Fall is just around the corner, and singles in Williamburg can now find a partner to cozy up with at a new speed dating event.
Rebecca Mulvain, 44, has started Ready, Set, Match as a place for people in Williamsburg to have the opportunity to meet and maybe find love.
“There are so many people trying to find love online, but it’s exhausting,” Mulvain said. “Those profiles can be 15 years old, and all you’re getting is a face on a screen. It takes the personality out of it.”
As a single mom, Mulvain found that she was tired of trying to navigate the online dating sphere. But when she searched for speed dating events in the area, she could only find them in Virginia Beach or Richmond.
So she decided to become Williamsburg’s personal Cupid.
“I posted about it on Facebook and had an overwhelming response,” she said. “It felt good to go that there were other busy, single people out there who wanted the same thing I did.”
While Mulvain won’t be participating in the event, she will be overseeing the couples as they try to make romantic connections.
The first round of speed dating will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Sept. 13 for ages 40 and older. Mulvain has broken down the events based on age ranges to help people meet others near their age.
During the event, participants will be partnered at tables with scorecards. Mulvain will give an icebreaker question to the group and then set a timer for six minutes for the couple to get to know each other. After six minutes, she will ring a bell and the men will move onto the next woman.
Following this, each participant will use their score cards to mark whether they would be interested in seeing the person again, as well as take notes on the interaction. Mulvain will collect all of the scorecards at the end of the event and will connect any two people who matched with each other the next day.
“What’s nice about this, too, is that you’re not flatly rejecting people or getting dumped,” she said.
Mulvain said that she hasn’t had any requests for same sex couples, but when there is a desire, she said she will do her best to fill it.
In addition to love, Mulvain is also planning a speed networking event where businesses and entrepreneurs can meet and exchange ideas.
That event will be from 6 to 9 p.m. Sept. 27 at Billsburg Brewery. It is being hosted in part by the Young Emerging Professionals of Williamsburg and Billsburg.
“The goal is to get a bunch of people together and think about how we can all collaborate and make our businesses better,” she said. “I just wanted to shake things up a bit and give Williamsburg a little more edge.”
Speed networking will cost $20 to attend and speed dating will be $35. To register for speed networking, visit Eventbrite online. To register for speed dating, visit Ready, Steady, Match online.
