Speed dating: a fun evening or a hellish night?

by Sarah Bull

Combine 20 reasonably attractive men, alcohol, a nice club and a variety of four minute conversation and what do you get? Speed dating!

I decided to try my luck at one of the ever-regular events to see how true it is that you make your mind up about someone within the first three minutes of meeting them. Having been to a couple of speed dating events before, the thing that I was most nervous about was the length of the ‘dates’ – four minutes seemed to be an awfully long time compared to the two or three minutes I had experienced before. However, after hearing the statistics of 43,516 matches and nine marriages through Slow Dating, the company I chose to go through, from last year alone – I thought it was worth a shot.

Entering the exclusive and glamorous Orchid bar just by Piccadilly Circus, it was soon clear to see that other people were having the same thoughts. The variety of people who attend these sorts of events is immense – from suave businessman who aim for the ‘just come from work’ look to drunken louts only looking for one thing.
The evening starts with an explanation from the hosts, before the bell rings and the dates begin.

The first date is always awkward – stilted conversation and the obvious questions ‘What do you do?’ and ‘Where are you from?’ are never fun, but by the third date I found I was quickly becoming more comfortable and I started to relax. Lubricated by a couple of glasses of wine, I smiled, giggled and flirted outrageously with my dates, hoping to hit it off with at least a couple.

What is incredible is the different people you can meet in one evening. Whether there is a spark or not, the majority of the men are incredibly attentive, and even if you don’t get a further few dates out of the evening, you certainly make friends. By the end of the night – which, undoubtedly, is exhausting – I thought I may receive a few matches, but was unsure how many I would follow up.

For research purposes, I decided to tick all of my dates to see who ticked me back (you can only see who ticks you if you tick them). To my surprise, out of the 18 men who have so far entered their matches, I received a total of eight matches. As well as a bit of an ego boost, the matches give you scope to follow up the matches with real dates, and who knows where that can lead?

So, is speed dating all it’s cracked up to be? Well, in terms of a fun evening, good company and a lot of laughs, yes it is. But in terms of finding your true love - I’ll let you know!

Find out how Sarah got on with Speed Dating - click here for her follow up article.