A lifetime of dating will feature 13 first dates, 11 romantic dinners and seven ‘disasters’ before we finally meet ‘the one’, a study has revealed. Researchers also discovered the average adult will spend almost €13,000 on dating before they finally walk down the aisle – not including the wedding itself.

Additionally, the study of 2,000 married adults found typically we part with almost €1,579 on first dates alone over a dating lifetime.

The first year of a relationship is actually the most expensive, thanks to regular costly dates and constant gifts to impress a new partner – during the first 12 months of a relationship, the average singleton will spend €4,278.

This bill will then drop during the second year to €3254, as couples settle into their relationship and spend less on schmoozing.

The study also found that the cost of dating rises again after an engagement – as the average fiancé can expect to spend €3,551 on dates between the engagement and big day.

That one special person is probably worth it, though – the average man will date 13 different people and a woman will date ten different people before finding their soul-mate.

During each first date, men will spend around €19 on gifts such as flowers or chocolates in the hope to win over their new potential love, and an extravagant one in five have even taken a date abroad in an attempt to really impress them.

These holiday dates end up costing us €896 a time, so aren’t quite as popular as a trip to the cinema.

But parting with the massive amount of money doesn’t guarantee a good date, as the results also found that, on average, we’ll endure around seven ‘disaster’ dates during our dating lifetime.

One quarter of people have had to get a friend to call or text them with a ‘fake’ emergency to give them an excuse to leave an awkward date.

 

THE COST OF COURTSHIP

First dates: €122.88 per date. Average of 13 first dates = €1579.38 before meeting the one

First year of a relationship: €178.27 per date/24 dates during the first year = €4278.47

Second year of relationship: €154.92 per date/21 dates during the second year = €3253.39

Engagement to marriage: €142.07 per date/25 dates from getting engaged to getting married = €3551.77

Total cost of dating: €12,681.01