I. Creating Intimate Moments at Home for Newlyweds
The first year of marriage is a whirlwind of excitement and adjustment. While you’re eager to build a life together, it’s easy to let the romance slip through the cracks. Balancing shared goals with quality time can be a challenge, but it’s crucial for a lasting relationship.
Date nights are a simple yet powerful way to keep the spark alive. Unlike traditional date nights that require significant time and money, date nights in offer a budget-friendly and convenient solution. By creating intimate moments at home, you can strengthen your bond and rediscover the magic of your relationship.
II. Benefits of Date Nights In
Affordability
The primary benefit of a date night in, is affordability. Staying in, means you’re not having to spend as much money as you normally would if you were going out. Most people don’t think about the costs associated with a night out. Think about all the little things that cost you, the phantom costs.
You probably have to drive somewhere when going out, which means having to pay for gas, adding mileage on your car etc. then there is the whole meal, tipping, and if the night is going well, it might mean going somewhere else for a drink. It all adds up. When you’re staying in, you don’t have to spend as much money on all those extra things.
Comfort & Relaxation
Another benefit is the comfort of being at home. When you’re staying in, you don’t have to worry about how you look as much as when you go out. You tend to be more relaxed, because you’re in your environment and you can escalate things in ways that make sense to you both. You can be as loud or as quiet as you want to be without feeling like you’re disrupting anyone.
Quality Time
You get to focus on each other without added distractions. While being out and about can be fun, we’ve all been in situations where the people around us are just a little more disruptive than we would like. The quality of time you get when you’re in your own space just cannot be compared to anything else. You get uninterrupted time, where you get to look into each other’s eyes and keep the connection you’ve built over the years growing.
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III. Creative Date Night Ideas
Cooking Together
Cooking together is one of the best things any couple can do. It’s a great way to connect. Sharing an apron and a meal can be a truly romantic experience.
My partner and I spent a lot of time learning to cook different meals together in the early years of our marriage. It’s great quality time together that allows you to disconnect from the rest of the world and enjoy each other while you prime your brains to continue to develop.
One way you can take advantage of this, is to come up with theme nights. Maybe you’ve both wanted to learn how to make pasta in the past. Or maybe you love Mexican food and would like to learn how to make your favorite dishes.
Sit with your partner and come up with some cuisines that you’re both curious about and then find resources like YouTube videos or cookbooks like Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat and learn how to make the dishes together.
Use the opportunity to cook together to fan the flames of your romance. Set the table for two and make use of candle lights to make the scene more romantic.
Game Night
Now this might go well or terrible depending on who you and your partner are. If you’re both super competitive, game night might not be the best idea. Still, I strongly believe game night for a couple is one of the best date night in ideas.
Game night can go in any direction you want and provides numerous opportunities to elevate your intimacy. You set the rules. What’s at stake? Make sure you have a discussion about that and make it fun.
Do you want your night to end up in the bedroom? Well, you can build that into your game night by including what you want and are interested in, into your game night. Let your imagination go wild. Try a new game together and create little rules that ends with both of your clothes off at the end. You’ll be surprised what you learn about yourself and your partner when you play games together.
Movie Night
Movie night is one of my favorite ideas for a date night in. this can play out in different ways. You can build a fort and bring back memories of being young and the excitement of seeing a movie you’re excited about with one of your best friends.
You can do a movie marathon. In my house there is always a Harry Potter marathon going on. Now that’s not necessarily romantic, but it is less about the movie and more about the time spent with your partner and best friend.
Pick a movie that you really like or a series of movies you love, order in your favorite takeout and put on some comfortable clothes and get locked in with your loved one. Movie night can be as exciting as you want it to be, so be creative, go out on the limb and pick a movie you might not have thought was your style. You can be presently surprised sometimes if you let yourself.
Spa Night
Spa night is not going to be everyone’s cup of tea. A lot of men and some women, have a hard time relaxing. Yet we all know that our bodies and our minds need as much break as we can afford, and much more depending on the type of work we do. Get with your sweetie and plan a spa night. You can do something as simple as giving each other massages, which can quickly and easily turn erotic if that is the way you want things to go.
You can draw a bath and take a bath together. It can be a great way to slow things down and connect with each other. I mean, I’ve never seen anyone rush their way through a nice warm bath. Take your time to show each other appreciation as you take a bath together. Show love and tender care for each other’s bodies.
Finally, you can do a skin care routine together. This is a cheap and ways way to step out of your comfort zone. Take the opportunity to learn how to take care of your skin together. If your partner already has a great skincare routine, take the opportunity to ask them to teach you how to take care of your skin. Pamper yourself!
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Creative Activities
Creative activities can be a lot of fun. You can try your hand at painting or drawing. This is an especially good idea, because no matter what your skill levels, it is always fun to try and draw your partner as long as you both have a good sense of humor about it. Afterall, very few of us are the next Van Goh, but we can still have fun trying our best.
Writing is a personal favorite of mine, especially poetry. You can take time to write poetry for each other and then performing it. It’s a great way to express your creativity and push yourself, especially if you don’t think you’re particularly good at poetry.
Let your imagination run wild and think of more creative ideas.
Listen to Music Together
Listening to music together is one of my absolute favorite things to do with my partner. I’m sure we all remember what it was like in our younger days to jam to songs that illicit feelings in us. Though you would never be able to bring back those days, you can bring back those feelings, and when you do it with a partner, you can create even stronger memories.
For example, one of my favorite memories with my partner was being in a cabin with a vinyl player and listening to Leon Bridges. I can remember what the place looked like, what the temperature in the room felt like, and how happy I felt as we danced. These types of memories are priceless and you can implement this as a great date night in, especially if you’re in an area where it get really cold in the winter time.
IV. Tips for Making Date Nights In Special
Put Away Distractions
In our culture these days, digital connection is ever present, but digital connections fall short of real human connection. It’s hard to know the color of your partner’s eyes, or the way their lip curls when they’re thinking something steamy if you never actually look into their eyes or give them the attention they deserve.
A simple solution is to make your time together distraction free. Put away your phone, in fact put it in a different room. Most notifications in my experience are nothing more than noise. If it’s truly urgent, they will call you back until they reach you.
Your time with your partner is sacred and you should treat it as such. Remove all distractions, including television.
Communication
No matter what you do, communication is vitally important in how your date night in goes. If you and your partner don’t agree on what to do, it will be a disaster and you will end up creating negative experiences rather than good ones. Make sure you’re on the same page. Make sure you’re both aligned in terms of your goals and where you want to take your relationship, especially in your first year of marriage.
Listen to each other actively. Make sure that if your partner has any apprehensions about what you’re doing, that you listen, even if it means deviating from your plan. At the end of the day, you both have to find a level of happiness in whatever you decide to do. Remember, you are a team.
Appreciation
Gratitude can seem like such a buzzword these days, but there’s a reason why it has become a practice for so many people in our stressful times. I strongly believe gratitude washes our brains with good energy and allows us to show up for our partners in way we may not have imagined before.
But simply being grateful is not enough, we have to and should communicate our appreciation to our partner. Don’t be afraid to tell them you appreciate them. Tell them the ways in which they make your day better, your life better. People don’t hear enough about all the good they do for us, but we’re quick to remind them when they’ve done something bad.
Make it a habit to tell your partner how much you appreciate everything they do for you, even if they don’t reciprocate, because you benefit just as much from the practice of gratitude as they do.
V. Conclusion
Date nights are essential for nurturing a healthy and fulfilling marriage. By setting aside time for each other, couples can strengthen their bond, rekindle the spark, and create lasting memories. Whether you prefer a cozy night in or a fun outing, the key is to make it a priority.
Don’t be afraid to experiment with different date night in ideas and find what works best for you and your partner. Remember, the most important thing is to connect and enjoy each other’s company. So, what are you waiting for? Start planning your next date night today!