Well, perhaps not the ‘ideal’ date. That, of course, would involve seeing your date in person, for real, within touching distance and tangible, possibly with all-you-can-eat pizza and bottomless beer thrown in for good measure.
But dating in the time of COVID-19 requires a little plasticity if you’re ever going to see your sparring partner in the flesh, in the future. Small talk now revolves around ‘is your mic on?’ and ‘I can see up your nostrils’ rather than enquiries about what they do for a living or for fun.
However, date nights on video don’t have to be awkward and there are things that the two of you could do to jazz up your virtual evening together. With a PG sticker firmly slapped on, here are 7 tips for organising the IDEAL video call date.
PLAN A THEMED DINNER DATE
We think a successful virtual dinner date relies on structure and form. Leave the evening to meander, and it’s unlikely to go well. That’s the unfortunate nature of camera-to-camera dating; it’s tough to let it flow and it’s rarely going to feel natural.
Theming the date by a specific country’s cuisine is a surefire way to give the fun some foundation. How about a taco night (bench the sombreros and fake moustaches, though), complete with a Mariachi soundtrack and plenty of sauce and salsa? Or, perhaps a Greek themed date, featuring meze, moussaka and ouzo, with a Zoom background of a Greek Island scene and a little dimotiko (or perhaps Abba?) playing gently just below the conversation for good measure? Sounds idyllic to us.
HOST A COCKTAIL MAKING MASTERCLASS
For your next virtual date night, why not see who’s the better mixologist between the two of you (with only you as the judge, admittedly) by hosting a cocktail making competition? A marvellous way to lubricate the fun, there are events companies currently curating such evenings, complete with expert tasting notes and professional tips; Design My Night have detailed an extensive rundown of the best virtual cocktail making events available in the next few months; do check it out.
HAVE A TAKEAWAY NIGHT
If you don’t feel like cooking, why not bring the restaurant to you? After all, hospitality venues need all the help they can get right now with takeaway orders, and doing so will ensure you and your date enjoy the same food.
Depending on how far apart the pair of you are, you may not be able to get the food from the same restaurant, sure, but you could order from somewhere doing nationwide delivery if you’d like to share the experience. Who knows, you might find that you both have a penchant for a Mcdonald’s Double Cheeseburger – you can tell a lot about a person from their favourite takeaway.
Right now, some of our favourite takeaways from top restaurants who are serving the whole country include Dishoom, Hame by Adam Handling, Made in Olstead by chef Tommy Banks, Sabor en Case, and Elite at Home by the irrepressible chef Gary Usher.
BRING OUT THE WINE AND CHEESE
Speaking of tasty refreshments, you can’t go wrong with having a wine and cheese night for your next virtual date. Feeling sophisticated? Play the role of a wine connoisseur with tasting notes printed out for a lively discussion of nose, palate and long finishes which linger.
As for the cheese, a good board needs balance and variety; it can’t just be a load of heavy hitting blues with no respite or contrast; wincing as you struggle down another bite of something ‘extra mature’ isn’t a good look on a first date, after all.
As a general rule, a selection of five is ample, providing enough variety to keep things interesting. The great thing about a wine and cheese date is that you can have some fun in the lead up to your date, choosing and discussing your selection of cheeses and wine together. For extra points, you could drop some cheese inspired puns into your date…’you’re lookin’ so gouda today”, “this might sound cheesy, but I think you’re really grate” or, if the date goes really well, “we brie-long together”…that kinda thing.
Finally impress your date by sending some pictures of your cheese combinations with our 5 IDEAL tips on how to create an Instagram worthy cheeseboard.
WATCH A FILM TOGETHER
After all the food and drink you may just want to end the night by bringing the cinema to your virtual date. So pick a film, sit back, and make sure you press play at the same time as each other! We wouldn’t want to drop any spoilers, after all.
Netflix recently added a lockdown friendly feature (Netflix Party) which allows friends, family or even first daters to watch a film together in real time. Complete with a chat window, logging onto Netflix Party and hanging out virtually might even replicate the oh-so-traditional ‘first date at the pictures’ experience.
For you to be able to watch the film in unison, and to make it feel as much like a genuine, side-by-side experience as possible, designate one of you to play the flick on their screen, then share a live view of your entire screen with Call.Group, who offer secure online meeting services with a range of features; from screen sharing to YouTube sharing.
OUTSOURCE THE FUN
Yep, we know that there’s an assumption that the date should be obligatorily conducted via your favourite camera-to-camera tool, but do you really want to spend more time on a platform so associated with a year of buffering conference calls? Kinda kills the romance dead, don’t you think?
Instead of ‘hosting’ the day and potentially jettisoning the dynamic of romantic interaction, why not to defer to the experts? You could use The Events Company, and more specifically their Gameshow Mania event, which is a state-of-the-art, multi-media event several tiers above those hastily arranged quizzes you’ve been hosting on Zoom. No one wants another amateur quiz, that’s for sure.
Or, the Together Works, who are specialists in organising virtual teambuilding exercises and challenges, all with a 90 minute time limit, could give your date that much-needed focus beyond the usual ‘how’s your COVID-19 year been?’ chit chat. Just a thought.
ONLINE SPEED DATING
Who said this had to be a one-on-one, for-your–camera-only affair? For pure efficiency, in weeding out those unsuitable for you and compiling a shortlist of potential dates worthy of meeting in person, online speed dating couldn’t be more serviceable. Event Brite is currently detailing daily online speed dating events in London, as well as many other cities, besides. Go on, give it a go!
THE BOTTOM LINE
Whatever way you choose to do your video call date, the best thing you could ultimately do is just relax, enjoy it and go with the flow.
Finding you’re not getting many dates? Not to worry; there are some failsafe, surefire ways to get your profile noticed and to stand out in the crowded, confusing world of online dating. These are those; our 5 IDEAL tips on making your dating profile ping.