The first time I heard of speed dating was when I saw the movie, “Hitch.” Will Smith goes after the girl who stole his heart, and interrupts her mid “date” to tell her how he feels about her. You may have heard of this trend before, but some of us old married ladies were unaware of this phenomenon. I thought it was rather intriguing.
The idea is to gather lots of singles together to mingle, and then to have them engage each other in one on one conversation for a specified amount of time. Then, when the time limit expires, each person moves along to begin a conversation with another man or woman.
There are different set ups for these kinds of events, including some that are arranged in a party atmosphere. Guests mingle and may even enjoy food, drinks, and music. This is an opportunity for each person to see who he or she would like to have a conversation with when it’s time to do so. During intermission, and again after everyone has finished their allotted conversations, guests may once again mingle.
In order to help make this a safer experience, guests are requested not to give out too much personal information or contact information during a first meeting. You can contact each other later through the company hosting the gathering if you like, and arrange to meet the person at the next event.
After a couple of these get-togethers, you might decide you’d like to go on a real date with the person. My advice is to consider making it a double date, or at the very least, meet the person in a public place instead of inviting him or her to your home. Please read Five Tips for the First Date for more tips on staying safe when dating someone new.
*For more information on speed dating, visit 8-Minute-Dating.com.