dating

Stuck for ideas for dates to do as Spring begins?

Here’s our Free and Single online dating guide to how to have a great time with your date, whether its a first meeting or the start of something special!

 

1) Get together and head to a craft shop to pick up supplies – get stickers, paints, glue, jewels, felt – and then set up shop at a table and decorate Easter Eggs together.

2) Wait for a sunny day and then head to the garden center! Grab some seeds or a pot plant you want to nurture and then plant something together.

3) Head to a cafe with pavement space and order brunch, then enjoy some downtime sans technology and just chat and people watch together.

4) Go to a local tourist attraction you have never visited before despite it being on your doorstep and have fun experiencing something new with your date.

5) Head to the beach and paint little hearts on random pebbles so other people can find them later. Spread the love!

 

You know that feeling you get when you first meet someone and there is an undefinable spark?

Your stomach is filled with butterflies, you can’t help smiling when you think of them and people keep asking you what’s going on because you are ignoring your coffee fix?

 

Well, that’s not love folks, that’s infatuation.

A crush. Sexual attraction. It’s a good thing because it shows there is something there to build on, to work with. However, many couples find that as the infatuation fades along with the first few misunderstandings or arguments, the relationship starts to break down.

 

For some lucky couples though, they make it past this beginning phase.

They work out their ‘teething’ issues and it is this process of supporting each other and working together that starts to build real emotions into their chemistry.  Trust is built and the relationship blossoms into love. Here are four signs that you may be in love;

 

1) Seeing them smile or laugh lifts your mood and you would do anything to make them happy.

 

2) You automatically try and share their experiences and stresses, to lighten the load.

 

3) You want to forgive them straight after you’ve cooled off from an argument because you can’t bear being grumpy with them.

 

4) You project them into sharing your future with you, unable to picture a moment without them there to support you.

 

Don’t worry if you don’t think you’re experiencing any of these signs.

All relationships are different and these feelings are all part and parcel of an emotionally mature relationship. You have this to look forward to, possibly with one of your Free and Single dates!

 

Don’t fret if you’re not there yet, so long as both halves of the relationship are feeling happy you should live in the moment and enjoy the experience.

 

If you’ve been dating for a while, or even if you’ve just started, the change in seasons always gets us thinking about how to change ourselves, be better and reach our full potential. The gap between seasons is traditionally when people do the most clothes shopping, get their hair cut or invest in new beauty products to see them through the new season.

 

It’s the same with dating. You want to be the best you can be when you head out on a date. It leaves you confident, filled to the brim with self-esteem and ready for anything – be that a another random blind date or the potential meeting of the love of your life.

 

Here’s our five top tips for getting the Springtime feeling into your dates. Enjoy!

 

1) Add more vegetables to your diet. Start adding in more coloured fruit and veg as the produce comes into season and boost your vitamin and mineral counts. This will result in healthier skin, hair and body, you’ll feel 100% better and you’ll be looking good too.

 

2) Clothing. Dump those dark, dingy tones that took you from work to bar during the rainy season and consign your coat to the back of your wardrobe. Invest in some lighter, brighter new colours, knits and prints to instantly lift your mood and make you feel more optimistic.

 

3) Have a laugh! Head so a comedy film, or have a great night out with a friend who makes you chuckle. Laughing is proven to boost your mood and make you more attractive to the opposite sex. All that smiling will get your confidence sky high and you’ll be ready for an onslaught of Spring dates in no time!

 

4) Plan a trip. Now is the time to take advantage of all the early bird offers out there and book a holiday with some friends. It gives you something to look forward to on days when you are not feeling your dating luck is going too well and if you do happen to be heading into a relationship come trip-time, the holiday will give you some time apart to enjoy reconnecting with friends and family.

 

5) Start exercising. Yes, I know it’s hard to get off the sofa when the evenings are still a little drab and dreary, but think this way: if you had started a new exercise regime in November, you’d be fighting fit now with all the pain behind you and all the gain ready to rock at those Springtime speed dating sessions! So start now and be strutting your stuff on the beach come Summer.

 

Dating advice can often be women-centric or else completely unrealistic because it is published in a men’s magazine which strives to maintain a sense of macho pride. The best people to ask about how you’re doing on a date are the women you are dating. Of course, actually asking the very women you are sitting across the table from at dinner is likely to look needy and a tad insecure, so we are here to help!

 

We have gathered some advice from women about what their recent male dates could have done to take the date from blah to huzzah!

 

Top 5 Tips About Dating for Guys

 

1) Manners are important. If you don’t want to drive her off immediately, be polite. That means tone down the swearing in conversation, pull back her chair for her at dinner, offer to pay the bill, hold the door for her, chew with your mouth closed. Yes, some women nowadays find this type of action an affront to their feminist values. Most will just be charmed that you were chivalrous enough to do it.

 

2) Listen. The point of dating is to find out about the other person and in so doing, determine whether you like them enough to have another date. It is a proven fact that people love to talk about themselves, but by showing interest in what your date has to say, you will actively be proving your worth as an attentive human being and a great date.

 

3) Relax. I know it’s hard, everyone experiences nerves on a date. However, think of something that calms you down and then channel that calm, confident person. Women don’t tend to like feeling like they are terrifying their date speechless, so if you are so nervous about your date that it is affecting your ability to talk, try practicing by putting yourself in situations where you will have to talk to strangers.

 

4) Make an effort. It’s nice to know that you value yourself, it makes you look like someone a women could value in turn. If you show up to your date in scruffy jeans, a hoodie and a baseball cap then it just shows that you value your own comfort above the need to make a nice first impression on your date. Either that, or you’re a college student.

 

5) Honesty. There is no need here to go on a full conversational leap through the ins and outs of your dating life for the last four years. If you feel that you are a part of a situation that could affect your potential relationship, such as going through divorce proceedings or that you have a child, never hide this fact. It’s part of the package deal and if they like you, they’ll let it go. If it’s too much of a deal breaker for your date, better for both of you that you find out sooner rather than later.

 

 

Typically, people who use online dating sites have one goal in common: They are all on the look out for a potential partner.

 

However, given that the overall aim of internet dating is to eventually meet a suitable prospect face to face, it seems strange that in order to first attract the attention of this possible life mate, they may, if not downright lie, stretch the truth a little bit to make themselves seem more attractive.

 

Not only does this set up a false pretense (not the best way to start off a trusting relationship) but you run the risk of attracting someone you will not actually match up with very well. If being a Marine Biologist is so important to the person you are trying to impress, they probably won’t be so interested anymore when they find out that you are in fact a Freelance Journalist.

 

Here are a few of the most common areas that people exaggerate when they write their internet dating profile:

 

Old Photo

One of the most common white lies is posting a profile picture that is maybe not an accurate representation of you, now.  It’s all very well to have been a competing gymnast when you were younger, but you have to accept it as part of your past. Posting a photo of you in a bendy pose, all lycra and legs, if you now find it tricky to touch your toes and can be more often found in jeans and a tee is not going to attract the attention of someone who will fit into your life now.

 

Height

Boosting or lowering your height by a few inches is a popular way to fit into a category of ‘More Attractive’. Stereotypically  women are attracted to tall men and men to dainty women. However, the very fact that you may one day intend to meet this person in the flesh means that this white lie will last only as long as you keep the relationship virtual. If they are honestly prepared to move onto another profile simply because you are an inch shorter or taller than their ideal, then they are clearly too picky and superficial.

 

Income

Lastly, boosting your income expectations can never end well. Remember how celebrities are always complaining that they never know if their admirers are truly interested in them, the person, or them, the persona with all the cash? Well, the same applies here. Why on earth would you profess to live in a manor house with a yearly income of £50,000 unless you can back it up? You don’t want to risk getting hurt by a gold-digger or being judged at a later date because you allowed the idea that birthdays would be filled with Tiffany boxes to continue.

 

The best bet? Be truthful on your online dating profile. By all means, dress up for your profile pic – but keep it recent and update it every few weeks. If you are 100% yourself, you are 100% more likely to meet the person who will love you for you.

 

Here we go;

 

Its that time of the year again. No sooner are we done with the holidays than the pinkest, soppiest, biggest card selling celebration of the year swings round again.

 

Do I sound like I dislike Valentine’s Day? A day that essentially, in name alone if no longer in action, celebrates the martyrdom of a saint and the romantic rambling of Chaucer?

 

Well, I have to be honest with you – I’m not  a fan. But you had guessed that already. What I am a fan of, is showing people you care.

 

The system of rules and requirements currently in place in many people’s mind on how to react to a date or a loved one (‘Wait three days before you text him back!’, ‘Never be free on short notice!’) seem to me to be specifically designed with one purpose in mind: to never allow two people the time or energy to actually fall for each other hook, line and sinker.

 

I say, this Valentine’s Day, drop the rulebook! Kick it out of the window for all I care and start saying what you mean, when you mean it.

 

If you have been making eyes at the girl who catches your bus every morning for months, but never even sat next to her – start sitting with her, chatting, smiling if nothing else.

 

If you’re with someone you don’t see yourself staying with long term, dump them. Sounds harsh, but you both need to move on with your lives. (No excuse to not do it nicely though, and face-to-face).

 

If you are hoping against hope that you will meet someone before Valentine’s Day and go on a romantic date – then make it happen! Don’t wait around for fate to pick someone off the street and deliver them wrapped in a bow to your doorstop – join Free and Single and start taking control of your life again.

 

You can make it happen – sign up now and see who you meet. Have a great Valentine’s Day everyone! 🙂

When we are little, we see that everything in the world comes in pairs. We hear stories about Princesses finding their Princes (or usually being found by them, up a tower or about to become dragon chow). We attend weddings where two people are joined together.

 

Later on in life, as teenagers, we might date a few people either seriously or not. The world seems full of possibilities and you don’t want to get ‘tied down’. You flirt with potentials, you make friends easily and you experience what life has to offer.

 

A bit older still and you start to value the idea of having another person in your life. Someone you can talk to, who makes you laugh and who will always be ready to share a cup of tea with at the end of a long, hard day. Someone who lights up when they see you, who holds your hand, who knows just what to get you for your birthday.

 

This person is shaped by the views of ‘togetherness’ that we are exposed to over our lives. Ladies expect a modern-day Prince Charming, with a feminist slant, a love of handiwork, chivalry and the ability to put the toilet seat down. Men expect a sexy conversationalist they can have  a good time with, who cooks a mean Sunday Roast and forgives the odd damp towel on the floor.

 

The thing is, you never know who will be perfect for you. On paper, a person can seem like the ultimate match made in heaven – but in practice the spark fizzles and never quite catches alight. The key to the ‘Search for a Soulmate’ is to, in fact, not search at all. Let it happen naturally.

 

The best thing to do is reach a place where you are happy with yourself (for after all, if you don’t love yourself, how can somebody else?) and where you can accept the possibility of another person entering into your life. Sure, do things to help it along – but your first goal should be in making yourself happy. Buy some new outfits or get a haircut – for your benefit. Try out some of those activities you have always thought about doing but never quite got around to – see which ones make you happy. Fill in an online dating profile, but don’t obsess over it ever waking minute.

 

You’ll be surprised. One day, you’ll get back from your fencing class, or pottery exhibition or just a night out with your friends and you’ll log on and see someone has winked at you. Someone nice. Someone who would like to meet you for lunch. Someone with whom you will share that spark.

Free and Single Online Dating helps you find the one!

Having signed-up to an online dating website, you must have some idea of exactly why you want to date. If, in thinking about it now, you suddenly realise that your aims for a relationship are somewhat vague, then take some time now to think through what you really want – it will really help you find success on Free and Single.

 

 

 

 

To help you along the way, we’ve come up with a few questions to ask yourself – go ahead and be a little introspective!

 

1. Do you want a partner because it seems like all your friends are paired up?

 

2. Are you looking for casual dates or are you searching for that special someone?

 

3.  If you met someone who seemed perfect for you in the next ten minutes, would you play coy or go for it?

 

4. Are you prepared to compromise on the life you have built up as a single person?

 

5. Are you ready for the change that another person in your life would bring?

 

6.  Are you dating because its what you are used to – should you consider some time out to just be you?

 

online dating to find love

 

Having decided your reasons for starting to date again and signing up for Free and Single’s internet dating service, you should make sure you fill out your profile to the best of your ability (include lots of your personality!) and put a great, recent photo of yourself up.

 

Free and Single internet dating for everyone

Here are some of our top tips for getting to know your potential dates online before you take the next step of meeting up on a date.

 

Ask Open-Ended Questions

Talking together should be an enjoyable exchange, a give and take with no one person doing all the talking. Try to make it easier for the conversation to flow by asking open-ended questions like; ‘Where would you like to go travelling?’ rather than; ‘Would you like to go to Rome?’

 

‘Listen’ and Respond Appropriately

If someone has gone to the time and effort to respond to you, they must be open to getting to know you and vice versa. However, be wary of responding to their message with a list of stuff about you – remember to reply and show interest n what they have said. Try to think about how you would respond if this was a face-to-face conversation instead of an email message.

 

Don’t Play Hard to Get – You Are On a Dating Site, so be open about what you are looking for

People who go online to find a date and then play hard to get are missing the point – you are on a dating website, clearly you are looking for a date! Be forthright and honest about what you are looking for and if you feel like playing hard to get to put someone off, just let them down gently.  No-one likes a player.

 

Show your Romantic Side

Feel free to share your romantic side with potential dates. It can be easier to talk using messages back and forth, but don’t say anything you wouldn’t be able to back-up in reality. After all, the aim of the game here is to meet someone online that you like enough to want to meet in person!

 

Be Polite

Always, always be polite. There is no excuse for rude comments, crudeness or crass language. First impressions count and you don’t want to be avoided by potential dates just because you have a potty mouth.

 

Get Each Other on the Phone so you can Work Out how you React to Each Other in Real Time

After you have exchanged one or two messages, consider exchanging numbers and talking together on the phone. This helps you to get comfortable with the idea of talking to them face-to-face, as well as letting you know if you are conversationally compatible without the aid of a computer.

 

Good Luck!

Make your online dating turn into a success story!