quiz Dating event yet then why not book for
our next event on Tuesday August 7th! It's going to be another
sell out!
Click here.
Wednesday saw the ever popular Hydro event. Despite a slightly delayed
start the event went very well and attracted almost 40 bookings. Have a
great weekend! OD
23/07/2007 - QuizDating Tomorrow Night! - PLUS MORE SPEED DATING LONDON
Our QuizDating tomorrow night is going to be a fantastic event. We've
got 20 ladies attending but still have a few of male places to fill
before the big night. If you want to try a totally NEW and unique way of
meeting new people then book now. Places are selling fast - don't miss
it.
Click here for more.
PS: Last Friday's WineDating events was a great success! A really
sociable night and some great wines were tasted. If you're looking for a
great new way to meet people (not one-on-one, but in groups) and you
like drinking wine. We'd recommend you join us for the next event on
Friday August 24th - It's almost sold out already!
CLICK HERE FOR BOOKINGS.
Classis Speed Dating London! We've got another classic speed dating
event coming up in London on Wednesday. It's at the Hydro Bar in
Clapham. Don't miss it.
Click here for speed dating in London on Wednesday.
20/07/2007 - WineDating - It's tonight!
Just in case you didn't know our wine tasting plus speed dating event is
taking place tonight. We've still got a couple of male places available
so if you're interested in coming it's still not too late to join us.
Click here.
Last night's event at The Hydro was a great success, loads of dates and
lot's of matches!
19/07/2007 - Change of Venue for Tonight's Event
Unfortunately we've just heard that our regular Thursday night speed
dating venue, The Snug Bar has had a power failure today. Luckily, we've
managed to move the event to our other great venue in the area, The
Hydro Bar - so business as usual. We're in the process of contacting all
the clients.. all part of the fun of working at Original Dating!
Don't forget WineDating tomorrow, places still remain, it's going to
be a great night! Click here.
18/07/2007 - LATEST RELEASE - More tickets for
Speed Dating @ Snug Thursday 19, 2007
Tomorrow's event at Snug -
CLICK HERE - has already reached parity
so we've decided to release a few more tickets. We're already expecting
32 attendees but for a limited time only we have 2 male and 2 female
tickets for sale. Booking them now.
Friday's Wine Tasting or WineDating event in London is shaping up a
treat! We've got an equal number of male and female participants
attending (which is harder than you might think to achieve!) and it's
looking like its going to be fun. WineDating is basically speed dating
with wine tasting thrown in to the mix. The groups tend to be a little
smaller than most of our events but you get longer to chat with each
person and of course all of your wine is included in the price of the
ticket. Why not book your place now if you haven't already.
Click here.
PS: Last night's event was a success. We had an average match rate of
87%. That means the vast majority of people got at least one yes tick!
QuizDating (Our unique concept) is taking place on Tuesday 24
July, next week. We've already got 18 ladies coming but the guys need to
catch up a bit (as always). Its going to be a fun night if our last
event was anything to go by. Book you places
here.
17/07/2007 - It's Tuesday so it must be Speed Dating in Soho.
(Guys
places still remain! - CLICK HERE)
Tonight's event is already
sold out for girls - 17 girls are attending. Gents, we've still got four
places left. These will go, the question is who to. If you want at least
17 dates tonight we recommend you book now!
CLICK HERE (SOLD OUT NOW - SORRY)
We've been running speed dating events in London's wonderful Soho for
over four years. Although the venues have changed our events have always
been popular and tonight's event is no exception. Our current venue, the
Amber Bar, is ideal for speed dating. We use the totally private
downstairs bar for our events. It's layout is great, not too big but can
still hold a great sized event in comfort. As of 11.59am - four male
places remain.
Don't forget the WineDating this Friday
night!
16/07/2007 - Running Four Years and Still Going
Strong
Original Dating has been established for four years
now. That's a long time in anyone's book.
Speed Dating, particularly London speed dating, has now become an
established and accepted part of the singles scene. Once dating events
we veiled in stigma, people can now hold their heads up high and admit
that yes - I'm going speed dating tonight!
Now, we know the format works and we know
the match rate (it's about 80% BTW) but it doesn't mean we are going to
sit back on our laurels. We believe the speed dating market is maturing,
particularly in London. We think that our clients may be looking for
different and more original ways to meet new people. We're going to give
them those opportunities. Unlike our competition we're not one trick
pony's. We can turn our hands to anything and we've proved it.
Last week the first of our new wave of
events - QuizDating took place at the Amber Bar in Soho. It was a
first class event which attracted over 50 people from across London.
We're doing it again on July 24 for your info and early indications show
that it's going to be just as popular.
Click here for more info.
Feedback from Last week was superb and a
great night was had by all. If you don't know about QuizDating then
check out our FAQs. It's great fun, and we invented it!
LATER THIS WEEK, FRIDAY we're
bringing you another great event. WineDating, again one of our own
inventions. It's simply wine tasting and speed dating combined. A lovely
event for lovely people and we hope you can make it. At the moment the
last few places remain. Book them now to avoid dissapoinment!
AND Finally,
TOMORROW NIGHT - We have a
classic speed dating event at
Amber Bar.
Female places are sold out (17 are booked) but guys, still have a few
left. Book them now for a great night guaranteed.
Until next time.
OD | 
