20 MORE Creative Date Night Ideas

photo by Katie Nesbitt Photography

Last year, I wrote a blog post sharing 20 creative date night ideas and it’s been one of my most popular posts to date! I’ve had a bunch of people email me telling me how much they’ve loved some of the ideas and how they’ve had some GREAT dates thanks to the list. That makes me so happy! Anyway, I thought I’d share 20 MORE ideas to keep you inspired.

Since John and I are also trying to get better at dating each other more regularly, I thought this list might help inspire us, too! Now, if we can just find a sitter…

20 MORE Creative Date Night Ideas

1. Switch up your typical dinner and a movie night by checking out a restaurant movie / theater combo place! Some AMC theaters have dine-in theaters, there’s even a listing of a lot of dine-in theaters on this site.

2. Turn your back yard into a movie theater. Grab a blanket, pillows, some popcorn, and bring your laptop, iPad, or even your TV outside and watch a movie in your backyard underneath the stars! Really go all out and make the area super comfy and relaxing and enjoy a movie together.

3. Play Red Box roulette. Go find your neared Red Box, cover your eyes, and start pointing. Find a random movie you would have never thought to rent and check it out! You’ll either have something to totally make fun of because it’s that bad, OR you may discover a hidden movie gem.

4. Take dance lessons together. Sure, both of you might have four left feet, but at least you can say you tried. There are a ton of little dance studios around town (or at least there are here) that have walk-in classes.

5. Act like kids again. Go to a local amusement park, arcade, Chuck E Cheese, and totally do everything you ever did as a 12 year old. Get cotton candy, play Skee Ball, win prizes, and giggle. Awkward “date” kisses are totally encouraged, too!

6. Create an at-home spa. You can go two routes with this… the splurge or the save route. For the splurge route, hire an in-home masseuse to come give a couples massage. For the save route, get all the necessary accoutrements like massage oil or lotion, roses, bubble bath, and chocolate and set up a “spa” in your living room or bedroom! You can really get creative with it!

7. Have a board game night! Either bust out an old favorite like Clue or Scrabble or hit up Barnes and Noble and buy a new board game to bring home and play.

8. Have a splurge dessert at home. Hit up the bakery section of your grocery store or local bakery and get a really indulgent, decadent dessert. Bring it home, grab ONE spoon or fork, snuggle up on the couch, and enjoy!

9. Make it a morning date. Get up in the morning and head to check out a different breakfast location. Maybe it’s a diner you’ve never tried, or a local place everyone has been raving about. Grab breakfast and then head out for a walk around the “downtown” area of wherever you live.

10. Enjoy a “black out” night. There’s something fun about a house when the power is totally out, but don’t feel like you need to wait for a thunderstorm to make this happen. Turn out ALL of the lights and turn off anything that has power (yes, cell phones count, too). Light some candles and play in the dark. Whether it’s just sitting and talking, enjoying each other’s company, or reading by candlelight.

11. Visit the local “trampoline” place. We have a place in North Carolina called Defy Gravity. I know there are other places around the country like it… it’s basically a huge indoor trampoline park. And they have nights where it’s adults only!

12. Go yard sale-ing! Pick up a local paper or check out Craigslist for all the yard sales that weekend and take the morning to go exploring the different sales in your area. You never know if you’ll find some hidden treasure!

13. Go see a comedy show. Maybe there’s a local comedy club, improv theater, or even a theater in your area with a play that night. Get tickets and get ready to laugh! Maybe you live near a ComedySportz Improv Theater or another awesome locally owned comedy club.

14. Be Tiger Woods. Okay, so you won’t actually BE Tiger Woods, but find your local driving range and go hit some golf balls. Most driving ranges have clubs you can rent!

15. For the adventurous, go “grave rubbing.” This sounds bad, I realize that. But, during the day (unless you’re like, REALLY adventurous), bring a pencil and some paper, go to your local cemetery (bonus points if it’s a really old cemetery) and walk around and try to find the oldest headstones. Many old headstones have really cool inscriptions, quotes, etc. on them. Find one or two that you like, put the paper on there, and with the pencil, rub over the inscription so it shows up on the paper. Frame them as a memory! One thing that could also be fun is to read some of the headstones and talk / dream about what those people must have been like when they were living. What cool things did they do? What did they do for a living? What impact did they leave on this world?

16. Check out a local “wine and design.” These places are really popular right now… the places where you can go, bring your own beverages, and learn to paint a painting. You even get to come home with some artwork to commemorate the evening!

17. Volunteer together. Find a local soup kitchen, take some food to homeless people or panhandlers in your area, or ask at your local Goodwill if you can help out for an evening. There are ENDLESS possibilities when it comes to finding a way to give back to your community… together.

18. Go on a mini-road trip. Find a town within an hour of where you live that you’ve never been to. Drive there, have dinner, walk around, and explore a totally new place.

19. Have a “hobo” date. Go to your local train station and buy the cheapest roundtrip day-ticket they’ve got. Take the train as far as you can, get off and explore the town. Have lunch. Go shopping, etc. Then, hop back on the train and head home!

20. Create a “date” jar. Over dinner or lunch or coffee, sit down and write down a bunch of things (sky is the limit) you would like to do together. Write them on slips of paper, put them in a jar, and when you’re feeling uninspired, pull one out!

Now what about you? Any ideas you’re excited to try? Any ideas you’d like to add to the list?