DateableWhat to do before you leave for a first date
Before your first date, confirm the venue, tell a friend your plans, share your location, charge your phone, and plan your check-in message. Do it now.
Run a final safety checklist before you leave for a first date: confirm where you are going, tell a trusted person your plans, share your location, charge your phone, arrange your own transport, and plan a check-in message. It takes ten minutes, and it means someone knows where you are and you can leave whenever you choose.
Confirm the venue
Check the exact address, not just the name. Text it to the person you told about your date. Open it on a map now so you know where it is, how to get there and how long it will take. If your date changes the place at the last minute to somewhere you do not know, cancel 1.
Choose a place with lots of people around, and daylight if you can 2: a busy bar or restaurant, not a back room or a private space. If the venue is new to you, check its opening hours today so you do not arrive at a locked door and end up walking somewhere else together.
Tell a trusted person
Before you leave, send a message to someone who knows you well. Tell them:
- The full name and exact address of where you are going
- Your date's name, or what you know of it, and a screenshot of their profile
- What time you expect to be home
- Your date's phone number, if they gave you one
Send this while you are getting ready, not once you are at the date 1. If something goes wrong, the person you told can say where you were and who you were with.
Agree a check-in time and what happens if you miss it: you text at 8pm, and if they have heard nothing by 8:15pm, they call you.
Going out at 7. I'll be at [venue and address], meeting [name], number [their number]. I'll text you at 8 and when I'm home, around 10:30. If you don't hear from me by 8:15, call me.
Share your location
Let your trusted person track your phone. On iPhone, open Find My, add their contact and turn on Share My Location for the next hour or the time you will be out. On Android, open Google Maps, tap your profile picture, then Location sharing, and choose the person and how long to share.
Police advise sharing your location with friends when you meet someone from online 2. Set the share to end after the date, so it does not run on for weeks.
Charge your phone fully
A flat phone leaves you stranded: no call, no ride, no map, no location share. Keep it charged and plan your way home before you go 3. Plug it in while you get ready, and take a small power bank if you have one.
Book your own transport
Take your own transport so you control when you leave 1. Decide now how you are getting there and back, and check the rideshare app works and has a payment method. If your date offers a lift, decline it.
If you drive, park somewhere well lit that you will be happy walking to at night. If the date runs late and you feel unsafe, book your ride from inside the venue and wait there until it arrives.
Never leave a drink unattended
Keep sight of your glass. If you have been away from it, order a fresh one 1. If you feel suddenly drunk, dizzy, confused or sick, stop drinking, tell venue staff or someone you trust, and get medical help 4.
Check who you are meeting
Open their profile once more before you leave. Screenshot it and your messages, and keep them 5. On Dateable, a Verified badge means a reviewer compared a live selfie with the person's photos. It confirms they match their photos; it is not an identity or age check.
If the profile has changed or disappeared since you agreed the time, or they have gone quiet and then suddenly want a new place, do not go. Send one line and stay home:
Something's come up and I can't make it tonight. I'll message you.
Trust your instinct
If something feels wrong before you meet or while you are there, you do not need an excuse to leave, and you do not need to feel bad about cutting the date short 3. "I'm not feeling well" is enough. "This isn't working for me" is enough. The first-date safety guide covers what to do if it goes further than that.
End the date early. Call your rideshare. Go somewhere with people around, or go home. Someone worth a second date will understand if you need to cut the first one short. Someone who makes you feel bad about leaving is telling you something.
After you get home
Send your check-in message the moment you are through the door 1. "Home safe" is enough. Then stop the location share. If anything about the date worried you, Dateable's safety page explains how to report it.
Sources
- Sexual Assault Resource Centre, North Metropolitan Health Service (Government of Western Australia) (2021). Safe online dating.
- Victoria Police (2025). Safety tips when meeting someone from online.
- New Zealand Police (2026). Safety advice.
- Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (2025). Spiking.
- eSafety Commissioner (2026). Online dating | How to stay safe.
