Have you been trying to come up with creative dates that you and your spouse can enjoy so you spend “quality time” together? And are you fresh out of ideas? Well, in our search, we came across several to suggest to you. We’re hoping these ideas will give you the type of honeymoon time together that will help you to help you to build your marriage relationship.
It’s like something that Ellyn Sanna said:
“The whole point of a honeymoon is to give a couple time to concentrate only on each other, away from distractions and disruptions of daily life. We who have been married for a while need times like these even more than newlyweds do!” … “Let us love one another, for love comes from God.” (1 John 4:7)
Creative Dates For You and Your Mate
The message we’re hoping you’ll grab onto in all of this is to look for opportunities to keep the “honeymoon” going. You dated before marriage, which helped you to fall in love with each other. Now it’s important to continue to date each other so you stay in love with each other. This involves going out on creative dates with each other.
To help you do this, Debi Walter of The Romantic Vineyard came up with some ideas you can use.
First, the following are a few creative dates we received in from emails from The Romantic Vineyard. You can use these ideas too, just as they are presented. Or you can adapt them to go along with your style. (You can even sign up on their web site to receive date ideas like these yourself):
No Electricity Night
Here’s what Debi suggests:
Plan an evening where you use no electricity. That’s right —none!
For your meal you can use a gas or charcoal grill. Of course, you’ll have to use the refrigerator, but this is the only exception. Set the table with kerosene lanterns or candle light. No television or background music. Pick a favorite book and read aloud together or select a book of poems if you like poetry. If you can, spend some time star-gazing and talking about how big the sky is. We’ve found that doing this helps to put your trouble in perspective.
Be creative. Choose things both you and your spouse will enjoy. But make this a night where the only electricity used is found in the bedroom! :-)
As Debi suggests—get creative! If those ideas aren’t your style, then come up with others. Just don’t involve electricity in them. You can come up with some good ideas, if you really think about it. And it can be fun to plan them. Plus, it’s good not to always be so dependent upon electricity. So we suggest you try it; you may like it!
Additionally here’s another idea to try:
A Date With a View
Find a place nearby with a fantastic view. It may be a mountaintop, on the beach front, overlooking a tranquil lake, or a rooftop restaurant overlooking the city. Wherever you go, pause to take in the big picture view and realize how small we are compared to God’s creation. Remember He cares for you; He cares for your spouse; and He certainly cares for your marriage. This is why date nights are important.
We totally agree! And we have no doubt that God does too. That’s because marriage is a living picture of Christ’s love for the church. So love each other well. Make sure you don’t fall into the trap of just being married roommates.
“In order to keep the spark alive and avoid ‘roommate syndrome,’ couples have to understand the notion of spending ‘time’ together versus creating ‘sacred’ time together. Spending time at social events, time with family and doing ‘chores’ together does not count as sacred time. Instead, carve out special time to not only be intimate, but also ensure that you continue to share new experiences together such as hiking, and exploring someplace new. Or you can arrange a stay-cation in your own city.” (Marni Battista, Counselor)
More Creative Dates to Try:
Are you looking for another way to spend more “sacred time” together? This idea piggybacks along with the above idea Debi gave. But there’s a little variation here:
Plan a dessert rendezvous under the stars. Set up two comfy chairs, get candles, a fire pit or tiki torches—whatever you already have, and set the chairs around the fire. Get a small table using one from your house, and serve your dessert while enjoying the music provided by the crickets. See if you can spot a shooting star.
Now that is just one of eight dates that Debi and her husband suggest you try on your creative dates. You can find the other seven in this linked article:
• 8 CHEAP DATES ON A TIGHT BUDGET
FYI: We link to even more “Cheap Dates” in the Marriage Missions article, CHEAP DATES FOR YOU AND YOUR SPOUSE.
And then how about playing scrabble with a romantic twist? Debi and Tom came up with the idea of playing this game and reminiscing at the same time. They call it Romantic Scrabble or Scrabble Memories. We’re going to play this with each other on our anniversary. You can play it any time. Go into this link to see the rules. Try it; you may like it!
• CLOSE FRIENDS [Scrabble Memories]
And talking about memories—here’s another simple date idea that can give you some fun, and interesting memories to talk about:
• 25 of MY FAVORITE THINGS DATE IDEA
Additionally, you’ll find several more dates listed in this Romantic Vineyard web site article:
• D.R.A.B. = Date Ideas that Don’t Require A Babysitter
Plus, here are two more ideas (from The Romantic Vineyard) that you can do in the home, or perhaps you want to take it out somewhere together:
Have a Coffee Date Together
Pick an area of your home with comfortable seating and a nice lamp for ambient lighting. If you don’t have a place set up already, consider moving some furniture to a cozy corner for the date. Think coffee shop cozy! Prepare a light snack and hot beverages using the best mugs you have.
When your date begins tell your spouse to leave their cell phone in the other room. Tonight is a night to relax over a cup o’ joe together and talk. You can talk about current events, dreams or whatever else stirs your fancy. You just can’t talk about anything that will heat up the conversation. The only heat on this date should be in the cup or in your bedroom. You can even play a game of chess or checkers found in most coffee shops.
Or you can discuss some Conversation Starter Questions. We have several sets in our COMMUNICATION TOOLS topic. And if you want even more, we HIGHLY recommend you pick up Debi and Tom Walter’s book. Within it they have some creative dates written out for you, and 365 great tips for a healthy marriage. Plus, they have a lot of thoughtful questions listed that you can ask each other to grow together even closer. We’ve used the questions in their book several times on our coffee dates.
As Debi and Tom say:
Think of questions as little shovels to help you dig deeper into more meaningful conversation. Healthy marriages dig below the surface on a regular basis!
For More Creative Dates and Inspiring Marriage Tips:
We recommend you obtain and use their book as we do. To help you do just that, here’s a link for you to view and hopefully obtain it:
It’s important to remember that you are to grow your marriage. Going out on creative dates helps you to do that. Keep in mind something that Debi and Tom point out:
A marriage may be made in heaven but the maintenance must be done on earth. See: Ephesians 5:33.
Cindy Wright of Marriage Missions International wrote this article.
Filed under: Romantic Ideas