I think I’ve now reached that stage in live where I know what makes a good couple. I’ve certainly personally made enough mistakes to now know what doesn’t make one! It does mean though that I feel more qualified than ever to play matchmaker.
In my opinion, one of the most important things for a couple to work is an ability to problem solve together. When life throws you curved balls you want a partner that you can work with, rather than against, to find solutions and a way forwards, together.
I’m therefore thinking that a mandatory part of any new couple getting together should be some sort of team building weekend. I’m not just thinking of the outward bound style corporate away days of old, but they may too work!
Challenges can come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Everything from cooking a meal together to building flat pack furniture. If you can survive those things with a smile, and are still flirting with each other at the end, then you’re on to a winner.
It’s these ideas that I’d like to incorporate into a fun filled weekend date for couples that I think should be together. Like a matchmaker practical test. Almost like a blind date where you send friends on it with someone you think they should be set up with, and they get to test drive all that problem solving abilities together.
It could be that in the daytime they have to do things like a scavenger hunt and a spot of map reading, possibly build a raft to get across a river, have to escape aim escape room or even some abseiling where they need to rely on each other to belay. All real tests in team work.
After some relaxation time together – maybe in a nice spa or similar – it could be time for an evening meal cooking challenge. Where they’re given ingredients and a recipe and left to work together to create a meal that they can enjoy together. They may both be amazing chefs who fight for superiority in the kitchen, or instead they may both be the sort of people who burn toast. In a way it doesn’t matter. It’s how they deal with the challenge that is far more important. Can they work together? Do they enjoy doing so?
Assuming day one hasn’t thrown up any problems for the couple, the second day would probably start off with something much more leisurely. Maybe a jigsaw puzzle that they need to complete. A calm way to ease themselves into the day before the maim event in the afternoon. The flat pack challenge.
Flat pack furniture can be a challenge for any couple, but it’s also the perfect test to see how well you work together. If you can manage to assemble a chest of drawers based purely on some Scandinavian instructions then you’re on to a winner.
Even you don’t get sent on a weekend like this by a matchmaker like me, how about using it as a template for a date weekend with someone you find on a dating site? If you can find someone that you think is your perfect match on welovedates.com why not challenge them to the ultimate date? One that will really establish whether a second date is worthwhile or not.
Photo by Spring Fed Images on Unsplash
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