A DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO SPEED DATING LONDON
If you’re thinking about trying out speed dating with us you’re bound to have some questions. Sure, speed dating has been around for a long time but when it comes to detailed information about what you can expect, information can be lacking. Fortunately, help is at hand. We’ve been organising speed dating events in London since 2003 so we’re better placed than most to put together this guide.
An Introduction to speed dating
In its standard form, a London speed dating event brings a group of 30-40 people together in a private room of a bar of a pub. If it’s a heterosexual event, there would be an even ratio of male to female participants attending.
Venues tend to be in Central London and the busier outer areas such as Clapham, Islington and The City. Over the course of the evening, all the guys will meet all the girls (and vice-versa) for a series of short dates that last around 4 minutes each.
It’s been proven that people make up their mind on a potential ‘date’ in as quickly as 30 seconds, so the 4 minutes we provide could be regarded as generous!
Before the event
We make it super easy to book your speed dating event online. You can book tickets individually or you can book for a group at the same time. Everyone you book a ticket for will receive an booking confirmation and login details for our site via email.
Ahead of the speed dating you can login to the site and upload a photo and fill in some basic information. This info will only be shown to people you’ve already met in person at the event when they come around to selecting who they’d like to see again.
It’s really just a prompt and is totally private.
What to expect at a London speed dating event
When you arrive at the venue, you’ll be welcomed and signed in by the host. You don’t need to bring anything with you, as you’ve booked in advance we’ll have your name on our guest list.
There’s usually a brief time to settle in and grab a drink whilst everyone arrives. You will also receive your scorecard and a unique number for the evening. Don’t worry, we don’t make you wear name badges.
When we’re ready to start, the host will deliver a brief intro speech and get everyone seated in the right place, so we can kick things off.
Your first four-minute speed date will begin, and this is where the fun starts. You might want to plan some questions up front, here’s some to inspire you from our blog.
Top tip – Don’t talk about work. Our research shows this is a bad idea, it’s far better to ask questions get people talking about travel, hobbies and things that they are passionate about – Londoners tend to work to live - so leave the mundane questions our for best results!
At the end of each date, guys (usually) are asked to move to the next table/date/person in order and the next date begins.
The event continues like this until everyone has met everyone else. After each date, you will need to indicate on your scorecard if you would like to see the other person again, this helps you to remember each person the next day when you enter your matches on our site.
Every speed dating event we organise in London is split into two halves with a short break in between. You might want to fill up your drink at this point.
How long does the event last?
With breaks, our events last approximately 2.5 hours. Although it's optional, most people will stay on after the event for a drink and to socialise further.
The day after the event
The following day we’ll send you an email when our matching system opens. You then have until 5pm to login to the site and select the people that you’d like to see again from the event. You’ll usually see a photo by each name to make the process easier.
At 5pm our matching system crunches the results and we privately display the mutual matches you received from the event within your account.
If you and your date selected each other as a YES, you’ll receive a YES match. If either you or your date select a FRIEND, that’s a FRIEND match and if either party selects NO, then no match is possible.
You will be able to send messages via the site to anyone you matched with. Messaging works a bit like Whatsapp and you’ll be notified by email when new messages arrive.
FURTHER QUESTIONS ABOUT SPEED DATING LONDON
What is your speed dating guarantee?
We guarantee you’ll meet people you want to see again at our speed dating events, E.G people you will want to match with. In the unlikely event that you don’t meet anyone that you wish to tick YES or FRIEND to, your next event is totally free of charge and we’ll automatically issue an event credit via our website.
How many dates will I get?
You will usually meet 15-20 people at our speed dating events in London.
However, we can never guarantee exact numbers - occasionally you will meet a few more and sometimes fewer than this. We can never guarantee everyone with a ticket will show up but fortunately drop outs are rare.
Will the numbers of girls and guys be equal at your speed dating events?
We work very hard to make sure the numbers of male and female participants are equal and most of the time this is the case. If the worst happens and people don’t show it’s not a disaster, we can normally overcome most situations and our events are not affected. We’ve been doing this a long time!
Tell me about your Central London speed dating venues
Glad you asked, we use a wide variety of venues in Central London. On Saturday night’s we’re at Perini and Perini in Oxford Circus and you can’t get more Central London than that. On Friday’s we’re at Dion in St Pauls – slap bang in the middle of The City. We have regular events at The Sanctum Hotel in Soho and The Refinery close to Warren Street.
I've been to one of your events and I'm keen to find out which of my FRIEND matches ticked yes to me
Sorry. Speed dating is designed to be rejection-free so to provide this information would detract from this unique feature. We do publish a count of how many yes ticks your received at your event.
How long do I get with each date?
Each speed dates last for 4-5 minutes. Most other companies give you three minutes but we believe the extra time makes the whole experience less hectic.
Do I get time between dates to make my ticks and notes?
Yes, there's always some time allowed for the changeover process. Don't forget you don't have to totally make up your mind until the next day when you enter your matches online.
Can I bring a friend who isn't taking part?
Yes, although they will not be able to stay in the room after the dating event starts. You'll be busy speed dating of course but your friend can wait in the bar and you can catch up at the breaks and after the event.
How many people go speed dating on their own?
We have found around 30-40% of our clients attend speed dating events on their own. Some people attend in groups too, it really doesn't matter as speed dating is a one on one activity.
What kind of people go speed dating?
Like the population of London, our clients come from a wide variety of backgrounds professions. Of course, there’s no set type of person but over many years of running these events we’ve found the vast majority to be fun and really nice.
I'm just outside your age guide for an event
We publish an age guide as we've found that people usually want to meet people of a similar age. We don't have means to prevent people booking tickets outside of the age range but this has never been a problem.
Do you ever offer discounted speed dating tickets?
Very occasionally we offer cheap last-minute tickets if we have a late cancellation. These discounted tickets are only ever offered to past clients so in order to claim these you always have to pay full price for an event first.
I can't make the event - can I send a friend in my place?
Yes - provided they are the same gender x as you this will not be a problem. Just give them a copy of your booking confirmation to take with them.
What's the dress code at your speed dating events?
We don't have a specific dress code. We would always suggest that you wear what you feel comfortable in but do make an effort. Some people straight work in business attire and others have time to get changed first - it's entirely up to you.
What's the success rate of speed dating in London?
We find that 70-80% of clients get at least one match. it's not at all uncommon to get several matches from a night of speed dating. Like all forms of dating, speed dating London is a numbers game and there's no guarantee that you'll meet someone the first time you try it. People that persevere with speed dating tend to do the best and we've received many success stories from people that meet their life partner at our events.
Do you organise over 30s speed dating events?
We're one of the few companies that run speed dating events especially for the over 30s age group. Not only are our speed dating events the most regularly attended with the highest number of daters, we're known for providing our clients with a great experience and our success rate is pretty high for the over 30s, often 85% of people attending get one match or more.
Who goes to our over 30s Speed Dating events?
For the most part, speed daters are professionals. Think IT, marketing, banking and general city jobs combined with a liberal mixture of creative careers such as advertising, journalism, television and radio. We find we get an outgoing crowd of people that tend to click when they meet.
Got another question we've not covered here?
Please drop us an email - we'll get back to you super quick. For more information visit our frequently asked questions pages.
