You've made it through the first date, you liked what you saw, and now you're full of eager anticipation for dates 2, 3 and 4! 'Early days' dating can be the most exciting and exhilarating of the lot, so it's important to make the most of it. Apart from anything else, this is the time for getting to know each other and for this reason your choice of dating activity and venue is key - make no mistake about it, you WILL be being judged! To help you on your way, here's what we hope is a fail safe guide to getting the best out of the early days date.
Blind dates are one thing... You know the sort – when a friend tells you they have the perfect match for you and visa versa. Then you turn up and realise you would have preferred to have spent the evening with a lion at feeding time. So actual blind dating could be quite hazardous. Step up Dans Le Noir – a restaurant in London were you’re actually sat, eating your meal, in complete darkness. Sounds scary, huh? Well it’s not as bad as it sounds actually. I had the pleasure of visiting it last year with friends and loved the experience. After being led into a darkened room by blind waiters you’re left to enjoy a surprise menu, and hopefully not get the contents of your plate all down your front.
But going on a date in a darkened restaurant, now that’s another thing. So when a potential first date suggested it I wondered what sort of loon I’d been set up with. I didn’t even reply to him, let alone date him. Fast forward six months and into a particularly bad dating drought and I thought, ‘why not?’ – What’s the worst that could happen?
Well a lot of things actually – a slight pause in conversation could feel like an eternity of awkwardness, a mistaken red wine spill could end in a disastrous date outfit and don’t get me started on mistaken identity – what if you end up speaking to the wrong date all night?
Thankfully I didn’t encounter any of these – phew! But walking into a darkened room with a virtual stranger did seem slightly odd. Fumbling around in the dark is usually at least third date territory - so being plunged into darkness and left to almost fend for your self from date numero uno is, I suppose, a little mad!
But there are some upsides of dating in the dark. Because when your date can’t actually see you it gives you the perfect opportunity to throw that first date dinner etiquette out of the window. Instead of sitting there politely cutting your meal likes it’s a delicate flower you can tuck your napkin in your t-shirt and dig in with your hands - without your date thinking you’re a complete slob. And that’s exactly what I did – well nobody’s exactly going to know, are they?
Thankfully the experience didn’t scar me for life or give me a fear of the dark. But just like the cinema, maybe Dans le Noir isn’t quite first date material. A first date is all about sussing them out – reading their body language, using eye contact and flirting, and you can’t really do that when you’re in the dark – can you?
So by all means date in the dark and enjoy dinner in the dark – but maybe enjoy your first date, with who ever it is, somewhere where you can actually see them.
By Sarah Finley
Read more of Sarah’s dating tales at http://thelovesandlifeofalondongirl.blogspot.com/
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