Making new "couple" friends at 50+

[chillybeenz]

DH and I are 53 and newly empty nesters (DCs are 21 & 19). We have a small number of friends each, some of whom we'd count as "couple" friends, i.e. we all go out for dinner together, or to the theatre, or get invited for Xmas drinks. They are mainly my residual school-gate mum friends who have other halves my DH gets on with, plus some couples from our early working lives pre-kids. But numbers have reduced over the years as families have moved elsewhere or split up or else just because their kids went to different secondary schools and we lost touch. We sometimes muse about whether/how we might make more now that we have a bit more free time on our hands.

I'm curious. If you have made completely new couple friends in your 50s, where/how did you meet?

Why does it have to be a couple, though? That makes no sense. We had an old friend over for dinner last week — she’s known us both since 1993. The weekend before we went out for a drink with seven other people. Two were a couple. Two had left partners at home/doing something else. Three were single.

We moved to a rural area from the city and made friends through book club, wild swimming club and joining the village committee (as willing extra hands rather than ex corporate know it alls).

I wasn't talking about single friends. I wasn't referring to people who were a couple and then got dropped sadly when divorcing, say a pp.

I was referring simply referring to op.

FFS do I really need to explain it yet again? 🙄The dynamics of friendships are different. I go out my friends. Dh his. We also have joint friends. We also have couple friends. We also go to parties where we know one person, couples, singles, groups, all sorts.

Can't you grasp that we have friendships on different levels? <<gives up>>

you can't comprehend why on earth a couple might want to socialise with other couples?

your example is exactly what I was saying, that a group can meet of varying different dynamics, couples, singles, a group.

why should couples be prohibited from meeting up?

I’m not sure why the ire.

Totally agree @Oblomov25 we socialise in all combinations, separately, in groups of varying sizes and with other couples and all are really valuable in different ways. Some of the friendships I treasure most are those where DH and I are both good friends with another couple.

I guess no, I don't really understand, I don't ever think of having "couple" friends, just friends.

We have got more involved with the local community - we are on a village WhatsApp, and we go to the pub more often.
But we each have our own friends more than 'couple friends'

I don't really think of our couple friends as that specifically either, we never actively sought out couple friends, all ours have evolved from one original friendship but they have turned out to be some of the closest friendships we have and on that basis I think they are a good thing.

I actually don't think of them in RL as specifically 'couple friends' either, and certainly never refer to them as such. But for the purposes of this thread, as Op did actually ask the question, we can surely all agree we socialise with different people in different ways.

‘Couple friends’? When I saw this thread I thought it was going to be about swinging 😂

Why do your friends need to be in couples? When I was single I used to go out with couples and was friends with both of them.

I'd also recommend the kind of volunteering where you meet people who might be in a partnership. (Computer Buddying and the National Trust worked for us a while ago.) If you get on with one of them, you can try a foursome date. Also worked for us.

Or of course, as @MidnightMeltdown implied, plant a pampas grass in your front garden? I've not done this so cannot comment.

@StrangePaint they do nothing apart unfortunately.