Dinner Club#1: Random sweet nothings
Hello Dinner Club fam,
Before I say anything, let me just confess that I am a hopeless romantic and a sucker for small joys. You will find me getting excited before, during and after every date whether the people on the date enjoyed it as much or not. So, you decide if you want to take this with a pinch of salt, or a bucket.
About Thursday night …
We had 3 fabulous dates. I mean, look at this…
People had no clue what to expect, they were unarmed, all guard down, just being themselves and going with the flow. I shamelessly pried for the first couple of minutes, and oh boy, it felt so bloody nice. I wanted to be single again. I couldn’t stop blushing. Everyone was well dressed and looking so nice. Most of them had pointless, but pleasant conversations. I mean, what could you possibly do in 30mins, right?
Here’s what people had to say about their first dates on Dinner Club:
“Was a fun conversation!”
“I never had to worry about what to say next.”
“Wish we had more time.”
Learnings
It’s awesome that I get to play host, and let people into the call both at once which means you don’t get to find out who waited for whom.
Received mixed feedback about the duration of the date (30min) - some felt that it should be for longer as they were only beginning to warm up 20min in, while others felt they’d much rather end the first date wanting more. I’m going to side with the latter, as it also helps limit the downside of a bad first date.
I am not going to reveal your ratings or tell you whether your date wanted to see you again. I’ll only merely set you up on a second date out of the blue at some point if both of you expressed an interested to see each other again. This way, there’s no heartbreak or awkwardness on either side.
Scheduling dates is a bitch, and I obviously haven’t got it right. For now, I am opening up two additional days a week to accommodate more dates. But soon enough, I’ll do this in a less painful manner. Suggestions are welcome.
Cool Date Ideas
One of my favourite couples sent me this so I could share it with you and assure you that you’re in reasonably good hands:
"Priyanka made our first date easy and less awkward by setting up a badminton date (because of our interest in sports). It was a pleasant first meet, not like the usual stereotypical ones that come with unrealistic expectations"
You could do the stereotypical “what do you do” and “how are we connected” type of conversations, but pointless banal conversations about random nothings are the sweetest. When I make an introduction, sometimes, I share personalised questions you could ask each other. There’s no pressure to follow the cue, but if you ever try it, I’d love to know how it worked for you.
Humans of Dinner Club
As promised, I’ll pick a line from your forms each week that made me smile:
“I was social distancing before it became mandatory.”
What’s up next week
I’ve three more dates lined up, but I think I’ll schedule a couple of more because I can’t wait for all of you to experience this sooner. So, some of you will have to bear with me requesting your availability at ungodly times (non-Thursdays).
If you’d like to invite your friends to dinner club, share a link to the landing page…
More from Dinner Club
Sharing things I’ve read, watched, listened to or written/ said myself.
P.S. - On my first and only (semi) blind date, I spoke about Cinthol soap and Vicco Vajradanti and oh boy, it was a lot of fun. But I never met that guy again. Well, at least not on purpose, and not for 11 years after that date. So, may be you shouldn’t listen to me?