Wednesday, June 17, 2015

20 Fun & Alternative Date Ideas That Are Much Better Than Dinner ♥

 I'm not going to lie, it's been an absolute age since Jacek and I have had a date night, the two of us are always so busy and finding someone to sit in with our son while we're out and about is always a task. We had agreed on having a date night once a month, a chance for us to have some 'us time' and to just enjoy being in each others company again doing fun things, because if I'm honest 'the couch' isn't the hotspot I want to be stuck on every Friday and Saturday night anymore, I'm twenty-five for Gods sake, I need excitement! So, in light of all this I've decided to put together a list of some fun and alternative date night ideas, things we wouldn't normally do but which I'd love to do throughout the rest of the year and hopefully they'll give others some date inspiration too.

Go to an outdoor movie. You know, like Grease style where everyone pulls up in their cars and watches a movie on a big outdoor screen? That. There's actually an outdoor cinema about fifteen minutes from our house and we've never been - shame on us. It only operates during the summer so this summer I'd love for us to go out and watch a film in the great outdoors, it'd be such an alternative from a normal cinema date and all from the comfort of our own car too.

Have a scavenger hunt. I think this would be such a fun idea and a really exciting one to put together too. Now that the nights are longer and brighter I'd like us to spend some time together outside and what better way to make it more interesting than putting together a little scavenger hunt for my other half? I'd have a ball putting together clues, hints and prompts and choosing a prize or two for the end. It'd be so much fun egging him on and seeing him trying to figure out my clues for each stage - yes I am easily impressed!

Have a BBQ and drinks on the beach. This is something we've never done in our area at night and there are so many beaches to this so I really want to do this some night soon. We could get one of those little disposable BBQs, make up some cocktails and mocktails (for the person driving home) and just sit amongst the sand dunes, watching the stars and listening to the lull of the waves drifting in and out on the shore - romantic huh?

Have a themed date. I'm all for themed things - parties, clothing, days out, etc. so what could be more fun then a themed date night? One or both of us could choose the theme and match everything to that, from the food to the music, the film we watch, the places we go, etc., we could even dress up for it. Even if you felt like dressing up in a particular theme and surprising your other half even more then you could go for it, there are lots of places you could get a costume. What's even better is that you could reuse these costumes again for Halloween or any other themed parties you find yourself invited too. I love the Game of Thrones inspired costume and the Alice in Wonderland costume - I've always wanted an Alice in Wonderland themed wedding so a date night of that theme would be amazing!

Go bowling. This is something Jacek and I have never done together even though there's a pretty decent bowling area in our city. We've talked about going there a few times but just haven't gotten around to it, I really want us to do it this summer, it'd be a laugh seeing each others poor bowling skills!

Go to a gig. This is a date night we have had before and it was great fun - I was the only blonde and the only girl at a local metal gig but it didn't phase me. I know Jacek loves seeing live music and has been wanting to go to another gig as of late so we should just go for it and go out and enjoy some music and drinks together.

Visit a psychic. I am so into seeing psychics, spirituality and the paranormal and I'd love for Jacek to see how fun of an experience it is visiting a psychic too so I'd love for us to make a date out of it. I've gone on psychic visits with friends and family in the past so why not my partner too? It'd be fun to see if they mentioned either of us to the other and see if our fortunes come true - if not at least we had a fun time!

Hot air balloon ride. Now this certainly wouldn't be cheap but imagine the memories?! I have a slight obsession with hot air balloons at the moment what with my dress, my sons t-shirt and my soft furnishings so to actually go on one with the one I love? Priceless.

Watch the sunset and moon rise together. Is there anything more romantic than watching the sunrise or sunset together with the one you love? No, but possibly watching the moon rise - did you ever see that before, I didn't until last week, what planet have I been living on?! It was romantic thought and it's something I'd love to witness with Jacek too.

Photoshoot date. As you all probably know I love photography and capturing a moment in someones life. What better moment to capture than a date and the love between two people? I'd love to set up the tripod and capture moments between my other half and I in the meadow or somewhere else quite scenic, they'd be beautiful reminders of a lovely, simple date together.

Visit a historic place. Jacek and I have visited a lot of historic places together during the years and each time was so much fun exploring and learning about past times. You and your other half could pretend to be king and queen of an old castle - imagination is everything when it comes to dates people!

The first date night. Have you ever thought about your first date, the excitement, the butterflies and suspense you felt before meeting your other half? I would, only I didn't get one! So how much fun would it be to reinact (or actually have!) a first date. Meet somewhere, pretend you don't know each other and fall in love all over again? I know my whimsical self would love this.

Road trip. One of the best days Jacek and I have ever had together was when we drove around the Ring of Kerry in a day. We saw so much, experience all kinds of weather in that one day in one of most beautiful spots of the world and I even bought a played a tin whistle on the way home to him in the car. It was like something out of P.S. I Love You and I want to do it again.

Write letters to each other and post them. As a former snail mailer I absolute love this idea and think it's so romantic. My first boyfriend (I'm only ever had three mind, including Jacek), used to write me letters and leave them in my locker at school. It was such a special thing for someone to do for me and I'd love for Jacek and I to do this for each other, a Valentine's card one a year isn't enough, we need more romance!

Play truth or dare. Go outside, choose a scenic place and play truth or dare together. I used to love this game as a child so how much fun would it be as an adult? I'd have to come up with some very risque ones for Jacek if he picked dare!

Have a picnic together. Pack up a picnic, sit on a blanket by the lake or somewhere else you both really love and just enjoy being together. This is something I really want to do soon in one of our favourite places.

Mini-break date. If you fancy having your date last a whole lot longer than a night or a day why not surprise your other half to a mini-break date? I took Jacek away to Amsterdam as a birthday gift and that was our little date weekend together, it was perfect and something we must do again soon.

Eat chips along the seafront. Is there anything nicer than chipper chips smothered in salt and vinegar, ate on a bench along the seafront beside the one you love? This is such a simple date idea but one which I really like.

Go dancing together. Okay, if dancing isn't for you then you could always substitute it for clubbing. This may not be for everyone and although Jacek and I aren't dance fans or that fond of clubbing there is a decades themed nightclub in our city and we're both mad to get to the 90's floor one night. There'd be nothing more fun than having a few drinks and dancing along together to Rhythm Is A Dancer with each other - big box, little box people!

Go ice-skating. This is something we could only do in winter as the ice rink only arrives to our area in November but it'd be a really, fun and quite romantic date idea. You could hold hands with your other half and make sure each other don't fall!

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12 comments

  1. Some fab ideas there! I have to say, it's not very often that my husband and I get to go out just the two of us. We sometimes go out for dinner with friends but the last proper date night we had was in March....oops, didn't think it was that long ago. Must try harder to make time! xx

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  2. So sweet!!!

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  3. (not sure if my comment went through the first time)

    I really appreciate this list, both for the classic movie and bowling dates that are always fun, but also for the new ideas that I hadn't considered yet! Especially the salt and vinegar chips by the water idea. So simple but it sounds lovely.

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  4. I love these alternatives to dinner dates. Dinner dates seem to be what we always end up doing when we are able to get out. One thing we have done before and loved is to visit food courts, kinda like a dinner but it was a blast.

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  5. I have been married 10 years. It is hard to keep date night exciting. We have done many things, but a lot of these you have suggested we haven't. I am going to bookmark this post for our next date night! Can hardly wait to try a few of these.

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  6. I LOVE these ideas, especially since my husband and I aren't huge restaurant-go'ers so to speak, mainly because we know the calorie intake at restaurants are absurdly high. I am totally writing some of these sweet ideas down - a themed date! BBQ & drinks on the beach, and ugh sunset/sunrise together!!! Talk about romantic.

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  7. I'm overwhelmed not only by the sweetness of you two but also by the amount of ideas you shared in this post. Surely, doing this would be fun. Oh, I just remember the same old ways but with a new meaning and taste.

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  8. These are all awesome ideas and fun, for sure. My husband would love to hear these suggestions. I think eating chips along the seafront is really sweet and way cheaper than a movie or dinner date.

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  9. Great ideas - we are empty nesters so I guess anytime we go out it's date night. We are always looking for free and different things to do, which we are lucky here where we live.

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  10. My favourite thing to do in go to music concerts. I only wish my husband was a big concert-goer as I am! We are due for a date night at a dance club - must get my dancing shoes on!

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  11. This is a truly wonderful list of date nights - I love all of them! My hubby and I generally pull the dinner and a movie date, and we try to go at least once every couple of weeks. We know it's going to get harder once we have our first kiddo, so we're trying to squeeze in as many as possible while we can. :)

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  12. I have wanted to get us into geocaching for a date. IT's where you use your phone as a compass and find hidden treasures GPS style! That would be a lot of fun. There are small treasures you can find or you leave your name in the log. I have a few in my area that I need to find!!

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