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Saturday, 12 March 2005
Great Venue Ideas for a First Date
One of the best general tips is make sure
that there will be other people around i.e. it has to be in a public
place. With that in mind, here are our top tips for great first date
venues:
1. If you're both sporty types (you do know a bit about this person
you're going on a date with right? You've gotten far enough with your
email and telephone conversations to know enough about them to make
these decisions, hopefully! Another good reason why honesty is always
the best policy in your profile essays and all other communications!)
how about ice skating? Plenty of opportunities for non-threatening
physical contact i.e. holding each other up. If one is good at this
activity and the other not, you won't have to worry about conversational
gambits because you can get a teacher-pupil thing going.
Another sporty idea: jogging. If you're both into keeping fit in general
and jogging in particular, this can be a very good one. Make sure you do
it in a public park at a time when there are likely to be lots of other
people about. Can be a good one if you feel you might have difficult
sustaining a conversation on a first date - obviously a long silence
won't be so noticeable when you're both pretty breathless. There can
certainly be a great feeling of camaraderie when you're engaged in a
strenuous physical exercise along with someone.
2. Go for a coffee to a coffee bar or cafe. May not sound like the most
exciting venue on Earth, but it will generally be a relaxing atmosphere
with several other people around so non-threatening. You also probably
wouldn't intend to stay for hours in a coffee house, and this is good
because the longer the first date, the more opportunity there is for
those embarrassing long silences to creep in, and you obviously don't
want that - so if both parties accept that this is a quick get to know
type meeting so much the better, and this type of venue is conducive to
that. NOTE: where drinks are involved definitely make it non-alcoholic
(bars are a no-no) don't put yourself in a position where you could
become vulnerable and/or make a complete fool of yourself - and we all
know that alcohol can make us lose control in more ways than one - so NO
ALCOHOL.
3. Museums, art galleries or exhibitions. Best thing about ideas of this
sort are that as long as you choose something you've both got an
interest in, you'll not have a problem finding things o talk about
because they'll be all around you. You'll also tend to learn a lot of
other things about likes and dislikes and what makes a person tick in a
stimulating atmosphere like this.
4. Going out for a meal. Again, not the most original choice, but still
popular. If you both enjoy your food, why not. Few things to think
about: Don't make it a very expensive restaurant, but don't make it the
cheapest of the cheap either - something middle range is best. I also
feel it is best if you arrange a lunch date, maybe in dinner hour from
work, rather than evening. Why? Well I have a standard theme - don't
make the first date too long, don't run the risk of drying up. If you
both have to get back to work, there's a good reason for keeping it
short and, hopefully, sweet. Again, following on from the point above,
if you're going to have alcohol with your meal, make sure it's only ONE
glass of wine (another good reason to make it lunch time when you've
both got to go back to work, that's a pretty good excuse not to drink).
5. Going dancing. Again, public place and if it's something you both
enjoy, why not? Anything that revolves around a common interest is a
good idea, because that will give you plenty to talk about.
You will have noticed the recurring theme in all of the above - meeting
in some kind of public place. There are two basic reasons for this the
main one being simply your safety - you really don't want to be going
anywhere where you'll be alone with someone you don't know. And,
following on from that, if you feel safe you'll be able to relax and be
comfortable enough to let your guard down to the point where you can
allow yourself to have an enjoyable encounter.
So to sum up, wherever you decide to choose for your first date, BE
SAFE, that has to be the priority. Anywhere where you, or your date,
would feel uncomfortable is a non-starter.
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