15 Amazing Date Night Ideas to Help You Connect with Your Spouse

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Do you ever feel stuck trying to come up with great date night ideas? My husband and I try to maintain a weekly date night, and at least eight weeks out of ten, we end up watching a movie on Netflix because we can’t think of anything fun or creative to do. My creativity seems to buckle when I try to come up with innovative and fun activities.

So, I reached out to fourteen other bloggers to get their opinions. The question: what is your favourite date night idea, or one that you would like to try? Here are their responses. Most of them are fun, inexpensive, and unique. Fortunately for married couples with young kids, a lot of them are even stay in date nights so you don’t even have to worry about getting a babysitter.

May we never be stuck watching Netflix for lack of creative ideas again!

Creative Date Night Ideas

1. Take a Dance Class

Jodi Perez

A friend of ours owned a studio and she organized an adult ballroom dancing class. We LOVED it. We share a love of music and so we enjoyed learning the box step and more. 

Jodi is passionate about sharing practical, biblically sound advice about marriage, parenting and more at Wealthy N Wise. 

2. Nurture a Shared Dream

Ashley Harkleroad

My husband and I have a dream of owning a restaurant some day. Because of that, we love visiting restaurants for our date nights! After we are done, we talk about different aspects of the restaurant. What we liked, what we didn’t, what we would change. But most importantly, we dream together. We giggle about the crazy themes we can have in our restaurant. We drool over unique food ideas, and we reminisce about old diner days and how diners were the social hangout. Maybe you and your husband don’t want to have a restaurant, but I’m sure you have a shared dream! And enjoying that dream together makes for a great date.

Sharing dreams is so much fun! Even if they never come true. Having a mutual dream creates a unique bond. And sharing in that dream brings laughter and delight to the conversation; two things that I believe are key to a wonderful date night.

Find Ashley on ​Instagram. 

3. Alphabet Dating

Lydia Woods

Alphabet dating is a fun way to force some variety and imagination into your date nights. Every date, you have a different letter of the alphabet as your theme. For example “A” might be a night at the arcade playing games together. “B” might be going to the beach! I have written a whole blog post on alphabet dating here if you’re interested. 

Find Lydia on Instagram.

4. “I Could Always…”

Jennifer Love

This helped us to pinpoint what we each secretly think is a great date. For example, I said, “Go Downtown!” I always think there’s a new restaurant there I don’t know about and it’s usually true. We ended up finding a great new place to eat, walked around the streets at twilight looking at architecture, and ended at a coffee shop talking for hours. This was a perfect date to me, I just hadn’t realized it!

He would say, “I could always… go for a good burger and maybe a place that serves root beer floats. And just sit someplace we can talk for a long time without spending money.”

With this method we can either do a me date or him date or a mix, and either way we’re always happy choosing things we know please the other person!

Jen blogs about  reviving and developing meaningful and memorable Christian traditions at Intentional Traditions. 

5. Branch Out

Jennifer King

For our date nights, my husband and I like to try things neither of us has ever done before. This has included going to a restaurant neither of us has ever been to, taking in a concert of a band we’ve never seen live before, watching the sunset from a newly discovered beach, going on a horse-drawn carriage ride for the first time, and most recently going to a baseball game together.

We love doing new things together because it creates fun memories to look back on. Even if something crazy happens, like getting lost while driving when the GPS loses service, or seeing someone in a t-rex costume riding a scooter (yes, that actually happened!) we have fond memories together and stories of “us” to share. Sharing these experiences strengthens the friendship aspect of the relationship.

Jennifer King blogs about faith and family at Minding the Kings. 

Free Date Night Ideas

6. Picnic with a Walk Around a Lake

Hannah

For a long time we were poor students or on a single, small income. Date night would often come in the form of a cheap-ish takeaway followed by something free. One of the favourites, that even our four-year-old son now loves to do, is to have a picnic, then walk around the lake at the country park. On a lovely summer’s evening like it is at the moment, it can be quite picturesque.

Find Hannah at Han Plans. 

7. Enjoy Nature

Brianna

If we’re able to get out with no kids, we love to go for a hike or do something outside together. Then, we like to stop on the way home and have a local treat together, like ice cream, a piece of pie, a root beer float, or a hot drink…depending on the season! We married each other because we love to be together, so for our dates we try to do things that allow us to talk and collaborate together without the stress and distractions of the outside world. We love getting outside, if we can, because we love nature and what we can learn about God by experiencing His Creation!

 Brianna provides resources and ideas for leading children to Jesus at Disciple Mama. 

8. Hit the Open Road

Lolah Soyombo-Akingbade

One date night idea my husband and I thought of and plan to try out is a road trip with no destination. The idea is to hop in the car and keep telling each other random places to turn to without an exact destination. I love this idea because it gives us flexibility and a time of freedom.Most times, we have everything planned out perfectly and have expectations, but sometimes it’s great to just be free in each other’s presence and just have fun without the rigidity of life. Plus you get to talk about things, even laugh at each other when you drive into dead ends or maybe even find an unexpected gem location!

Visit Lolah at Christ Soldier Girl Fitness. 

9. Take Inspiration from Scripture

Diane F

Choose a verse and use it as your theme for both an activity and a discussion. Each person chooses a verse and then constructs a portion of the date night around it.  So for instance “taste and see that the Lord is good,” might mean dinner or desserts followed by a discussion  about how God has been good in your life.  “Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well,” might mean taking a walk on the beach and talking about the reasons why you chose your spouse.  Keep it a surprise: don’t tell the other person about the location or verse beforehand!

Find Diane at Worth Beyond Rubies, where she writes about Christian life and the Jewish roots of our faith, among other topics. 

10. Revisit the Place Where You Met

Alexis Hoselton

Being together for 5 years, and married for two of those years, we found that we need to do something that reminds us of why we married each other. Taking a walk at the place where we met and reconnecting, talking about things other than work and the kids.  Going to the park and watching the sun set is the crème de la crème of date nights for us. 

Stay In Date Night Ideas

11. Game Night with Worship Music

Amy Hornbuckle

I enjoy game nights where we’re blasting worship music and sharing a glass of wine. This kind of date night offers a situation to break down stress in a goofy, upbeat atmosphere. It brings out your kid side with each other while also being intentional with your attention. 

Find Amy on Instagram. 

12. Get Your Top Chef Game On

Jenn

Some of my favorite date nights have involved the kitchen. We have tried to create the most unique and delicious pizza, attempted to do a cooking show, had an Iron Chef-like experience but with whatever we’ve had on hand. All make for fun date nights that are a little out of the box! Plus who doesn’t bond over food?

Visit Jenn at What You Make It Blog, where she writes about living a full life, right here and now. For 35 ideas of what to talk about on your next date night, read this post. 

13. Turn Your Living Room into a Stadium

Jessica Zakhar Schneider

My husband is a Mets fan, and with 2 kids, going to a baseball game isn’t something we can easily do. But we have had a stay in date night where we put on Mets’ shirts, make popcorn, nachos, and wings, and watch the game from our couch! Totally a win in my husband’s book!

Find Jessica on Instagram.

14. Refurbishing Furniture

Take the Leap

We enjoy refurbishing furniture. We get to create together, which is a lot of fun and a great way to work on teamwork! We get to work with our hands and spend time NOT looking at screens. Last, but not least, you can score free furnitures on places like Craigslist or OfferUp, and the rest of the supplies (sandpaper, paint, paint brushes, etc.) don’t have to be expensive – I get most of the supplies at Walmart!

Visit Take the Leap Blog for encouragement, hope, and creative inspiration.   

15. Date Night in a Box

​

I wasn’t going to add any of my own date night ideas to this list, but in the course of my research, I discovered something truly innovative that I just had to share with you: a subscription box service for date nights. 

Every month, DATE NIGHT IN sends you a date filled with fun, unique, and spontaneous date night items, ideas, and activities, all aimed to help you create a moment every month that will last forever! Each month has a new theme to add variety and spice to your life! Date Night In’s highest priority is helping you to connect in a new and creative way. Recent date night themes include: the story of us, blind date, easy like Sunday morning, and adventure together. They offer both regular and faith-based options.

Learn more here. 

Do you have more great date night ideas to add to our list? Leave your suggestions in the comments below. We’d love to hear from you!