So you’ve bitten the love bullet and you decided you’re ready to throw yourself heart first into dating game. But what if you haven’t been on a first date forever? If your previous relationship’s lasted a lifetime of getting comfortable and now the idea of spending time trying to get to know someone new, whilst being at your most self conscious, terrifies you?

Never fear! I’m in the same boat as you. So let’s get through this together and try these five tips to get yourself first date prepped and feeling fabulous.

Be the best version of you

I think the first stage to getting date ready is making yourself feel good about you. So do what you need to do! Whether that is get your hair done, painting your nails or simply selecting your favourite outfit. There is no point in putting yourself out there if the person that is stepping out is not 100% you. So make yourself look and feel fabulous and you’ll radiate fabulousness too!

You are worth getting to know

The most anticipated question to be asked is ‘So tell me about yourself.’ If you are like me, my brain goes into panic mode as I try and flick through my most interesting assets. What if they think I’m boring? Or what if they aren’t interested in anything that I am and we head down a road of awkward silence?

Stop and think. These facts don’t have to be anything life changing. This person just wants to see if your interests match theirs. And so what if your favourite thing to do is eat ice cream and watch movies? Surely you need to share that to find out if the person you’re sitting opposite is into that too.

Maybe Italian and white isn’t for the best

The last date I went on, I decided to order guacamole and chips as a starter. Note to self for the future, chips are a hard shape to fit into ones mouth and it really hurts when paprika flicks into your eye as you bite one. Safe to say, that guy is no longer in contact. No surprise. After all, a twitching sneezing mess isn’t the best version of me (see I’m learning from tip one.)

Of course it’s important to be yourself and order whatever you like, but if you seem to spill more down your front than what reaches your mouth most days, maybe opt for a simple thing to eat. Just to save you from the embarrassment.

Learn to laugh at yourself

If you do end up spilling your soup down your dress or getting food stuck in your teeth, don’t head for the door. One of the most endearing characteristics is to be able to brush off embarrassment and take the mick out of yourself.

So what if you’re not perfect! Who is? It certainly would be a pretty boring world if we all were!

You can’t love everyone

Finding someone you want to spend more time with is hard. We are not living in a Disney movie. So if you’re finding yourself on a first date roundabout of meeting someone new over and over and never finding a spark, don’t panic. And more importantly, don’t settle. They say love is a journey… and when has a worthy journey ever been easy? There is someone out there for everyone and kissing a few frogs in your search just means you have some interesting and cringe worthy dating stories to share.

Image: flickr