Valentine's weekend is, with good reason, the busiest weekend in the singles events calendar. It seems everyone and their pet animal of choice is running an event. Having worked in the industry for around a decade I've seen them all and it's clear that some work better than others.
Introducing Literary speed dating First event: Tuesday March 10, 2014 - Nordic, W1 Up to 20 four minute dates. Bring a book. Discuss a book. Discuss each other. Date again?
Valentine's Unlocked Party 2015 [Photos] 250 people joined us for our 2015 Valentine's night bash aboard The Golden Jubilee. We took in the stunning London skyline, danced and met loads of new people. It was a hell of a night! [More pictures to follow soon!]
Valentine's Unlocked Boat Party 2015 Saturday Feb 14, 2015
Dating can be tough, but the rewards can offer you more than enough to compensate for the initial scary step into the dating world. If you’ve met someone on a speed dating night that you’d like to get to know better, and you’re planning your first “proper” date, it can be pretty nerve-wracking. With this in mind, we’ve put together 5 of the most important tips to help that first date go well. You never know, it may be the start of something special!
We were already keen followers of Jenny Stallard's quest to find a boyfriend in time for Christmas in The Metro. Her Boyfriend by Christmas column has been a highly entertaining insight into the weird and wonderful world of dating in London and beyond.
It's something we've always believed to be true, online dating doesn't work. Of course, as a speed dating events company, we would say that wouldn't we. But now, according to The Telegraph there's some science to back up our assertions. Indeed, even the boss of Match.com admits himself that dating cycles are shorter when people meet online.
Tinder is big news at the moment and there's no denying it, it's changing the way people date. The trouble with Tinder however, just like online dating that came before it is it’s all just so darn superficial. Dating decisions on these platforms have to be all about looks as you’ve really got nothing else to work on. Now we’re not suggesting for a minute that all Tinder users are shallow but we found this social experiment carried out on a few unwitting Tinder users very interesting, so why not take a look.
Make the most of the extra long summer of love with our top tips for outdoor dates
What a week and we’re only half way through! Already we’ve got one busy speed dating event under our belt. Last night, we hosted 30 people at Match Bar which is located a minutes’ walk from Oxford Circus tube station. This event was for our ever popular over 30s age category.
Our regular weekly speed dating for people in their thirties has proved to be a very popular night and is now a stalwart of our calendar. Attracting a vibrant, typically professional crowd from across London we consistently find a match rate of between 70-80% amongst those that attend. That means that well over two thirds of everyone attending matches with at least one person as either a yes of a friend.
It's time to party! SOCIAL IN THE CITY - Friday, 22 August 2014 - Dion, St Pauls, London
We organise a speed dating event every Friday night at Dion Champagne Bar in St Pauls. This is one of our stand out events because of its popularity and we get a capacity crowd practically every week.
A few weeks ago we conducted a survey. The goal was to find out what our clients want from a dating event in 2014 and where the dating market in general is heading. We had a great response and around a thousand people kindly took the time to fill it out, so a big thank you to those that did.
If you’re thinking about trying speed dating for this first time why not make this week the one where you take the plunge? We’re running four events and all of them have seen really high booking levels over the past few days. This means only one thing, plenty of dates for you!
Dating expert Carolyn McKline trawls through the oodles of speed dating tips available and compiles practical advice for real people considering speed dating for the first time.
Original Dating have been responsible for thousands dates as a result of people attending our dating events and parties. Many people that matched at our events have gone on to have relationships and dozens of couples people got married as a result of meeting at one of our events. Dating events are a very safe place to meet people for the first time. Even so, it's worth being cautious when meet people for the first time outside of our events.
Our research tells us that a Los Angeles Rabbi called Yaacov Deyo invented speed dating in the late nineties as a way for young Jewish singles to meet and find a partner.
It’s time for our annual events survey and we’d love to hear your feedback on some ideas we’ve got in the pipeline. We believe one good turn deserves another so we’re offering a 50% off discount voucher for anyone kind enough to fill out our survey. There’s only 16 questions so it will only take you a few minutes.
The beauty of Speed Dating London lies in its no-nonsense approach. You take an equal number of single girls and guys, put them in a room and give them a few minutes to chat with every other member of the opposite sex.
Original speed dating events in London normally begin at 7.30pm. You will need to register with our hosts and to begin with they will issue you with a score sheet. This will help you to keep track of the singles that you would like to meet again and perhaps go on a date with. After a short period of mingling, your host for the evening who will run through detailed instructions and give you your starting position if you are a guy or table for the event if you are a girl.
A London speed dating event is split into two halves, each lasting around an hour, there will be an interval at half time of about 15 minutes for speed dating London. You will have between 4 and 5 minutes with each person, after which you need to tick a box on your score sheet - "yes, I would like to meet this person again" or "no. Thanks but no thanks". Or "friend" if you'd like to get to know them platonically. Make sure that you do this after each date to keep track. Afterwards there is an opportunity for everyone to meet and mingle informally - this is often where the real action begins, so make sure you don't disappear too quickly!
After the event you simply tick who you liked on the Original Dating website and the site works about your matches automatically. If the dates you have ticked as a "yes" have reciprocated you have a match. You will be able to view the first names and message them via our site online without revealing your email address until you are ready to. You'll be having proper first dates in no time.