Speed Dating — A Girl's Experience

We arrived at a trendy looking bar for our first experience of speed dating in London. Walking through the doors with a slight air of anxiousness, we were greeted at the door by two organisers. Taking our names, they gave us the essential equipment for the night — a sticky label with our name on it to wear, a seat number, scorecard & pen — all you need for a night of serious dating!

Heading straight for the bar, we purchased our first couple of steadiers for the evening, something to calm the nerves and raise the confidence. Definitely needed when faced with an evening of meeting 10 single men and being forced to make small talk!

We positioned ourselves by the bar while waiting for others to arrive, with one eye on the door to check out the talent (and the competition) as they arrived. A few drinks in, a full house of singletons, and the organisers took to the mic to welcome their speed daters and give a brief overview of what was in store.

Then the girls head to their seats armed with a full drink for support, while the guys are informed they have to do the leg work circulating the room. Before we know it, we've started the mission of meeting 10 strangers for an evening timed into 3 minute slots with a buzzer to keep everyone on their toes…

The Speed Dating Experience

So here is my experience of a night of speed dating men!

Date One — begins with "Hi, I see your name is… mine is…". The conversation progresses to jobs, university, locations, holidays. All pretty easy going and no awkward pauses before the buzzer sounded, and off he went to his next date.

Date Two — Tom, well spoken, well dressed, popular guy. Definitely fanciable. Date!

Date Three — Tom's mate Ian, both blaming each other for being dragged along for moral support. Another date!

Date Four — Richard, originally from Manchester, just moved to London hoping to meet people in his area. Mate.

Date Five — John, slightly eccentric. Not much in common. Ditch.

Date Six — Mark, city broker, well travelled, most definitely a ladies' man. Ditch.

Date Seven — Dan, ching ching! Instant attraction and a laugh chatting away, time went too quick. Definite date — so I hope he ticks me too!

Date Eight — a Scottish guy who isn't enjoying speed dating and thinking about going home. Ditch.

Date Nine — James, slightly hyperactive, tall, blond, cute, but no. Mate.

Date Ten — John, a nice IT guy who obviously wanted to please and get on with every girl he met. Lots of smiling and agreeing — how boring! Ditch.

And hooray, speed dating complete! All that remained was to hand back the scorecard, and decide whether to stick around the bar for another drink or move on out.

Would I pay to go speed dating again? Probably. It was a fun evening — and how often do you get to meet 10 single men in one night?!