London – Cocktail Dating with @SlowDating

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 In a city where our jobs and daily busy schedules take up most of our time, it is often next to impossible to find a date... or even worse make time for it! And even, if somehow miraculously this happens, more often than not, the guy you met turns out not be the one you had imagined... and honestly, who has time to do that all over again and again until you finally meet the one? So naturally any solution to this is more than welcome from all of us! With five dates within two hours, and a combination of a cocktail class, SlowDating.com probably offers one of the best solutions!

 We are all nervous on first dates, the pressure of having to talk to one person (who you barely know) for the entire evening, those awkward silences that make the seconds feel like hours, and the constant self-consciousness of all your insecurities can be pretty exhausting and nerve-wrecking. Before attending the speed dating event last Thursday, my biggest relief was probably not having to go through all of that for yet another first date. It wasn't until I arrived there that I realized that everyone had probably thought the same because no one had the first-date-nervousness; quite the opposite: the atmosphere was relaxed, friendly and cozy. Usually speed dating events start straight away with meeting the dates and last for two minutes. What was great this time around was the cocktail class that took place before the dating started. All 20 people (10 guys and 10 girls) were given a catalogue to pick the cocktail they wanted to mix and the one by one we all went inside the bar and made our own cocktail with the instruction of the bartender. Needless to say I spilled half the ingredients on me along with the ice, but at least it was a good icebreaker for the people I got to talk to afterwards. While each one was making their own cocktails, we all got to mingle and speak with the bachelors and bachelorettes of the event - needless to say, "which cocktail did you go for?" became the best ice breaker of the night! So the cocktail class proved a great idea, not just for learning new skills behind the bar, but also to get to meet the people before the speed dating starts.

 If you haven't met everyone by the time the cocktail class is over, don't worry, because now it's time for the speed dating to take place. Now usually, speed dating last two minutes with each person - but honestly how much conversation can you carry on in two minutes besides a typical greeting and a short question, such as 'what do you do for a living?'. SlowDating allows four minutes per date, which gives you just enough time to exchange a few more information with the other person to decide whether he is someone you would consider seeing again... but not enough time to have any awkward silences! Admittedly, meeting ten guys one right after the other, has the upside of enhancing your chances of landing a decent future date, but it can also become monotonous as you have to ask the same questions ten times over. However, the good thing is that with the cocktail class preceding the speed dating, every girl knew every guy more or less, so the speed dating gave us the chance to carry on the conversations we had left in the middle while mixing the cocktails. 

  On any normal date, you probably have to decide on the spot whether you like the other person or not, otherwise how will you be able to answer the possible end-of-first-date-question: "when can I see you again?". At the SlowDating events, no such decision is expected right on the spot. You get your own card, where you can make notes of each person you meet and then go back home, have a think about it, talk it over with your girlfriends (just to make sure it is the right decision) and then log in their website the next day and tick the guy you liked. Your personal information is absolutely confidential, unless there is a match with any of the guys you ticked, in which case he can see your number and email address. You can log in your account regularly to check whether you have any new matches and who has ticked you - or simply carry on with your busy life and if you do happen to have a match, let them make the first move (assuming they are not too shy!). 

 Given that this was my first speed dating event ever, I had no idea what to expect but I definitely wasn't disappointed. If you are a single woman, signing up for this even you can go in there and expect to have a nice time, meet new people and most probably land a couple of dates... at least with people that you know are worth seeing again!

If you would like to know more about SlowDating.com events visit their webpage and find the even closest to you: http://www.slowdating.com/index.aspx