Online dating

A little bit of history to start with…

 

Did you know, a mere 84 years ago women were granted the right to vote in England? This strong push forward into gender equality continued a movement for equality between the sexes.

It allowed women more freedom to decide how they would spend their lives. It allowed them, in fact, the opportunity to marry for love instead of as a business contract between families.

 

Freedom to choose!

 

Women can now use this freedom to browse online dating profiles and get to know people they may never have otherwise met. Free and Single is an internet dating site that provides thousands upon thousands of interesting people who want to get to know each other with an outlet to explore, chat, ‘wink’ and ultimately, get dating.

 

We love to hear about your dates

 

We love to hear about your dates! From the hilarious, to the romantic, knowing how you get on after you have visited our dating website means the world to us. With your feedback (post it up in the comments!), we’re driving Free and Single to be the best it has ever been – finding you more great dates and interesting people than you could shake a stick at!

 

Finding ‘The One’ or starting a relationship

 

Some of our lucky daters even find ‘The One’ while browsing through Free and Single’s profiles. Check out some of our favourite success stories to inspire and ready you for getting your own dating profile sorted.

 

What are you waiting for? Get onto Free and Single and have the time of your life!

 

 

  1. Check there is nothing stuck in your teeth before you leave to meet them. First impressions count!
  2. Make sure your shoes can withstand walking – you never know where the night will take you.
  3. Have a look at this article on What to Wear on your First Date.
  4. If you absolutely have to wear those vertiginous heels for your first date, pack a few plasters into your bag.
  5. While you are packing your bag, stick in some tic tacs or other breath mint…just in case you feel a goodnight kiss could be in order later!
  6. Make sure you can comfortably move around in your outfit. Nothing worse than splitting your trousers as you sit down for dinner.
  7. Check out your dates online profile again before you head out the door for conversation tips and topics.
  8. I don’t advocate speedy getaways through the restaurant bathroom window. If you really can’t stand them, have an excuse ready so you can leave without them losing face.
  9. Make sure a few of your friends or family know where you’re going and when you plan to be back again – have a look at this article on Staying Safe when Online Dating.
  10. Guys, if it’s nippy grab an extra jumper before you leave. Then you can be all romantic and share your coat, without freezing your butt off for your gentlemanly behavior.
  11. Watch the news! Then if all else fails you can discuss the current world happenings with an understanding of what is actually going on.
  12. If you aren’t going for a meal, consider eating an hour or so before you leave to tide you over until you get back. Nothing worse than trying to feel the spark and only getting stomach grumblings instead.
  13. Maybe consider packing a cereal bar into that tiny bag of yours, just in case you start feeling peckish in the taxi on the way home.
  14. Charge your phone!
  15. Check out this dating guide into the mysterious workings of the female mind before you head off to meet your beautiful date.
  16. If you are really stressing out about your date, take 10 minutes to relax and try some meditative breathing techniques (we hear in through the nose and out through the mouth works wonders).
  17. Make sure you leave plenty of time to get ready. Failing that, sort everything out the day before so there are no last minute decisions to be made about what to wear or what to do.
  18. If you are in charge, have you sorted out reservations or bookings? Is everything good to go or do you have a few parts of the date left to sort out?
  19. Feeling out of it after a hard day? Take a quick shower or if you can manage it, book in a swift massage beforehand to chill out and get you back in form.
  20. Freaking out? Sit back with a cup of tea and browse our Top 10 Tips for the First Date article to get you ready for the evening ahead. Good luck!

 

I don’t think there is a single person out there who can sashay forth, confident and glorious to every date they go on.

 

At some point, you will feel nervous. This can be compounded by the need to feel you are not wasting your time and the hope that this could be the start of your very own fairy tale.

 

Here are the Free and Single Top Tips for the first date you go on (when you are secretly on a mission to find ‘The One’.)

 

 

1. Don’t Immediately Write Them Off

 

Take the pressure off immediately being struck by the love bug and search for things in common – look to whether you would hang out with this person as a friend, don’t write them off instantly because you had your head set on tall, dark and handsome because your heart may ultimately prefer blondes!

 

2. Seize the Day!

 

Live in the moment! Having plucked up the courage to actually set up an internet dating profile, ‘wink’, message and organise a date, don’t then spend the whole time fast-forwarding to a possible future scenario or thinking about tomorrow’s to-do list. Stay in the moment and really listen to the other person, get to know them and enjoy yourself.

 

3. Feel Good before you Go

 

Regardless of your principles on vanity, make an effort before your date. First off, it’s nice to know you care enough to want to make a good first impression. Knowing you look great and feel like the best you can be can really help your confidence and help you remain calm during the date. Once you have relaxed, you can concentrate on just being yourself and talking to the other person, instead of fussing about what you are wearing or why your hair frizzed up in the rain.

 

Check out our Ten Things to Remember on a First Date for some more advice!

 

Happy Hump Day! This Wednesday, I want to share some news to brighten up the fast approaching Bank Holiday (because you just can’t trust the weather these days).

 

This August Bank Holiday Weekend, we’re going to be running a number of special offers for all our lovely Free and Single members!

 

For those of you who fully intend to start the party the moment the clock hits 5pm this Friday afternoon, we’re running a FREE READ session between 6pm and 8pm (Which gives you just enough time to get home and grab some dinner before starting the search for a great date).

 

Now, I know all you Free and Single’s not based in the UK are feeling a little hard-done by the lack of public holidays in your neck of the woods, but, guess what? We’re so into the holiday vibe at the moment that we decided to give the FREE READ session to all members, in local time, whether they are in the UK or not! There is generosity for you.

 

The fun doesn’t end there however, so don’t worry if you already have plans for Friday night. On Saturday, we’ll be offering members who have been with us for a certain amount of time an absolutely free 3 day trial of the entire site!

 

Lastly, we know many of you online daters will have loads of stuff already planned for the long weekend but may be annoyed at missing out on these great offers to find perfect dates. So on Monday, we will be sending out a little surprise in your email – just because we love having you here.

 

So from all of us here at Free and Single, have a fantastic bank holiday, enjoy the offers and check out the last blog for some great date ideas.

 

What do you think is a sure fire way to get someone's attention and a date?

When you finally take the chance and message that special someone you have noticed on one of the Free and Single sites, you want to leave an impression – a good one, favourably. So what to write? This is the internet equivalent of walking up to someone in the street and asking them their name and number after all.

 

It can be tricky to think of something, after all you want them to respond and not instantly hit delete or get the wrong impression about you and your purpose in messaging. Not only that, you want to appear witty, understanding, clever and fun. Maybe you want to add in some information you gleaned from their profile in order to show how well you paid attention…but not so much it looks like you creepily stalked them and memorised all their likes and dislikes.

 

It’s a minefield of misinterpretation and innuendo. What to say, what to do, not to mention how to keep up your chilled, confident and comedic genius should they actually reply – then you will have to write a second message. What if it goes on from there? You might find yourself desperately rehearsing lines the night before your first date, so as to appear the same nonchalantly witty person they glimpsed in the first message. Oh god. What if you get married and they finally work out that the smooth, hilarious, considerate you was all an elaborate ruse?!

 

Okay. Calm down. Breathe. It is the same advice you always hear from me – be yourself. The little bad dream scenario you just had? It wouldn’t occur if you just started out being yourself anyway. Sure, take a little time to think over a good opening message, but don’t have a panic attack about it – it won’t define your life, whether you get together or not.

 

Think about what you want to happen and engineer your message accordingly:

  • Do you just want a reply?
  • Do you want to work towards a skype or telephone conversation?
  • Maybe you are really convinced this could be something and you want to try for a face to face first date straight away?
  • Think through the ideal repercussions of your message and write.
  • Keep it to the point, don’t start rambling.
  • Say what you feel.

Unlike randomly asking someone out in the street, at least online if it all goes horribly wrong and they blank your message you can recover in your own time and move on, no hurt, no foul. It could be embarrassing, but at the end of the day – no-one else saw. You’re fine. You survive to write another message, another day.

Good luck!

Once upon a time, a young woman who liked jellybeans, sundresses and travelling decided she wanted to get back in the dating game. She was a little apprehensive of just jumping straight back in after a long relationship had turned sour and a friend recommended FreeAndSingle.

 

Nervously, she created a profile and started browsing through other peoples. Then came the time to reply to the first message. Flattered and pleased by the message (from an attractive man who liked dinosaurs, curry and action movies) she replied and they started talking.

 

After a week of excitedly checking her Free and Single mailbox, they decided to try a phone conversation. They didn’t stop talking until 1am and they both had work the next day!

 

This success and the chemistry they felt led them to arrange an actual date. With butterflies in their stomachs, new outfits and friends filling their ears with tips and advice they both set off to Leeds Castle in Kent for a trip around the grounds and high tea in the café.

 

Over scones, tea and jam they felt a connection, something worth pursuing. More dates were arranged, and three years later they remain happily together.

 

Have you had success with online dating? Has Free and Single given you a new lease of life in some way? I want to know if you have rediscovered a love of dating, thrown yourself into the arena for the first time or if you are just adding online dating to your repertoire of meeting people?

 

Here at FreeAndSingle, we are really interested in finding out about those lucky individuals who have found someone special using our website. Not just because it looks good for us either – we really believe that, at the end of the day, it’s better to have someone to connect with on some level. That’s just a basic human instinct, right?

 

So, if you have a success story you wouldn’t mind sharing…would you let me know? I would love to interview some of you to find out your tips for internet dating, or see a video of your favourite date?

 

I’m Caroline and you can find me on Twitter and Facebook – I’d love to connect with you and find out more about your dating experiences! I’m always on the look out for dating hints, awesome FreeAndSingle profiles to feature, funny dating videos and recipes that would be perfect to make for dinner a deux, not to mention good ideas for interesting dates!

LONDON

Get yer jim jams on and head to 40 Winks on Mile End road for some seriously saucy bedtime stories. Celebrate Valentine’s with stories of ‘Love, Lust and Longing’ and chuckle at everyone in their sleeping gear.

 

MANCHESTER

Pop along to Barburrito on Piccadilly Gardens for dinner and take turns creating burritos for each other. I’d say go with the hot sauce every time, but you might want to check allergies before you go piling peanuts on top of everything.

 

BRIGHTON

What is better than a trip to the Pier to inspire teenage memories of dates gone by? Compare notes with your date about terrible teenage mishaps while zooming backwards on a G-force ride. Steady your stomachs after with fish and chips on the beach – preferably, in the rain.

 

 

EDINBURGH

If you fancy a bit of an electrical-speakeasy vibe, meet your date at Cabaret Voltaire on Blair Street on the 13th, then spend VDay itself dissecting every little bit of the indie-folk-rock band, Chasing Owls.

 

DUBLIN

Enjoy a sophisticated teatime treat at the Cake Cafe on Camden Street, with a plate of delightful home baked cake and a glass of bubbles. From your vantage point, you’ll be able watch all the men dashing around looking terrified, trying to remember whether their girlfriends and wives said they liked getting chocolate as a present.

 

BIRMINGHAM

Grab your date and head to the Bullring, put aside £10 each and challenge yourselves to find the worst Valentine’s themed item in the place. You have 30 minutes to search, then meet up for coffee, exchanging your ‘gifts’ and sharing the tales of your adventure.

 

EXETER

Treat your date to an Exeter Red Coat Guided Tour exploring the Ghosts and Legends of the city. Wrap up warm for the tour then make up for all the calories lost in the adrenaline of being in the city at night surrounded by scary stories by chowing down on some hot street food like pancakes or noodles.

 

CANTERBURY

Get yourself and your date to the brand new Marlowe Theatre for a DJ Workshop and spend the day mixing tunes and premièring your beat at the end of the day. Once you have finished storming the charts you can stroll down the High Street and enjoy any number of delicious pubs and restaurants – check down the side alleys for the really good stuff.

 

CAMBRIDGE

Feeling romantic? Take your date to the shores of the River Cam and hire a punt. Languidly float through the waters cuddled up together under a blanket, with a thermos of soup and some fresh bakery bread. While roaming the river, you can discuss such serious topics as the meaning of life, where babies come from and why X-Factor is still going for another series.

 

LIVERPOOL

Pop out of the city towards the Wirral and spend the day surveying the farmshops and noshing down on as many free samples as you can get your sticky mitts on. Take turns delving into conversation with the vendors and decide on choice foodstuffs to take home and picnic on later.

 

 

 

That most hackneyed of days is upon us again. Valentine’s Day, where we randomly celebrate the martyrdom of St Valentine, who was stoned, beaten and beheaded for marrying Christian couples at a time when Christianity was most definitely bad for your life expectancy.

 

Whether you find yourself single, in a relationship or somewhere in-between, February 14th has always had a mysterious hold over people. The onset of the presents and proclamations of love ideology has merely opened the doors to feeling rather forced the have a romantic day mid-way through the shortest month of the year.

 

Well, be you one of those who applaud or disregard V’Day, the point remains moot – what to do? Do you head out to dinner à deux with your sweetie, smug in the knowledge that you have a ‘special someone’ to share food with? Do you laugh in the face of tradition, grab your mates and go out on the pull? Do you attempt to ignore the entire thing only to find yourself dripping ice cream on the duvet at 2am while watching Sex and the City?

 

Here’s the thing – Valentine’s Day isn’t going anywhere. It makes too much money for the card companies, heck, it could single-handedly restore the economy if more people felt a little love this year. So, for once, how about waiving the disgruntled arguments about ‘cheap tack’ and how roses are rubbish anyway? Why not grab someone, anyone – be they mates, mums, crushes, acquaintances or random strangers and head out on a date? I’m not talking mushy, I’m talking using the day for your own ends and having an experience to remember.

 

In the hope that you will take my sage advice to heart, I’m including in my next post a little go-to list of all the places I would go Valentine’s Day if I could but replicate myself to be in more than one place at once.

 

However, should that list fail you and you actually live in the official middle of nowhere, may I suggest grabbing the first 5 people in your Facebook Timeline and getting them all over for a good dinner, some dancing and a few naff party games – remember the one where you had to dress up and complete an obstacle course? Rename it ‘Get Date Ready’ and come up with the most horrific looks you can for each other. Send us some pictures when you’re done!