Dating & Relationships

And it’s not looks!

Of course attraction is important and especially with online dating it can be easy to filter by photos and first date first impressions as an initial guide, but when it comes to long-lasting love, beauty is certainly more than skin deep. Here are 5 things to look out for when searching, chatting and dating, in the quest to find someone with whom you can spend the rest of your life:

I used to try my hardest not to hurt anyone in dating. I’d be very careful not to be too friendly to guys I wasn’t interested in. I’d be wary of being too friendly to guys I was interested in, because what if I got to know them better and then found out I didn’t actually like them that much? Wasn’t that leading them on? Needless to say, this is not a productive dating strategy. But more than that, it’s probably not meant to be how we’re supposed to relate to other human beings at all.

Valentine’s Day is a special day for lonely hearts to express their interest in someone, and for couples to celebrate their love. Most of us enjoy an excuse for a bit of romance. But what if you’re in the early stages of a relationship, or you’ve only been on a few dates and don’t yet know where it’s going? Awkward.

I remember my first date with my (now) husband very clearly. We had been chatting online for a couple of weeks and decided it was time to meet up. I suggested dinner but he preferred lunchtime drinks. We ended up having a memorable lunch followed by coffee.

If you’re planning to meet up with someone soon, here are some tips to make sure that first date goes as smoothly as possible.

While older generations may at times be mystified by the modern methods of dating and some say it was more straightforward in the past, advances in technology have provided us with quite literally a world of opportunities that weren’t available in the days of yore. Here are some of the ways the internet and smart devices have improved and continue to improve the experience, making it safer, simpler and more accessible than ever…

Last night my husband and I watched Shrek, again. I think we’ve seen it every year since we’re together and we both have seen it a few more times before. So let’s say it was the seventh time I’ve seen it but again I sang the opening song loudly, and again I laughed at Shrek’s ‘Ogres are like onions. Onions have layers, you know’. And at Donkey’s famous words ‘I think I need a hug…’ And again I awed over the final love declaration in the end. But it isn’t your regular Hollywood happily ever after romcom.

Are you new to online dating, and wondering how to get the most from it? Or perhaps you’ve been using a dating website for a while but you’re not having much success and you need to kickstart your approach? Here are our top five new year dating resolutions to get you on the road to love…

Christmas, for many of us, is a mixed bag. There’s tinsel, sparkle, Christmas parties and Ho, ho, ho. But there can be disappointment, loneliness, grief and loss too.