A first date should be an exciting and enjoyable experience, but more often than not it is nerve wracking! Here are a few tips to help you survive, and hopefully go on to that all important second date!

 

  1. Resist the temptation to wear brand new clothes on a first date. Whatever you wear is “new” to your date anyway. If you go out in shoes that pinch, a shirt that keeps coming untucked or pants that cut you in half you’re not going to enjoy yourself. Worse still, you risk a date that ends in the emergency room because you twisted your ankle in unfamiliar shoes. Wearing comfortable tried and true clothes will help you to feel more relaxed.
  2. Don’t try too hard. If you exaggerate, trying to make a great first impression, you’re going to have to spend future dates undoing the mess you’ve made. More lies are told at the beginning of new relationships than at any other time. Exaggerations and “white lies” are still lies – don’t go there.
  3. Turn off your cell phone. If you have children, give them another emergency contact number for the night. It is OK to schedule time to check your messages at some point in the evening, but a constantly ringing phone conveys the message you’re just not that interested in your date.
  4. The one who suggested the date is the one who should pay. If you’re the guest, don’t order the most expensive thing on the menu. It won’t make you look sophisticated, it will just make you seem greedy and selfish.
  5. Moderate drinking is fine, but a drunken date is really, really off putting. It’s easy to over indulge if someone constantly tops up your glass before you’re finished. Make sure you keep track of how much you’ve really had. If you rely on alcohol to relax you, then maybe you should reconsider whether you are ready to date at this time. 

Just remember this and you can’t go too far wrong:

 

Your date is as nervous as you are. Trust me on this one! No matter how cool they look on the outside, they are jelly on the inside. Remembering this will help you to relax a bit and enjoy the night. Have fun!