I know that these are challenging times and planning a wedding feels 10 times more stressful than it did a few months ago. Our hearts break for our couples who have had to postpone so far, but one of the things that still remains true of weddings is that, ultimately, it’s all about the marriage and commitment you’re making to one another.
Below are several ideas for at-home date nights to give you the inspiration to create your own special, at-home dates.
No matter what you choose to do, the most important things are to make your dates about connecting and to somehow make them special.
Photo by Anastasiia Chepinska / Unsplash
1. Try a New Recipe Together
Whether you sign up for an online cooking class of just check out one of your favourite recipe sites and blogs for inspiration, trying something new will change things up and give you fun activity to bond over. If cooking isn’t your thing, opt for baking instead. Then share enjoy the result over candle light.
2. Try a New Craft Together
You could knit, iron flowers into paper for some beautiful handmade stationary, or paint caricatures of each other.
Photo by Vladimir Proskurovskiy / Unsplash
3. Have a Spa Night
Do face masks, paint each other’s toes, and then for the grand finale, take a bubble bath or trade massages. Make your spa night extra special with spa food, such as strawberries, chocolates, and cucumber or fruit-infused water.
4. Have a picnic
If it’s warm outside, enjoy the weather by spreading a picnic blanket in the garden and enjoy your dinner (or a bottle of wine) sitting under the stars. If it’s too cold outside or you don’t have a garden, DIY your own picnic by lying a blanket on the floor in the living room. Make it extra cosy by lighting a fire (or lighting candles), and enjoy a romantic evening that’s simple to create, but feels more special than your average night in.
Photo by Jonathan Borba / Unsplash
5. Play board games.
Dust off those old board games, puzzles, or even splurge and order a new gaming system while Amazon is still delivering, (we’ve heard the Nintendo Switch has been a go-to), and have yourself a game night.
6. Clean out and organize your photos together
This can be great for walking down memory lane. This kind of activity can help conjure feelings of nostalgia, which will contribute to shared good feelings and connection. Relationships are often built as much on shared history and experiences as they are on other things.
7. Enjoy a Movie Night
Set the scene with lots of blankets and pillows or even a mattress on the floor and have lots of fun snacks. Make it a themed movie, such as by watching a movie from the era you grew up in or the first movie you saw together.
8. Have Breakfast in Bed
Why dress up and go out for date night when you could relax in pyjamas and eat pancakes? Now that’s my kind of date night.
Photo by Anastasiia Chepinska / Unsplash
9. Wine Tasting
Keep it simple by sampling a few local wines, or get more detailed with cheese or even chocolate pairings. Make it extra special by creating cards for the titles or origins of each wine, and the different notes in each sample (if you want to get extra bougie). Discuss which wine is your favourite, and you might just find your new favourite wine as a couple! If beer or whiskey is more your style, make a sampling of a few different types.
10. Sweat Together, Stay Together
Working out together can increase your happiness with your relationship, improve the efficiency of your workouts and increase your emotional bond.
Photo by Luis Quintero / Unsplash
Although it can be fun and worthwhile to go out once in a while, it’s important to know that you can just as easily stay in and enjoy all the benefits of a regular date night. Research shows that marital happiness is cultivated through time spent connecting with each other, and that can be done curled up on the couch just as easily as at a fancy restaurant.
