People do form romantic relationships without dating though? I mean it seriously can work either way.
The idea that traditional "dating" is a MUST is just that: An idea. A blanket statement. And blanket statments are never good.
As with all things, there are people out there who have a very different approach than the "traditional" one. There are many who will outright loathe the traditional one. It aint just with dating. This applies to pretty much everything.
It's just like the idea that people who are truly friends MUST meet up at restaurants/bars/movies at fairly regular intervals. I've heard that from people, certainly. And even more certainly, I know it's a whole lot of dog poo. You dont need any of those 3 things to truly be friends with someone.
This is also why I always say that things like those dating events arent necessary. And why I always say that the real way to meet someone is to, you know, just bloody well get out there and meet someone. Or just get out there in general, not even necessarily with the intention of meeting people. For instance, my brother is married. A few years now, he has a kid, age 2. Where did he meet his wife? College. And not by going to "events" at college either. He's the ultra-responsible type: College time to him wasnt "fun time", it was "study for real" time, and that's where his entire focus was (and he is now a teacher himself). He didnt do parties or any of that silliness. And she is similar to him; she's a registered nurse, complete with all of the heavy/difficult education requirements that entails. They didnt have time for frivolous nonsense.
But they still got together.
And I think there's a lesson to be learned, from an example like theirs.
Just something to keep in mind.