I love you, most ardently...
Dating in doorways: A National Trust Singles Night
*Disclaimer- This post is strictly a university degree project and is entirely hypothetical. None of the brands and companies named are actually involved. It is an idea stemming from a passion and interest. Thankyou.*
“One word from you will silence me forever.”
Obtaining affection in its purest form in the modern world seems near impossible to many romantics. The florid desire for a persons returned love is viewed as difficult. Seniors will recount tales of romantic meetings that encapsulate every ear.
Dating applications and social media have put an invisible barrier on genuine connections between people, the misconstrued intentions behind what they’re searching for leads to unwanted heartache and further doubt in love.
The online world has stunted the idea that people can create perfect relationships from stumbling across each other in more common place such as a pub or cafe. Hiding behind a mobile phone screen gives people a boost in confidence that may be false in comparison to their genuine character.
Television and film creates a particular feeling around openhearted love and it being completely unattainable when in reality every human has full potential to recreate this love for the right person.
The romantic genre is stereotypically aimed towards females creating a parallel universe of love. Period dramas show a time in history where love was gained in a multitude of ways such as letters, tokens of affection, large gestures, literature and poetry.
“I have been used to consider poetry as the food of love”.
These are all things that have been lost to the modern world. The closest thing to this in our lifetime would be a mixtape made around the millennia or a playlist on Spotify in the present day for a partner or loved one.
This is where the idea was formed that creating an in person dating event would change peoples approach to finding love and passion by being introduced to it in an entirely different environment. The National Trust have been approached by the brand “Bored of Dating Apps” in the hopes to hold a dating event at one of their locations where singles can meet in a more romantic way at one of their planned sober socials. It would be a relaxing evening where visitors can explore sections of the grounds and house to then be encouraged to meet prospecting partners in a different way. They felt that your surroundings add to the magic of meeting someone for the first time, especially offline. This event is all about general attraction, understanding personality and finding things in common with possibly the most unlikely of people.
The event takes the form of speed dating but at a much slower pace, the surroundings would be accompanied by prompts to encourage people to connect and indulge in conversations but there would be no force to end conversations and move on to the next person.
This would benefit many people as not only does it allow people to find a connection with a significant other but possibly friendships with like minded people aswell. 91% of people would prefer to meet offline than online. This idea that people would prefer meeting offline shows there is the market for such events singles just need the opportunity and possible encouragement that can ignite a spark between one another.
This would be a great opportunity with The National Trust as the company has also then been opened up to a wider group of people who can help support the charity to keep the whimsical charm and history across our four nations. The hopes that people form a connection in one of their beautiful locations would then encourage them to return for anniversaries or special occasions maybe then becoming members and starting traditions of their own.
The inspiration for this event is the architectural beauty of the properties owned by the National Trust aswell as literature that inspired film, television and period dramas such as Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. These novels spark wonderous feelings of love and romance that should be shared by all. Having a stripped back dating event will allow people to enjoy these more quirky interests with others and hopefully find their own form of love in and around them.
*Disclaimer- This post is strictly a university degree project and is entirely hypothetical. None of the brands and companies named are actually involved. It is an idea stemming from a passion and interest. Thankyou.*