Date nights are on of my favorite things! Not just the going out to a nice dinner, but anything fun with my honey! We've been married just over a year and a half, so I know some people may scoff at the idea that we need date nights. I know, I know there are no kids in the picture, but life gets busy. Sometimes I come home from work we have to eat super fast and then leave for a youth activity or rehearsal and by the time we're back I'm ready to fall asleep! I feel like date nights are important during all seasons of life. They were really important when we were dating, and I still want us to make an effort to love one another and plan special things for the other person!
I am all about the dinner and a movie date, in fact it is one of my favorites! However, I think that when you do something different that requires a little thought or planning it just shows how much you care for that person and how important they are to you! Below are a few date nights we've done that I have loved!
1. This is actually what inspired the post- Star Gazing! My husband and I live out in the country so the stars are beautiful, and so are the lightning bugs in the trees (when I was little I used to love seeing the trees "sparkle" it's still one of my favorite things) We borrowed my brothers truck to move a piano from my husband's mother. Anyway, last night it was so beautiful night we just threw some old pillows and blankets in the back and just did some stargazing! You definitely need to do that at least once in your life. Zeke had a lot of fun hanging outside as well. It was also absolutely free! If you don't have a truck put a sleeping bag out or some blankets that you don't mind getting dirty.
2. Paint Together! I wasn't expecting Aaron to like this idea, but he actually loved it! If you have canvases and paints this is completely free. We have those now, but when we did this date night we didn't. I found an art set on clearance at Marshall's for under $5 which was the inspiration for this date night. It was so much fun, we both did 2 pieces (not counting my first one which I threw away!!) Aaron did freestyle - he's much braver than I - I just picked out 2 of my favorite pictures and tried to copy them.
3. The Mall Challenge! This can be as inexpensive as you want it to be! We went to the mall and gave each other $15, and had to buy each other 3 gifts (or however many you want, depending on the cash limit you give) with only that cash, no going over the limit! We didn't make it a race, but I think that would be a fun twist, like end at the food court for supper or ice-cream?
4. This was a date night I put together probably just a month after we were married. Make A Date Night Jar Together! I got a large pickle jar and glued some lace onto it. I made the images above and printed them onto some cream colored paper. We divided them in half and had to each come up with that many date nights! Without showing the other person we then folded them and put them in! These were perfect when we had a free night or someone couldn't get the creative juices flowing for a date night! Quick tip: We drew dollar signs on the outside of the folded papers that way if we were on a tight budget we knew not to pick a $$$ piece of paper! ($=under $10, $$=$10-$25, $$$=over $25) Those prices did not include if we did dinner along with the date. Feel free to right click and save the above images! They are 4X5 JPEG files so when I printed them I used 8 1/2X11 paper and chose the print 4 per page option.
5. Cooking Competition! Aaron does most of the cooking so this probably wasn't that fair - but it was my idea so it wasn't like he was trying to cheat! This obviously takes a little prep work. We already knew we were doing this for a date night, so we picked up all the ingredients on our normal grocery shopping trip. You would also make shopping part of the outing! We each made an entree, and gave ourselves 45 minutes, preparation and presentation included! We then rated the entree 1-5 on taste, creativeness, and presentation. It got a little hectic in our tiny apartment kitchen. I'm sure it will be more fun now that our kitchen is over twice that size!
I hope you enjoyed these ideas and try them out sometime! I'd love to hear some of your favorite date night! Please let them in the comments, I know everyone can always use more date night ideas!
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