Date Nights add pizzazz to a relationship.
When things begin getting mundane, a date night spices things up. Laugh together like kids, whisper secrets, hold hands, and fall in love all over again on a date night together.
Intimacy & Passion
An article by Julie Baumgardner of First Things First shares how date nights can help couples move away from the distractions of daily life to focus on one another. Date nights bring back intimacy and passion and help couples build the necessary resilience to carry their marriage through those challenging times.
Sadly, a “Redbook” survey of readers found that 45 percent of couples “rarely” have date nights. Only 18 percent said they manage to go out around once a month. Some readers cited the battle over who would initiate, organize, and plan the date. But date nights are important, especially when they involve activities designed to promote that special friendship that sparks romance.
Study after study shows how couple time enhances communication, solidifies commitment, and offers parent couples time alone. In their numerous books about marriage, authors Claudia and Dave Arp – founders of Marriage Alive International – say healthy, growing marriage relationships require friendship, fun, and romance. Couples frequently cite their financial situation as a reason to skip date nights, but a fun date night doesn’t have to break the bank.
The website FaithMoms.org suggests these date night ideas.
Fresh & Inexpensive Date Nights
1. Take a spontaneous road trip.
Use 1/3 of the time allotted for your date driving. Stop and explore for 1/3 of the allotted time. Then spend the last 1/3 driving home. Don’t plan ahead. You may have to get creative if your time runs out while you are in the middle of nowhere!
2. Take a class together.
There are so many fun subjects: cooking, painting, photography, Zumba, and more.
3. Have fun go-karting, playing whirly ball, mini-golf, or going bowling.
Experience something new and have a blast together.
4. Spend a day on the water.
Rent jet skis, kayaks, paddle boats, or a fishing charter! Wear sunscreen and have fun!
5. Kidnap another couple.
This can be as simple as dinner out together, or getting crazy and challenging them to laser tag, a card game, or an escape room.
6. Test drive a new car.
Drive the car you’ve always dreamed of owning, even if it is not a reasonable car for you or is too expensive.
7. Explore your town or the next town over.
You may find a new favorite park, pond, or walking spot.
8. Have a playground date.
Chase each other on the monkey bars, swing on the swings, race down the slides, let loose, and have fun.
9. Fly kites in the park.
Even your backyard will do!
10. Serve together.
Volunteer at the local homeless shelter, serve seniors at a nursing home or chaperone a high school dance.
Marriage guru, Dr. Gary Chapman says, “Spending time together is one of the major ways that we show our love for another person.”
So even if your date night is spent at home with a candlelit dinner, dancing in the living room to your favorite tunes, or simply playing a fun game – being together and focused on each other is all that counts.
Stats show that married people are happier, live longer, and enjoy more economic security. Children with married parents perform better in school. Keeping marriages strong benefits communities as well as individual families, and date nights help marriages stay strong.
MREC hosts multiple date nights throughout the year. Find our date nights at mrecenter.org/events.
