Suggestions for getting 2 households to initially interact without playing both?

I was in a similar situation recently. I made Lilja join a political club where her dad was a leader. Then I tried visiting the locale where they gathered with Ronald but no luck. I got distracted from the whole thing and even started to question if they should be a couple but then it happened. I was visiting WC commercial district with Lilja when I suddendly spotted her dad having a picnic with Ronald! Couldn't have arranged it better myself.