Date night ideas from the experts - our users!

The perfect date night requires the perfect partner. Of course, what makes someone ‘perfect’ is a matter of personal taste. That’s why we put so much effort into the EliteSingles matchmaking process – it’s not just about connecting our members but about creating truly like-minded connections.

If you are looking for someone who is not just perfect but perfect-for-you then join EliteSingles today!

As well as connecting like-minded members, we love finding out what EliteSingles users think about life, dating and everything in between! In 2014 alone, our surveys have discovered how our members feel about mixing politics and romance, whether or not you can have love without sex and how your bank balance can affect your love life. All in all, our surveys have given us some pretty interesting insights into what makes our users tick – including the steps necessary to have the perfect EliteSingles date night!

The big question: coffee or dinner?

Imagine a promising profile has caught your eye. The owner likes the look of your profile too and, soon, the two of you are exchanging some wonderful messages. Before too long it will be time to take that online communication offline – but now comes the tricky part. Where on earth are you going to take them?

According to our EliteSingles ‘First Date‘ survey (2013), your ideal destination might just depend on the gender of the person you are trying to impress. Our female members, for instance, were most drawn to a coffee date, with nearly 61% picking this as their perfect location. One even expressed her preference for coffee this way: ‘’who thinks about eating on the first date?’’

As it turns out, those thinking about eating would be the EliteSingles men! 45% picked a meal out as their idea of a truly romantic evening, making it the number one pick for male survey respondents. So, with men and women thus divided, which date idea should win out? The answer, perhaps, is both.

For a first meeting, coffee is a fantastic choice. It offers everything that you need to feel at ease, such as a public setting and the option of meeting during the day. In addition, a good café will always feel convivial, which is an ideal situation for settling nerves. Yet, what a coffee-date can lack is the romance factor, so, for a first date, the lads just might be right! If you are after a bona fide, romantic date night then you are best off with dinner.

The ultimate date night dinner

Of course, if you do decide on a dinner, then that raises a whole new set of questions. Do you opt for classic romance and pick a French restaurant? Or perhaps tapas (they are made for sharing, after all!). Indian food is always a good choice to spice things up, but then so is Mexican, and Thai – in fact, with so many wonderful restaurants in Ireland, the date ideas are endless.

To narrow down the options, we asked our members for help. In our Date Night Dinner survey (2014), we set out to discover what the definitive romantic cuisine might be and found that there was a runaway favourite: Italian food. Indeed, just like in Lady and the Tramp, 33% of our members feel that it is easiest to fall in love over pasta, meatballs and wine (or perhaps it’s the pizza pie that’s amore?).

Conversation clangers to avoid

So you’ve ordered the ravioli, your date is having the gnocchi and the Chianti is flowing. It seems you’ve knocked the venue and the menu out of the park – so far, so good, right? Actually, to ensure the perfect date night, you need just one more thing: some cracking conversation.

READ MORE: Keep conversation flowing with our top ten date questions! See here!

Knowing what to say to keep the conversation lively is a valuable skill and indeed, however, to really ace the date, it is also important to know what conversation topics to avoid. In our Love and Politics survey (2014), we uncovered some interesting insights about what conversation subjects our members consider taboo, at least during the early days of dating. As it turns out, there is one topic that our members consider the ultimate conversational no-no – the subject of ex-partners. In fact 40% of our members chose ‘’past relationships’’ as the one subject best avoided. That makes it more of a taboo topic than money (14%), sexuality (11%), marriage (10%), politics (10%) and religion (8%). In other words, if you want someone to be your new squeeze, don’t talk about your old one! It’s that simple.

Now you know where to go and what to say when you next meet someone fantastic. Doesn’t that mean it’s time to join the 51% of EliteSingles members who feel nothing but excitement when there’s a date night on the horizon? Join us today.

EliteSingles editorial, December 2014.

If you have any fantastic date night ideas, let us know in the comments below or email us at [email protected]

Sources:

All statistics based on data from several EliteSingles members surveys, including participants from Ireland, the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa. Totals may not equal 100% due to rounding

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