I was talking to someone the other night at one of our events. They had never been speed dating before so I reassured them they were in for a great night and I said without hesitation that its THE best way to meet people.
It’s true. A scientifically verified, indisputable cross-my-heart-and-hope-to-die god’s honest fact. Music is nice. In fact, I’ll challenge anyone to say they don’t like music.
On this blog I talk a lot about best places to go in London, give advice on various aspects of dating, highlight some of our events, give more advice on dating and hopefully entertain you along the way. At the bottom of each blog you’ll always find a link to our events that in some way relate to what i’m writing about.
Normally, summer sees a bit of a slowdown on the speed dating front. And yet, such events are more popular than ever. From funky pop up speed dating in the trendier parts of the city, to quiz and literary speed dating for the more cerebrally celebratory, single londoners are taking to the format at a rate matched only by our thirst for gin. To explain why, John gives us his ten reasons speed dating is this summers hottest night out.
If large summer parties are Ibiza on steroids, then summer speed dating in London is the Italian hill top private bar over-looking the Mediterranean. Or so says John Davis as he explains why the summer is the best time for speed dating.
It’s always a tough one, particularly for the first timer, and one of the major questions I get asked at Speed Date events in London – what should I talk about?
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.
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!
We hear a lot of success stories from people that met at our speed dating events and parties across London. Here's another example of one that popped into our inbox last week. There's really nothing nicer than knowing our events bring so many people together.
The Spring Fling - Saturday April 12, 2014 Spring seems to have finally sprung and it's such a great time to meet someone new, just in time for what we hope to be another long hot summer. This weekend the clocks have finally changed and for the first time in 2014 there’s a chance you’ll be able to enjoy an after work drink with the sun on your face. Ah, bliss!
There's no doubt that online dating is popular these days, but I think it's fair to say it does have some drawbacks. Let's examine them.
Oh London. London, London, London. Songs have been written about you, poems penned and odes um… oded. Some celebrate your majesty, others your darker side, but whatever is to be said about London it's certainly unique.
Online Dating might seem like the obvious thing to do if you are single and looking to start a relationship. There's 1000's of members near you and they are all single and looking too. Great idea right? Err, no.
Successful events, like beauty, are apparently in the eye of the beholder. And yet, like beauty we can all go some way to making that eye spy in a more favourable way. And like beauty there are some base measures by which we can judge the relative success of an event.
With all the different events we run, I'm often asked which is the 'best' one to attend. There really is no straight answer to this but let's focus on our main events: speed dating and lock & key parties.
There's a certain irony to speed dating. Some speed dating companies, particularly those run by large multinational online dating firms, are adamant that they can match you with the love of your life - that this is the primary focus of speed dating. Given their online roots it makes a degree of sense that they should think so. But it's not entirely true.
Believe it or not Original Dating started running speed dating events almost 10 years ago in April 2003. We've run literally thousands of events across London since then and some might say we've got really quite good at it over the years.
It's been rather a long time coming but today we're delighted to unveil our brand new website and branding, so whadaaya you think?
I've learnt always to exercise caution when I am urged to try out the latest US-inspired fad. For every Myla Pearl thong there are a dozen boob tubes and day-glo leg warmers cluttering up the dark corners of my wardrobe.
A short story about the travails of speed dating in London by Kelly Roberts.
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.