Date nights are incredibly important for every marriage. While the days of being a newlywed are often focused on love and romance, life eventually takes over and edges out the time for connecting with your spouse one-on-one.
Every couple needs to set aside some time to spend alone together, just focusing on their marriage. Having fun, rekindling romance, and sharing some cherished activities on a date night is a wonderful way to nurture your relationship.
Let’s look at six ways you can make your next date night unforgettable!
1. Make it an event.
We want you to savor your date nights together. Whether you dress up and go to a fancy restaurant or make plans for goofy golf, make it an event. Get excited and do whatever it takes to boost your anticipation of the evening.
Treat your married date nights with just as much importance as you did when you were dating. They’re even more important now than they were back then!
2. Leave your problems at home.
Date night is not the time to discuss disagreements or issues that cause pain in your marriage. It’s common for discussions to drift into negative territory when you finally manage to steal a moment to yourselves, but don’t let it happen. One negative discussion could derail your entire night.
You’ll have plenty of time to deal with your problems another time. This night is for the two of you to enjoy one another, away from the distractions of everyday life.
3. Don’t talk about the kids.
We understand–you love your kids. We love ours, too. But this night is about you as a couple, so put child-centric discussions on hold, just for a little while.
Talking about the kids when you’re on a date takes away from your time together. It can also devolve into conflict, particularly if you and your spouse disagree on issues surrounding the kids. Our best advice? Wait until tomorrow. For tonight, leave it alone.
4. Reminisce!
Date nights are all about reigniting the spark that brought you together. Reminiscing about your favorite times in your relationship is a great way to fan the flame. Talk about your favorite date nights, shared events, and life experiences. If you like, you can even go to a place you frequented when you were first dating.
5. Have fun.
Make sure you have fun on your dates together–don’t take them so seriously that you forget to enjoy yourselves. It’s easy to fall into the perfectionist trap, but try to avoid that. Even if things don’t go according to plan (and in life, they often don’t), find ways to make the experience positive and lighthearted.
6. Enjoy a little romance.
For many couples, daily life takes over and crowds out romance. On your date night, be intentional about cultivating romance and tenderness. If you’re able to, send the kids to grandma’s or a trusted friend’s for the night and spend as much time as you can focusing on the love you have for one another. Staying connected romantically makes life a little brighter, even in the most challenging seasons.
Do you and your spouse plan regular date nights? Let us know in the comments!
My husband is not often an initiator of date nights the occasional movie yes and maybe once a year to something local. My question is should I initiate by planning it instead of hoping and waiting for him to plan it. We are seniors and married a long time.
I say yes. It’s important to get that time together, whoever plans it. Better yet, plan stuff together!
My wife and I generally plan dates together, and she is much better than I at finding deals, so usually it’s her that will have an idea of what to do.
Yes marriage about both of you, men like to be pursued so yes, it’s go bless you both!!
Great tips! Certainly appreciate the comments and responses. I love “date nights!” I have not however enjoyed many. Date nights were rare as a single. Very few, married with a 2yr old and a very demanding business. -Sduncan
We do not have regular date nights but we do have them. We will hike, go to a movie (cheap theater), do dinner out, etc.. I agree with the earlier comment that if one spouse struggles planning things, the other should just step in and do it! Do not keep score as to who initiates, some people are better at thinking ahead. It doesn’t mean the non-planner doesn’t want to go out.
Yes we try to once a week but it took a while to get Consistent and we try to do one Saturday a month to!
Honestly, we just talked about how putting ourselves and time together MUST be a priority! My husband gave me a “gift certificate” last Christmas (2018), good for a 3 day “adventure” together. We never did it, in over a year’s time. Our lives are full – we are retired/semi-retired, and God is using us both in so many ways, but deliberate time together has fallen off our calendars….
My husband & I met 9 years ago and have been married for 8.5 years. We had so much fun dating those first few months that we agreed to keep it up. We go on a date every month and we’ve never missed one (even with the birth of two kids). We take turns and planning them each month and have found all kinds of fun and silly and weird things to do. Sometimes it’s dinner out and an activity, other times we stay in and play a game or give each other massages. But we always enjoy the time together and I’m so glad we make this a priority!