75 Best Date Night Ideas
Sophisticated Standards: Enhance your relationships and keep connections strong.
There’s a common misconception that once we get married, you no longer need to “date” anymore. However, shouldn’t the person we’ve chosen to commit the rest of our life with get the best from us? Relationships with a partner can be one of the most beautiful bonds ever experienced but they require continuous work. Marriage specifically will never be what Hollywood used to portray them to be. Marriage is messy and challenging, but it can be one of the most fulfilling experiences you will ever have if you keep your connections strong.
At Sophisticated Standards, our mission is to use our experience to enhance your life, relationships, and families. We passionately aim to create, advise and promote only products and services that deepen connection with those you love. Our desire is to be your ally, that supports your search for true fulfillment by recapturing values of sophisticated living. One major way we can help you achieve a passionate relationship with deep connection is to provide simple guidance to improve your time with your partner.
These days, the term dating seems expensive, but it doesn’t have to be. What’s important is the quality time you spend connecting and how you value that time together. “Dating” truly doesn’t take a ton of effort if you genuinely make your partner or spouse a priority.
With some communication and a positive attitude, you and your partner could cherish these 38 free date night ideas together from the comfort of your own home:
Dig out the old CDs, cassette tapes or records over a bottle of wine and walk down memory lane
Go through those boxed up pictures from your youth and talk about the adventures
Dump those photos stored up on your phones and build a scrapbook
Dust off the yearbooks and reminisce over the good times
Pull out that box of childhood keepsakes and share the special moments together
Thrown on some old Halloween costumes, uniforms or jerseys and relive some funny times
Watch old videos or recordings from your recitals or sporting events
Hook up those old video games and have an evening of competition
Play drinking games from your college days
Break out those old classmate notes passed back and forth and read them together
Pull an all nighter with these light and fun questions - Play 50 Questions While Connecting With Your Spouse
Lay a blanket in the yard and have a picnic together
Pull out the chalk and play a game of hopscotch on the sidewalk
Have a watermelon eating contest
Build a fire and make smores
Spend a night gazing at the stars
Take a free dance lesson on YouTube
Go through a cookbook or that box of family recipes and cook dinner together
Try a DIY beginner tantric lesson
Plan a scavenger hunt based on your favorite relationship memories
Take turns teaching each each other a new skill
Play a board game, build a puzzle or game of cards
Message old friends and chat about the good times you had with them to your partner
Create a comic book about your first date
Create a couple’s bucket list
Light some candles, build a romantic pillow fort and watch a movie from the comfort of your living room
Listen to a few podcasts and discuss intellectually or not so intellectually after
Watch a bunch of funny YouTube videos
Look up massage techniques and give each other massages
Have a movie marathon
Pull out a notebook and write down your relationship goals
Plan your dream vacation together
Build out your dream home on paper
Make a time capsule out of random items in your home that reflects memories from this year
Write flirty love notes to each other everyday for a week and when it’s time for date night read each one to each other
Create a funny video or record your love story to watch in the future
Light some candles and challenge each other to spend the night trying to live without modern conveniences like electricity and running water
Clean out your closet of clothes and put on a fashion show with pictures
Free dates at home are awesome, but you can keep the free trend outside the home or try something new with minimal cost with these 37 ideas:
Take a drive to nowhere or an old locations with personal connection
Spend a day sightseeing like a tourist in your own town
Buy a variety of wines or beers and spend an evening playing connoisseur
Pack dinner up into a picnic and head to a scenic location for a romantic sunset picnic
Head to the bookstore and do some travel research on that dream vacation or search for books you loved throughout the decades of your life
Read The 5 Love Languages and discuss what you can better do to help each other feel loved. If you don’t own it, check a copy out from the local library
Venture out to a local a piano or karaoke bar and show off those singing skills (be sure to check out any free nights they may have)
Hit up a few open houses and explore several homes together
Take a hike, a long walk on the beach, or around the lake (whatever romantic scenery is in your area)
Go for a bike ride or pull out those old rollerblades
Feed the ducks at a local park or pond
Attend an open mic night at a local coffee shop
If it’s Christmas season, grab a hot cocoa and take a drive through lights
Check out your local chamber of commerce’s website and spend a night watching the fireworks shows
Look up your local museums for their free days/nights and take a stroll through the arts
Visit your local park for free movie screenings (subject to each city’s free events list)
Attend your local college or planetarium for free viewings
Stroll downtown for a classic showcasing of local artwork and vendors
Go test drive that fancy new car you’ve been drooling over
Find some free tickets to a streetside concert
Take a kid free day at the amusement park
Attend a high school sporting event
Learn a new skill together like building a garden or taking a cooking class (local community kitchens or hardware stores often have free workshops)
Find a volunteer opportunity and go do some good together
Google Walmart Bingo, choose a board to print and head over to play the most entertaining game of live bingo
Find a horror movie to play on a laptop in a creepy or haunted outdoor location
Find a neighborhood you’ve never been to and explore it together
Explore your local farmers market or flea market together
Visit the murals in your city and snap some pictures on your mural tour
Play a pick-up game of basketball at a local park
Attend a trivia night together
Have a photoshoot at a thrift store with perfect outfits from the last five decades
Turn a mundane task like grocery shopping into an adventure and eat as many samples as possible at Costco or Sam’s Club
Grab a tarp, some paints and a old bathing suit and have a paint war in the backyard
Go to the playground and act like big kids in a swinging contest
Recreate the your favorite dessert from your first date or wedding and play baker for a night
Order a copy of the Kama Sutra and pick out pages of something new and intimate to try
The ideas are endless and some are so simple, you don’t even need to plan it out. The most important part of “dating” is not about the money you spend or the romantic places you go - it’s about spending quality time intimately with your partner.
Loved what we had to say? Don’t forget to subscribe to our blogs and follow us on social media!
