Have a picnic.
Enjoy lunch in the great outdoors. Date nights can get pricey, but that doesn’t mean you’re doomed to a night on the couch bingeing Severance (again). Make your dinner at home like the financially responsible folks you are—and then throw it in a handsome basket and take it to your local park to chow down amongst the glory of nature. Strapped for time? Can’t leave the kids home alone? Why not have your picnic on your front porch or lawn? It’s a simple way to make the day more memorable. Fancy up boring staples to make your picnic feel more special: slice your sandwiches into triangles, or add some cucumber or lemon to your water. Or go all out and order in your favorite restaurant to take on your picnic date with you! For an added romantic atmosphere, have your picnic at night so you can stargaze while you snack.
Go to a spa.
There’s nothing more romantic than sitting in mud together. Schedule a relaxing day at a spa near you and indulge in luxurious couples massages, mud baths, and meditation sessions with your soulmate. You’re sure to enjoy your time together—and feel the calming effects of your excursion for days to come! Low on funds? Create the ultimate spa experience at home! Splurge on some fancy lotion and soap, give each other massages, run hot baths for each other (or take a shower together), and make face masks yourself: Make a clay mask by mixing 6 teaspoons (30 mL) clay, 2 teaspoons (9.9 mL) aloe vera juice, 1 teaspoon (4.9 mL) natural raw honey, and a splash of spring water. Make an oatmeal mask by mixing 2 tablespoons (30 mL) finely ground oats, 1-3 drops chamomile essential oil, ⁄4 teaspoon (1.2 mL) honey, and water as needed.
Take a food tour.
Take “dining out” a step up with a local grub-themed tour of your city. Dining in doesn’t have to mean being confined to one space! Lots of big cities like New York or Chicago offer tours of the best local cuisine. Just relax and let your guide lead you to all the best restaurants in town, from the big hits to the underground. You’ll get to try samples of the food and learn a bit about the history of the restaurants to boot! If you find a place you like, it’ll make choosing where to eat out for your next date that much simpler!
Follow a new recipe.
For a thriftier, cozier date, stay home and cook with your spouse. Kill 2 birds with 1 stone by cooking something from scratch with your spouse: it makes for great bonding time, and you’ll finally learn how to make coq au vin. Be sure to get dressed up and set the mood with candles for romantic lighting! If you want to liven up the night, consider inviting some friends over to eat with you after you and your spouse have cooked the meal together. Give everyone a taste of your expert-level culinary skills!
Get tattoos.
There’s no bonding activity quite like getting permanently inked together. Whether you choose to get matching tattoos or your own unique body art, getting tatted together is a fun and meaningful experience you’ll remember…well, forever! Take your time and commission a design by your favorite artist in advance, or pop into a local shop for some quick-and-easy flash images. Consider a design that clearly illustrates your undying love—like wedding rings, hearts, or the date you got married. Or you might pick something that less obviously showcases your bond, like an elm tree to symbolize the park you met in, or Pee-wee Herman’s face to honor the first movie you watched together. You might also opt for totally unmatching, unrelated designs! It won’t make your tattoo date any less meaningful or memorable.
Reminisce about your wedding.
Reliving your big day makes for a great anniversary date. Break out the photo albums and videos! You and your spouse can ramp up the romance and nostalgia by reminiscing about the day you said “I do.” Recreate the mood by decorating with bouquets of the flowers you had at the wedding and playing the song you danced to, and don’t forget to open a bottle of champagne.
Go out to dinner.
Dining out is a classic for a reason. There’s no reason a quintessential date activity like going out to dinner can’t become fresh and exciting again! Spice things up by making a res at a restaurant neither of you have tried yet, maybe in a part of town you don’t usually frequent. Get out of your comfort zone even more by ordering food you’d never order on a regular day, whether it’s escargot or a classic burger and fries. Create some romantic tension by planning the date for your spouse and keeping the deets a surprise: tell them when the date is and what dress code to shoot for, but beyond that, maintain strict secrecy! Mix things up a bit by going to a second restaurant or bar for drinks or dessert after dinner, or pair your dinner out with tickets to a play or an art gallery reception.
Take a cooking class.
Take your culinary skills to the next level—together. Learning something new together is a great way to bond with your partner, and maybe even other couples! Taking a cooking class with your spouse is sure to be a fun (and delicious!) date night you’ll both remember for a long time. You can take a single cooking class or commit to a weeks-long course to really hone your skills. After taking a cooking class, it’ll be easy to spice up your next night in by utilizing the tips you’ve gleaned to make an amazing meal together!
Hire a private chef.
Why make your own food when you can arrange for a private cook? Kick your next night in up a notch by hiring a personal chef for the evening. Put out the good china and some romantic candles, throw on some elegant background music (maybe a little Chopin, maybe some Bee Gees, whatever your preference), and get gussied up for the date night in of your life.
See a psychic together.
Get your fortunes read by a local diviner. Make date night really unique by seeing a psychic. You can opt for someone who’ll study your palms (they may even analyze your marriage line), do a tarot reading, or read a crystal ball. For a cheaper option, try a fun night in and learn how to read each other’s palms or test one another’s psychic abilities by drawing cards from a deck of playing cards, concealing them from your partner, and asking them to try to “read” what’s on them.
Ask each other intimate questions.
Make any date special with intimacy-building conversation. Whether you stay in bed eating microwaved burritos or bar hop all night, asking your spouse probing and personal questions is a great way to get to know them better. If you’ve been together for a while, it’s easy to feel like you know everything about your partner already—but you’d be surprised! Not sure what to ask? Try some of these questions: “What did you like the most about where you grew up?” “What’s something that delights you in your everyday life?” “Where do you feel unfulfilled in your life right now?” Or pretend to be teens again and play truth or dare for a really unforgettable night!
Pick out new clothes for each other.
Give your partner a makeover by styling them as you wish. Go to a department store or vintage clothing boutique and pick out a new wardrobe for each other. You can aim for a fun look or something you genuinely think they’d rock—either way, you must try on your assigned outfits and you must get lots of runway photos!
Stay at a local hotel.
Book a getaway without getting away. You don’t need to shell out big bucks for a vacation. Instead of flying off to Martha’s Vineyard for a week, book an AirBNB or a hotel room in your own city! Opt for a place with relaxing amenities, like a hotel with a hot tub and room service or a BNB nestled in a quiet forest prime for hiking. Pretend to be tourists for the weekend. Look at your town as if you’re seeing it for the first time and try to react how you think an out-of-towner might act in your place.
Read to each other.
Give your night in an intimate jolt by reading out loud to one another. Reading or being read to by your spouse has been shown to foster intimacy—as well as sexual tension. Is there anything more erotic than hearing love poems read by your soulmate? Pass one volume back and forth, or take turns reading selections from different volumes. Read your favorite books, whether it’s Twilight or the complete works of Don Delillo, or opt for something more romantic or sensual, like the fragments of Sappho or the Song of Songs.
Take a pottery class.
Have your own special Ghost moment with your spouse. You know the one. Take a pottery class to learn the ins and outs of clay art and get some unique bonding time in with your one-and-only. You may even make something you can bring home and showcase to remember your date for years to come, like a bowl or a vase.
Go mini-golfing.
Relive the days of teen dating by putt-putting with your spouse. Mini-golfing is such an obvious date idea it’s often overlooked—especially once you get past a certain age. But just because you’re not teens anymore doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy one of the silliest and most fun activities known to humankind, the humble putt-putt. Choose your ball color and look out for that windmill! Raise the stakes by placing friendly bets with your spouse: whoever loses has to do the dishes for a week, maybe, or whoever wins gets to pick the next 5 movies you watch together. Make it a group event by inviting friends to golf with you. The more, the merrier!
Host a themed party.
Turn a date into a unique party or activity night for you and your pals. Invite your friends over for a night of papier mache and booze, or host a horror-themed movie night and ask your guests to bring a dish inspired by their favorite spooky films (spaghetti brains, shaved grapes as eyeballs, that sort of thing). You and your spouse are sure to have fun planning, prepping, and hosting this unforgettable event! Get crafty: buy a pack of block erasers and some carving tools and have friends over to carve the erasers into fun stamps, or go old-school and have a tie-dyeing party. Have a party to celebrate a holiday, whether it’s a major one, like Valentine’s Day, or something silly and obscure, like National Rubber Ducky Day (January 13).
Visit the local cemetery.
A graveyard may be the perfect site for a calming walk or picnic. Cemeteries don’t have to be sad locales. Despite their reputation as somber or spooky, many cemeteries are actually very peaceful, pristine, and beautiful places to explore or picnic. You and your spouse can enjoy a quiet afternoon stroll and some thoughtful conversation among the memorials and trees.
Stay in bed.
Date night doesn’t have to mean leaving the house—or the bed. Plan a big night with one rule: no leaving the bed. Don your special sexy pajamas (or skip the PJs altogether), order in from your favorite restaurant, throw a movie on, and cuddle up under the covers for a cute and cozy night in. Or plan an a.m. bed date: wake up a little earlier so you can enjoy some morning conversation, breakfast or coffee in bed, or morning sex. Even if you don’t make a big thing out of it, try to schedule time for regular pillow talk: experts say it’s pretty essential to the health of a relationship over time. Even going to bed 20 minutes earlier can give you and your spouse a great opportunity to chat and bond before dozing.
Go to an amusement park.
The couple that screams on the Tilt-a-Whirl together stays together. Whether it’s Cedar Point or the county fair, an amusement park is a great place to spend the day with your best friend. Be sure to take silly photos together on the scariest rides and share a mega-sized funnel cake to ensure you’ve got tons of memories of this special day.
Go on a bike ride.
Biking with your spouse is a great way to bond. Not only is it good exercise, but biking is a wonderful way to grow closer to someone. Take your spouse for a spin through the park, the city, or just your neighborhood. Ride to the farmer’s market for groceries to make a romantic dinner, or go to the bookstore for poetry to read to each other. Or just ride around aimlessly, letting the wind take you where it will. Make this activity all the more couple-y and rent a tandem bike for you and your spouse!
Volunteer together.
Uniting for a common goal will bring you closer together. And what more meaningful goal is there than volunteering for a special cause? Find an organization in your neighborhood that supports a cause you care about, like food insecurity or environmental protection, and look for ways you and your spouse can help. You’ll not only strengthen your bond with your partner, you’ll both feel great about yourselves and make a real difference in your community.
Go to the drive-in.
Watch a movie in the comfort of your own car. Drive-ins have been steadily disappearing over the last few decades, but you can still find a few! Search for drive-ins near you and pack the car full of blankets, pillows, and snacks, and cozy up for a fun and intimate viewing of this season's blockbusters. If you've got a truck, nestle together in the bed so you can watch the movie under the stars. Or bring along some lawn chairs and camp out in front of the screen. Don’t want to sit in the car all evening? Many cities offer free movie nights in local parks during the warmer months. Check out your local paper or search the internet for free local movie showings to see if it’s a date night option!
Attend an art gallery opening.
Support local art and a classy night out at the same time. Check out the art galleries in your area and look at their schedules of upcoming events. Lots of galleries host free opening and closing receptions to showcase their exhibitions—and most of them include complimentary booze and snacks. If you see an art piece you like, you may even be able to purchase it so you’ll always have a memento of your special date night.
See a play.
If you’re looking for a fun date idea, “the play’s the thing.” Maybe your local theater won’t be showing Hamlet (and yes, we’re taking that quote way out of context), but they’re likely to have a number of exciting productions lined up. Check out their offerings to see what’s scheduled next and plan a fun night out around it with your spouse: get dinner before or after, or pop by a bar for a nightcap. If you’re looking to save, skip Broadway and check out the goings-on at your local university’s theater department. Colleges and universities usually have some great performances for fairly cheap, as do community theater troupes.
Go indie bookstore hopping.
A bookstore crawl is the ultimate date night for bookworms. Bookstore hopping makes for the perfect low-key, cheap date, and it's a great way to support your local indie bookstores. Browse the shelves with your spouse, or enjoy solo time in the same space by flipping through the stores’ selections separately. Turn your bookstore crawl into a scavenger hunt: assign each other different titles to find in each store. The first one to find their book wins! Lots of bookstores have cafes built in, so it’s easy to combine your bookstore date with a coffee date. You can have plenty of fun just hanging out at the bookstore, but if you’re after a really special date, check out your local bookstores’ upcoming events on their websites: lots of bookstores host readings, live music, art shows, trivia nights, and more.
Go to a museum.
Exploring a museum makes for a peaceful, inspiring date. Whether you check out an art or history museum or a kooky science center, a museum excursion will be a fun, memorable event for you and your spouse. Check out what exhibitions are coming to your local museums, or just wing it and go in blind—you’re sure to enjoy yourselves either way. Have coffee or lunch in the museum café afterward to discuss which pieces and exhibits you loved most. Lots of museums offer special events like lectures or even yoga in the gallery. Check out your museums offerings and see if you can make your date night all the more special.
Do karaoke.
Test your spouse's vocal range with a karaoke night. For a truly wild night out, do karaoke with your partner. Head to your fave karaoke bar and belt out your favorite tunes. Better yet, pick songs for one another to sing and see how well you both remember the lyrics! Do romantic numbers like Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" or Elvis's "Can't Help Falling in Love." Or keep it silly with Sir Mix-a-Lot's "Baby Got Back" or Weird Al's oeuvre. For some real fiery competition, challenge your partner to sing Barenaked Ladies' "One Week" without messing up.
Have a game night.
Add some excitement to your night in with a competitive boardgame. Make popcorn or order pizza and challenge your spouse to a game of Scattergories or Camel Up!. Place bets: loser takes the trash out for a week, say. You don't need to limit yourself to boardgames: if you and your spouse are video game lovers, get crazy with a bout of Mario Kart or Sonic Adventure 2.
Check out a comedy or improv show.
Nothing brings people closer together like laughing. Invite your spouse out to a night at the local comedy theater or check out an improv show together. Grab a drink beforehand or at the theater, or go out for dinner afterward to chat about the show. You're sure to have a blast. For a really memorable evening, why not try your hand at stand-up yourselves? Look for a bar or café with open mic events and take the plunge. The worst that could happen is you'll be booed off the stage. Regardless, it's sure to be a night you and your spouse remember for a long, long time.
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