Always a Bridesmaid, Never the Bride - Dating.com Shares Tips for Taking on Weddings Solo

Due to pandemic postponements, 2022 is on track to be a record-breaking wedding season, with roughly 2.6 million weddings planned

NEW YORK, May 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- May marks the start of wedding season, and for singles, the beginning of an emotional rollercoaster dealing with families and friends feeling sympathetic simply because of their lack of a romantic partner. Entering a busy year for nuptials can place pressure on singles that find themselves without a date, but wedding season doesn't have to be an added stressor.

Today, Dating.com, part of the Dating Group - the company behind over 30 online dating sites, with offices and dating experts in seven countries - revealed key survey findings from respondents' past experiences as wedding guests and shared the top tips for singles taking on wedding season solo.

Dating.com revealed that many singles might be overthinking it when it comes to wedding season. Key findings include:

• Game time decisions: 32% of respondents admitted that they have secured a wedding date less than 48 hours before the event. 
• Regrets: Approximately 54% of those surveyed reported that they felt they would have had a better time if they had just attended solo rather than with the bad date they chose to bring. 48% noted that they ended up breaking up with their partner following a wedding they attended together. Talk about awkward wedding photos!
• Awkward conversations: 63% of those surveyed said they only brought a date to avoid family members asking them about their love life. 34% admitted to overserving themselves at a wedding as a result of nagging friends and family. 
• Friendly plus ones: 41% of users shared that they have brought a friend along as a +1 to a wedding as opposed to a romantic partner at least once.
• New connections: While attending a wedding, 27% of respondents reported that they met a new romantic partner. Of those connections, 20% went on to get married themselves.

"Wedding season should be a time to celebrate the union between your loved ones, and a time to have fun without thinking of outsider expectations when it comes to your dating life," says Maria Sullivan, Vice President and Dating Expert of Dating.com. "Singles should feel confident and open-minded while attending the weddings of friends or family without a romantic partner. Weddings open doors to a huge amount of potential for new connections, and attending without a date shouldn't be considered a negative." 

Celebrating the wedding of a friend or loved one should be a fun and exciting time, whether you're bringing a date or attending the celebration without a +1. Singles often feel anxious when committing to a wedding invite, it comes to locking down a wedding date, but there are ways to approach the season alone and still have a great time.

Maria's tips for tackling wedding season solo include:

• Keeping a positive attitude is key. If you find yourself attending a wedding solo, do not allow it to put a damper on your mood or the experience. It is important to remember why you're there in the first place - to celebrate the love of your friends or family members that are getting married. If you go into the situation with a negative mindset, it is likely that you will end up ruining your own fun and other attendees will be able to see it.
• Relax: it's more common than you think. While weddings may historically be perceived as a "date" setting, that's not always the case. There are plenty of single people who choose to attend weddings without bringing a date along. In many cases, some singles even feel as though attending alone allowed them to have an even better time at the wedding and stopped them from worrying about entertaining a guest that might not know anyone there. 
• Look out for other solo guests. Weddings can be a fantastic place to meet new people. If you're attending the wedding of a friend, it's likely that many of the guests will be around the same age and potentially from the same area. Keep an open mind to starting new connections or relationships.  Another added bonus - how you know the bride and/or groom can be a great conversation starter!
• Don't let others' opinions get to you. The last thing singles want to hear is, "don't worry, your time will come," or the dreaded, "always a bridesmaid, never the bride," when going stag to a wedding. There is no shame in proudly attending a wedding without a date, so don't allow old fashioned mindsets to get you down.

To join Dating.com's extensive, international network of singles and to find your match please visit www.dating.com.

About Dating Group: Dating Group is a global social discovery platform, enabling people from around the world to connect through the power of shared interests and mutual benefits. Dating Group has offices in seven countries and a team of more than 700 professionals with more than 73 million registered users across the entire portfolio. Dating Group brands include Dating.com, Dil Mil, Once, Cupid Media, DateMyAge, LovingA, and many more, each with a unique platform tailored to different communities defined by interest, geography and demographics.

SOURCE Dating.com