25 Fun Dates!

 Welcome back and happy Monday! I know Valentine’s Day is over but I want us to all keep the idea of romance alive throughout the year! Afterall, your relationship takes care and attention to thrive. Last week I gave an overview of the Gottman’s prescribed 6 Hours to a better relationship. I’m sure you noticed that a healthy third of those hours were intended to be dedicated to a date night. I read that as a pretty important chunk of time! Whatever you do for your date, the most crucial thing to remember is that your dates are a time to be alone together and focus on connection and intimacy. That said, maybe you’re feeling like your dates are a little stale? Or maybe you feel like a date would be great, but your financial situation is such that a fancy date night is not really in the budget for you. Perhaps you and your partner have been going on regular dates because you’ve heard it’s important, but you feel like it’s just checking a box and not filling up your love cup? This post is for all of you! We’re going to present 25 ideas both innovative and classic at every price point with a specific focus on creating connection and shared memories for you and your partner.

Let’s do it!

1.       Take a walk around your neighborhood and window shop

2.       Go out for breakfast! Start your day with good food, good conversation, and as an added bonus it’s typically a cheaper meal than lunch or dinner.

3.       Cook a meal together at home! Find a new recipe you both want to try and go together to get the ingredients and share the process of making the meal, then turn on some music, light a candle, and create a romantic mood in your home as you share in your creation.

4.       Take a class together! There is no shortage of options ranging from pottery to knife skills to blacksmithing. Do something that takes you both a little bit out of your comfort zone.

5.       Join some local interest groups online to see what free things are happening in and around your town or city. I know here in NYC there are plenty of street fairs, walking tours, markets, and installations happening somewhere in the city on any given weekend.

6.       Plan and save for an experience that you really want to have whether that be a theatre ticket or a trip or a convention, planning together and executing your plan can help create shared meaning and attach a new depth to the experience itself. Leading up to it, set up dates to plan the event together.

7.       Have a staycation. Get a hotel for a night in your city (or the closest nearby) and pretend you’re a tourist for the weekend.

8.       Recreate your first date! Go back to the same places and order the same things. Reminisce about how far your relationship has come since then.  

9.        Go visit a municipal park and bring a picnic.

10.    Go visit a local bookstore or library and pick out a book for each other. Tell your partner why you think they’ll enjoy it or why it would fit their tastes.

11.   Do the classic dinner and a movie but in reverse! See your movie first then do dinner afterward. This will give you a chance to connect and talk about what you saw and your impressions of what you watched.

12.    Create a list of all of the coffee shops that you want to visit as a team. Methodically work your way through them and create a new weekly ritual.

13.    Pick up a new hobby together! What is something both of you have always wanted to do?

14.    Have a vision board night. Get all of your magazines and poster board together and, together, dream up the vision of your future.

15.    Play a board game! Return to old classics if you like or go take a trip to your nearest big box store and browse the board game aisle. They’ve come out with so many since we were kids!

16.    Volunteer for a cause that is important to you both. Maybe you guys love animals, take a trip to your local shelter and help out together.

17.    Get moving! Take a workout class together or go visit a trampoline park.

18.    Go to a museum. Many museums have free nights or discounted rates for locals. Go check one out that you haven’t been to in a while! Or maybe one that’s new for you both.

19.    Escape rooms have become incredibly popular! This is a great date with your partner because it creates a space for you to each rely on one another and work together which strengthens your bond as a partnership and a team.

20.    Go see a comedy show! As with the movie night, plan for some time afterward to get a drink or dessert so that you can talk about what you saw and connect over it.

21.    Visit the salon or spa together. Taking time to relax and be pampered side by side can be lovely.

22.    Food trucks and areas where there are tons of food trucks (smogasburgh in NYC comes to mind as well as Broadway Bites) have definitely been on the rise. Go together and share small plates from all kinds of places. The catch is deciding what to try as a team and getting excited about all of your options.

23.    Go bowling or play mini-golf. Get back in touch with your sense of play and share that with your partner.

24.    Create a time capsule together! Decide on a significant date in the future that you’ll open it together.

25.   Go to a flea market! See what kind of one-of-a-kind pieces you can find for your shared space. This also helps when you’re first moving in together to help tie in both you and your partner’s tastes and create a shared space and aesthetic rather than one partner feeling like a visitor.

There you have it! 25 date ideas for your 2-hour date night! What are your go-to dates? Tell us below!