Finding your perfect match isn’t always easy, even with the many dating apps out there. A speed dating event could hold the answer for singles looking to meet a special person — without the help of social media.
Organising a speed dating event can be fun and rewarding, as well as a great way to get your brand or venue in front of more people. Here, we’ll teach you how to organise your own speed dating event, how to market it and 30 questions that you can ask participants.
Table of contents
How do speed dating events work in the UK?
30 creative speed dating questions
What is speed dating?
Speed dating is a fun way to meet possible love interests, organised in a quick-fire format. It’s usually held in a bar or restaurant, and attendees book their space in advance, ensuring the perfect ratio of potential matches in the room.
Speed dating also helps alleviate any nerves for those reentering the dating game; they can take the pressure off having to maintain a conversation with one person all evening. Matches are typically revealed after the event, minimising the chance of any disappointment and keeping the event light-hearted.
Social skills expert Jon Bradshaw suggests dating in real life is a more natural and self-satisfactory way to meet prospective partners. And, according to research by Tylt, speed dating’s popularity is on the rise: 84% of millennials would rather find love in real life than online — so it’s the perfect time to organise an IRL dating event attendees will love.
If you’re looking to organise a speed dating event, here’s some guidance to ensure your event is a success.
How do speed dating events work in the UK?
It’s a bit like musical chairs. Tables are usually arranged in a line or circle, and attendees move from seat to seat to meet their dates for the night — each encounter usually lasting between two and five minutes (did you know, according to a study by the BBC, that it takes most people between 90 seconds and four minutes to decide if they find someone attractive?)
Here are some simple tips to help you pin down the fundamentals for a speed dating event in the UK.
- Attendees embark on several quick-fire encounters, and a bell or buzzer rings when each timed date has come to an end
- Participants progress from one table to the next until everyone has had a chance to meet each other
- Attendees usually register ahead of time to ensure there’s an even number of potential partners
There are many types of speed dating events: those for singles looking for long-term relationships, ones for working professionals, or religion-specific options. Browse Eventbrite’s platform to get a sense of the full scope of UK speed dating events.
Common rules of speed dating
If you’re organising a speed dating event, be clear about who the event is for. Provide a suggested age range or sexual orientation, so the right audience ends up in the room. Once all the dates have taken place, participants can select the people they’d like to meet again (either confidentially on the night via a form or later online).
If two speed daters have expressed a mutual interest in each other, they receive each other’s email addresses or phone numbers. Make sure you have consent to share people’s personal information and reassure attendees that their details will only be shared with their matches.
A checklist of rules is also a great way to ensure guests know what’s expected of them on the night. Below are some ideas you might want to suggest:
- Be on time
- Follow the rules of the event
- Be present – switch off your phone or put it on aeroplane mode
- Be respectful – even if you aren’t interested in the person, be kind
- Don’t put pressure on people to say they’ll match with you
- Dress up for the occasion – but make sure you feel comfortable
- Speak up if someone has said something offensive or behaved inappropriately
- Try to ask creative questions
- Think of what you might want to tell people about yourself
- Have fun – everyone’s in the room for the same reason, so relax!
How long do speed dating events last?
While the dates might be short and sweet at these types of events, you don’t want guests to feel like the whole evening is rushed. Careful planning will help you to facilitate smooth transitions between different parts of the night, allowing your guests to have a much better experience. See the suggestions below to help you pull this off:
- Think about how long you want to give participants to get to know each other – the length of each speed date will vary depending on the organiser, although between two and five minutes is normal
- Multiply the number of minutes by the number of dates that will take place
- Add on time at the start for everyone to arrive and take their places
- Add on time at the end for people to think about who they might like to see again
Hosting a speed dating event
Organising a speed dating event requires bringing together lots of elements. A good first step is thinking about where you want to host the event.
Secure a venue
Restaurants and bars work well, as do other sociable spaces. Think coffee shops, student unions, and co-working hubs. Your event could introduce a large number of potential new customers to the venue; they’ll be spending money on drinks and snacks, so use this as bargaining power to negotiate a discount on the hire cost or even secure a venue for free.
Setting up the venue
There are necessary practical arrangements to consider in the planning of your event. These simple suggestions will help ensure your set-up lets your event flow and guests feel like they’re in safe hands.
- Arrange tables and chairs in a row or a circle so people know where to move at the end of each date.
- Have somewhere at the entrance where people can register their arrival and pick up a name badge. Don’t forget to provide a list of the people they’ll meet so they can make notes and identify those they would like to see again.
- Welcome everyone to the event, and make an effort to put attendees at ease as you explain the rules. Everyone should get the same amount of time with each other, so explain the event’s format before it kicks off.
Marketing a speed dating event
As soon as you have a date and a venue locked in, promote the event to ensure people have time to register and make plans to attend. Here are some ideas to help you spread the word about your event:
- Publicise the event via your social media channels and website, as well as email.
- If you’ve held similar events, see if attendees would be willing to provide testimonials. Word-of-mouth and referral marketing can be effective, especially when it comes to promoting an event that people might feel a little nervous about attending.
- Ask the venue to support your marketing efforts by telling their online followers about it and putting up posters.
What to charge for a speed dating event?
Charging a registration fee will help cover costs – check out other speed dating events in your local area to see what they’re charging, as this will help you price your tickets. Find out if the venue is willing to offer discounted drinks or ask whether you could set up your own bar as an additional source of revenue. A complimentary drink on arrival could be a nice incentive to secure early-bird bookings if you have your own venue.
30 creative speed dating questions
According to research, people are between 1.5 to 2.5 times more likely to go on dates with people that seem to be popular at speed dating events. The best way to stand out? Ask the right questions.
From desert island reads to lottery win spending, there is a range of fun icebreakers and conversation starters attendees can use at your speed dating event to make an excellent first impression. According to a 1997 study by psychologist Arthur Aron, people feel more closely bonded when they ask each other intimate questions — so encourage guests to get creative.
Need a bit of inspiration? Here are 30 creative speed dating questions to get things started.
- Who would play you in the movie of your life?
- If you could bring one book/film/record to a desert island, what would it be and why?
- What’s your favourite comfort film?
- If you could live anywhere in the world for a year, where would pick and why?
- What’s the strangest dream you’ve ever had?
- How would you spend your ideal Sunday?
- If you travel in time to visit any period of history, which would you pick?
- What’s the most spontaneous thing you’ve ever done — and would you do it again?
- If you won the lottery tomorrow, what would you spend it on?
- What’s your go-to karaoke song?
- If you found out you only had a year to live, what would you do with your time?
- When you were a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?
- Do you prefer to voice note or text, and why?
- What’s the most romantic scene you’ve ever seen in a movie?
- Do you think your teenage self would be happy with your life as it is now?
- Would you rather live in a remote cabin in the woods for a year, or in a cottage alone by the sea?
- What would you dream home look like inside?
- If you were trapped in a lift with one person, who would you choose to be trapped with?
- What’s your love language?
- If you had to eat one breakfast for the rest of your life, what would it be?
- If you could travel back in time to see any band live, who would you pick?
- What’s top of your bucket list?
- If you could have one superpower, what would it be?
- Would you rather open your own bar or your own restaurant?
- You can only have one of these in your home — a walk-in wardrobe, a swimming pool, or a library — which do you pick?
- When do you feel your happiest?
- If you retired tomorrow, what would you do?
- If you had to eat one cuisine for the rest of the year, what would it be?
- What’s your top dream travel destination?
- If you could live inside the world of any book or movie, which would you pick and why?
Now that you know how to organise your own speed dating event, use a tool like Eventbrite to get the word out.
Boost your speed dating event’s success with Eventbrite’s marketing platform for seamless event management. Streamline registrations, manage attendee information, and maximize event visibility, all while delivering an exceptional experience for participants. Try Eventbrite today and revolutionize your speed dating events!
