Looking for Love at First Sight Speed Dating in Istanbul

As soon as I exit the Taksim metro station and begin my walk to the event location, I begin to panic. Why am I doing this? I could be home on my couch watching Breaking Bad. While speed dating seemed to me a great idea in theory when I pitched the idea for this article, I am not so sure now. When I enter the restaurant, I feel instantly more at ease. It’s unassuming and I feel less freaked out in the dark – only multi-coloured bulbs strung across the low ceiling. At the bar, drink in hand, I begin chatting with another speed dater (the entire place has been rented out for the event), and we have a nice conversation. Yasemen Aydin, owner and operator of First Sight, warmly greets me, and shortly after that, she gathers the daters and begins to give instructions, in English and then Turkish.

We have been assigned name tags and numbers. Women will sit at a table with their number and men will move clockwise from one table to the next at approximately 4 minute intervals. We are all given pieces of paper on which we will record our “date’s” number and note any connection – romantic, friendship, or even business. At the end of the night, we will hand our sheets back to Yasemen, who will notify us the next day by email of any potential matches.

We all take our assigned seats and begin. After 4 minutes, Yasemen rings a little bell and I have just enough time to scribble down some notes before my next prospect arrives. We continue like this for about 40 minutes and then have a much needed 10-minute break. We start up again and 40 minutes later, it is finished. We are free to hang out and mingle, but I choose to leave. An introvert by nature, all of the talking has left me exhausted, yet socially stimulated and happy.

First Sight Speed Dating Istanbul was started by Yasemen Aydin, a native to Istanbul who while living in the US, discovered the concept of speed dating. “This was before social media and online dating was a thing,” she says, “I attended one event and being new to the country, decided this was a great way for me to meet new people and network.”

After eight years of networking at speed dating events in the US, she returned to Istanbul where she began First Sight. At first, she just invited friends and friends of friends, soon expanding to a more public audience. However, Yasemen prides herself on “hand-picking” participants. Every person selected must meet her strict criteria and usually comes referenced from a former dater. Since February 2017, 3 couples have married after meeting at her speed dating events and including her work in the US, she has seen over 30 marriages and 17 engagements. So, I guess it works.

Although she says speed dating has been hard to catch on in Istanbul, she has seen it progress a lot in a short time. Once people here experience how good it feels to socialize and connect with new people, they understand that speed dating is a “social experience” and is very different from sitting on your couch swiping Tinder.

Yasemen explains, “We need to connect with other people, we are humans!”

Honestly, I agree with her. We all rely so heavily on the internet to meet our social needs. Speed dating is a crash course in dating 101. It’s an opportunity for single people to actually talk face-to-face. You get a pretty good shot at meeting at least one person you like, or even making a good business connection. Just think how many hours it would take you to meet 20 pre-screened candidates personally in Istanbul, how many metro rides and traffic-jammed busses you would avoid, how much you would save on wine, dinners and coffee!  I say go for it.

Editor’s Note: Yabangee will be collaborating with First Sight Date for an evening of speed dating and game-fueled networking on Friday 8 December. Interested? Details here.