It's really important to keep dating even after you're married.
Maybe even more important then.
How about some fun date night ideas for married couples?
You'll find here on the channel a video I did called how to build a healthy relationship?
9 Secrets.
In that video, I illustrated 9 principles that help to establish and maintain healthy
relationships.
Especially in marriage.
The very last of those 9 secrets, those 9 principles was wholesome recreational activities.
We got to be having fun.
If we're not having fun, we're doing it wrong.
And date night is the time when you can practice that particular principle.
Along with several of the other ones that we mentioned in the other video.
When I decided on this title, I went to my Facebook page and I said, "Best date night
ideas for married couples.
Go!"
And within 2 hours, I had over 50 suggestions from the Facebook family.
I'm going to share those with you in a top 10 format.
Now, I've organized these according to how I thought they should roll.
Some of them by popularity on Facebook.
And some of them just by how they struck me as I've heard the ideas.
There were so many suggestions that I had to break these down into categories.
So, I'll give you the top 10 categories.
Starting number 10.
Traditional.
These are the things you would normally think about for a date night activity.
Like, dinner and a movie.
Now is that boring and old fashioned?
No, it's fun.
And it's traditional.
So, that's why I made this category.
Other things that show up in this particular category...
I was hearing ideas like a box of chocolates or bringing home flowers or getting dessert
together.
Or going out to the theater.
These are more traditional kinds of date night activities.
And those showed up a lot on the Facebook feed.
The next category is one that I call outdoor active.
These are active activities that you can do outside.
The most popular of which that showed up in that feat, taking a walk together.
How simple is that?
And it doesn't really cost anything.
While you're walking, you have an opportunity to converse and to check in with each other.
I also saw things like, riding skateboards or segue way scooters.
Or taking a bike ride.
Or going for a hike.
Playing around of golf or visiting the zoo.
These are all fun outdoor active kinds of activities that you can get involve with this
date night.
Great way to support your relationship.
Moving up to number 8 on our countdown list is the intimate or the romantic style of a
date.
Some of my Facebook friends were coming right out and saying, "Hey, we like to have sex."
Well, that's a pretty good idea.
How about kissing?
Nice!
These are romantic activities that involve a little bit of intimacy too.
But some people got even more creative.
Bubble bath and a glass of wine was one of the suggestions.
Or doing a hut tub together.
So, we don't have to get all squeamish and up tight about these things.
It's fun!
And it's a good way to connect as a couple.
The next category.
Number 7, I'm calling it an "Event".
This is where you plan something.
Usually it's going to take a little bit longer like a retreat or get away.
Or going to a hotel for the night.
These are more event-based kind of dates.
And anything on the list is going to take a little planning and preparation.
The event category is one that probably is going to take some advanced preparation.
Couple of years ago, Vicki and I hosted the Marital Magic Cruise in the Caribbean.
We're thinking about doing another one.
So, if you're interested, let me know.
On this cruise, we were gone for a whole week in paradise on a sheep, all you can eat.
See, this is an event kind of an experience.
Cost more money.
Takes more planning.
But don't rule out the events as you're thinking about good date activities.
Now, let's move up to number 6.
This category I titled "Social".
A lot of theses suggestions coming out had to do with getting together with other couples
to do things.
Maybe to play some games.
Or to do some service activity.
Or you're interacting with another couple and providing service for someone in your
community or for an organization that's very deserving.
Another idea (I love this one) was to exchange date night baskets.
That's where each couple puts together a basket with some of their favorite date activities
or suggestions.
And then they get together as a group and exchange thos baskets with each other.
That way, they have the tools and the resources for their next date.
And they've got a lot of new ideas that they've swapped with other couples.
Moving on to number 5 on the list.
I'm calling this category personal.
Or values-oriented.
A lot of people we're suggesting that doing something that supports the values of the
relationship could be really important.
Like visiting the temple or going to the synagogue together or attending an event that's meaningful
to the values that brought you together in the first place as a couple.
One of my favorite ideas from this category came from Dave and Natalie.
Thank you so much for giving us this one.
They called it "Pieces Of You".
What they're talking about here is that they take turns planning an activity that shows
a little piece of who they are from they're past or their experience.
Dave, for example used to sing in a choir in college.
So, he got tickets for a concert of the same choir years later.
And he took Natalie to that concert.
So that they could experience that little piece of who he was and what is his history
was.
And then afterwards, they talked about what that meant to him in his development as a
person.
Natalie had the idea that they would go to an old high school football game in her hometown.
What a fun thing.
It was maybe a half-hour drive for them to get there but they got to talk to each other
about the importance of their history and their upbringing.
Pieces of you.
What a great idea.
Number 4 on our list is "Unique".
Unique things that you wouldn't necessarily think of.
And that's part of the fun.
I get to read you some of the things that came up.
Going to an escape room.
This is also something that you can do with all other couples.
Vicki and I actually did this with a group of younger couples.
And I think they invited us because of our experience with things that they might not
have known about.
So that they can get out of their room easier.
This escape rooms are very prominent now.
And something that's a lot of fun especially to do with other people.
Here's a couple of other ideas that came up.
Going shooting.
How about bungee jumping.
Couple bungee jumping.
Visiting a comedy club or corky in historic sites.
There's a lot of weird places out there.
And that could be a lot of fun to do together.
How about this one?
Axe throwing.
I didn't even know that that was a thing.
But apparently it's getting some popularity.
There are places you can go and they teach you how to do this.
Have some fun and be unique.
Now, moving up to category number 3 on our list is indoor active.
Active implies that you're getting up and you're moving around a little bit.
And some of the things that you can do indoors, if the weather is not so great or if your
climate is not conducive to the outdoor activities.
These things might include bowling, for example.
Visiting an arcade.
Going to a dance facility.
In fact, dancing showed up quite a bit.
And this is something that doesn't have to be done formally.
One of the couples that gave us a suggestion on Facebook said that they like to put on
their favorite music using their Alexa dot and they dance in their kitchen.
Isn't that fun?
I also learned about a little thing called backyard ballroom.
You might want to look that up and see if that might be a possibility for some of the
indoor active activities.
Category number 2.
Got a lot of suggestions for things that are creative.
And by creative, I don't mean unique.
We already covered that one.
I mean, that you create something.
So, this is where people are suggesting art classes or activities.
Sculpting something together.
Doing soap carving.
These things create some kind of a product or a piece of art or a work that you can use
as a memory of the date.
That's kind of fun.
Other creative activities might include cooking or doing some kind of a craft together.
Like knitting or cross stitch or paint by number.
There's a lot of possiblities, get creative.
The number 1 category.
And this one is in terms of frequency of suggestion on Facebook.
Are the low-cost home-based activities that you can do together as a couple for a date.
Low-cost at home by far the number 1 suggestion is to lock yourself into a room away from
the kids or other distractions and then spend time together.
There were also some fun suggestions like building a fort.
Do you remember when you were kid and you took every blanket and cushion and pillow
in the house to build a fort?
You can still do that.
And there are couples that suggested activities on Facebook to build that blanket fort.
Watch a movie together or just cuddle.
Have a great time connecting with each other in a fun way.
A big thank you to our Facebook crowd who gave us this suggestions today.
We've got an opportunity now to increase that list.
Make a comment down below with your favorite date night activity ideas for married couples.
Let's get that conversation rolling.
I'll see you again tomorrow.