60 Awesome Date Night at Home Ideas for Married Couples

With the demands of work, kids, and chores, it can be difficult to keep a consistent date schedule with your spouse. Add in the cost of a babysitter and you might just never have dates together. That’s why I put together these great date night ideas at home for married couples.

Take the cost and guesswork out of date night!

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Why is date night for married couples so important?

Before you got married, you went on lots of dates to get to know each other and foster a deep connection. This shouldn’t stop now that you’re married! In fact, it should be made a priority!

We are bound to change over the years. If you don’t continue to learn about your spouse, you might find that you don’t recognize them anymore.

It’s so important to continue date nights. Keep connecting with your spouse!

What can married couples do for fun at home?

The quick answer: SO MUCH! Get creative or bust out an old favorite date. It doesn’t matter what you do as long as you’re together.

Keep reading for great date night at home ideas for married couples!

Free date night planner

If you’d like help organizing your date ideas, you’ll love the free date night planner I created for my email subscribers! Just click on the picture below or subscribe here to gain access!

Here are some of the other resources you’ll be able to download:

• Emotional Intimacy Test
• 30 Day Marriage Challenges
• Conversation Starters
• Financial Planning for Couples
• and more are added all the time!

Inexpensive date night at home ideas for married couples

Let’s get started with one of my favorite categories: cheap date nights for married couples. It takes away the last excuse you have to not prioritize date night: it costs too much. Dates (especially the ones at home!) don’t have to be expensive.

1. Read together: Don’t most of us say we wish we would read more? You can read the same book or different ones. Turn this into a date by having a conversation about your books. Tell each other the things you like and dislike about what you’re reading.

2. Watch a game together: Even if one of you is not into sports, you can still turn this into a date. Study up on the teams’ stats. Learn some rules of the game. Then cheer on your spouse’s favorite team together!

3. Have a movie night: Need help picking a movie to watch? You can always set parameters for your pick (comedy, drama, 90’s movies, etc.).

4. Watch your favorite show: Tv night can easily become a date. Use discussion questions and talk about what you’re watching. Need some ideas for what to talk about? You’ll love this post!

5. Picnic outside: You don’t need anything fancy to have a picnic. Grab a blanket and eat a meal in your backyard! You’ll enjoy the change of scenery.

6. Picnic inside: Having bad weather? Take your picnic inside! You can sit on a blanket on the floor of your living room. Plus, you have the added bonus of being able to watch a movie with your picnic.

7. Taco bar: Think of all the different taco combinations and give yourselves choices! Try something new and rank your favorite tacos!

8. Ice cream bar: Don’t just have ice cream, make it into a creation! Take some time before the date to do a little research and try to come up with a new concoction together.

9. Pizza toppings bar: Make some new pizza creations with a pizza toppings bar! Branch out from your regular pizza order.

10. Cook something new together: Pick a country, look up a popular dish native to that country, and cook it!

11. Cook an old family recipe: Call up your mom and ask for an old family recipe. Make it with your spouse! Spend some time talking about your memories with this recipe. Did your mom make it for you as a kid? What kind of feelings does this particular food bring up for you?

12. Make s’mores: If you can’t get outside, use this hack to toast your marshmallow.

13. Conversation starters: You don’t have to do anything extravagant to have a date night at home! Here are some great conversation starters.

14. Create a family budget: What better way to have an inexpensive date night than to set a family budget? Finances don’t have to be a struggle in your marriage. Turn this important conversation into a date. It’ll help ease the mood of the topic.

15. Do a photo shoot: Have fun taking sweet and silly pictures together.

16. Watch your favorite childhood movies together: Bring back the nostalgia for this date! Talk about why the movie was your favorite growing up.

Romantic date night ideas at home

Don’t worry if you’re not the romantic type. We’ve got you covered! You’ll love these romantic date night ideas!

1. Try a bedroom game from Romance Enhanced: Josie from Romance Enhanced loves helping couples be more romantic! Her kits come with some great ideas for a romantic evening. Here’s an unboxing of her massage bedroom game:

nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfdAz0jr2Dw&t=132s

2. Sit outside by a fire: Don’t have a firepit? Here’s how to make one for less than $100!

3. Make a fire inside: Don’t have a fireplace? Pull up this YouTube video on your tv.

4. Have an at home wine tasting: If you need help, here’s a great article with some ideas.

5. Star gaze: Pick a clear night and lay a blanket outside.

6. Dive into your love languages: Take this quiz if you don’t know yours. Talk about all of the ways you can show each other love using this knowledge. You can even plan your next date around one of your love languages.

7. Have breakfast in bed: Even if your date is at night, it’s always a good time for breakfast food!

9. Watch a romantic comedy: If one of you isn’t into rom-coms, it can be fun to try something new. Be willing to branch out – your spouse will be grateful you did.

10. Have a spa night: What a great way to relax! Turn on some candles and light music for this date.

11. Write love notes to each other: Take some time to think about all the reasons you love and appreciate each other.

12. Write notes to your future selves: On our fifth anniversary, Josh and I wrote letters to each other in our wedding guest book. We’ll read them again on our 10th anniversary and write new ones.

13. Document your love story: Take reminiscing to a whole new level by writing down your journey. You can do this over several dates.

Art date night ideas at home

I like this category because you get to be creative and do something a little out of the ordinary for date night. Have you ever done a craft on a date? Let me know in the comments below!

1. Paint and sip: Open a bottle of wine (or other fun beverage) and paint together! After it dries, you can hang it up as a sweet reminder of your fun date.

2. Mason jar photo frames: Make this fun craft together.

3. Create a family tree: Start with your family and work your way as far back as you can. Call your parents to help fill in the gaps. You can go as big or small as you want with this by including pictures and framing it for your home!

4. Chocolate Mug Cake Gift: You can get started on your Christmas gifts with this sweet craft.

5. DIY Etched Mason Jars: These gorgeous mugs are great for gifts or to keep for yourselves!

6. Go on a museum tour: Lots of museums have virtual tours. Have fun exploring one together and learn more about the art from the comfort of your couch.

7. Create a family photo album: It’s much easier to create a photo album now that we have companies like Shutterfly. Pick some pictures and enjoy creating a memory book together.

8. Recycled CD coasters: You may not listen to your old CDs anymore but you haven’t wanted to get rid of them. Turn them into coasters for your home.

9. DIY Gold Leaf Painted Rocks: I like this craft in particular because it puts a polished spin on a fun hobby.

Fun at home dates for married couples

This category was the easiest to create and some of our go-to date nights fall under this category. Enjoy!

1. Play a video game together: There are some great cooperative video games out there! Josh and I have had a lot of fun together playing video games.

2. Play a board game together: We play board games a lot. Here are our favorites!

3. Play a game on your phone together: Josh and I love playing Words with Friends.

4. Karaoke: Here’s a free app so you can do karaoke from the comfort of your living room.

5. Play some date night games: Here are a couple of ideas:

• Create an obstacle course. Blindfold your spouse and guide them through by giving directions.
• Play a game of charades. Need some inspiration? Here’s a great post to help you.

6. Learn to dance: I’m from Texas and I taught Josh to line dance one night. Nowadays, there are YouTube video tutorials for everything so don’t worry if you don’t know a particular dance.

7. Play frisbee or other yard games: Even something as simple as frisbee can be so much fun together.

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Other posts you’ll love:

13 Amazing Benefits of Couples Who Workout Together

19 Lasting Ways to Build Emotional Intimacy in Your Marriage

To the Husbands Who Travel for Work: How to Connect with Your Wives

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8. Sleep in a different room: Bonus points if the room doesn’t have a bed! Stack blankets on top of each other to create some cushion, bring over your pillows, and watch a movie on your laptop. You’ll enjoy the change of scenery and feel like you’re having a sleepover.

9. Pretend you lost power: Turn off all of the lights and only use candles and flashlights.

10. Work on a puzzle: Use teamwork to complete a puzzle. You can glue it together and hang it up when you’re done.

Out of the box date night ideas at home

When looking for stay at home date ideas for couples, your options can begin to get a little repetitive. That’s why I put together a list of ideas for couples night at home that are unconventional.

1. Order your date: Have you heard of date box subscriptions? These companies send you everything you need for a creative and fun date without all of the planning. We love date box subscriptions because they:

• Are so creative
• Come complete with an entire date in one box
• Take the stress out of date night
• Allow you to have a fun and romantic date night right at home

Here are our favorites:

• DateBox Club: Here’s our review.

• Crated with Love: Here’s our review and use discount code ConnectAgain for 10% off your purchase!

• Night In Box

2. Make lists: You can get creative with this! Compare your lists and make sure to talk about the meaning behind each item on your lists. Here are some ideas:

• Top 10 favorite movies/shows
• Top 5 most memorable moments from your marriage
• Top 5 most memorable childhood moments
• Fall bucketlist

3. Learn a new skill together: Have you always wanted to try woodworking or making your own fresh bread? Work together to hone a new skill. This idea is nice because it can easily turn into multiple date nights at home. Make sure you help each other when one of you is struggling.

4. Take a trip down memory lane: I recently surprised Josh with a theme for a date. It focused on the time we used to live in an apartment, almost 7 years ago. We went to an old favorite restaurant, shopped at a favorite store, and even walked around our old apartment complex. We reminisced and talked about all the amazing memories we made together before we were married.

5. Start a garden together: This can easily span multiple dates:

• Make plans and research what to plant
• Go to your local gardening shop and buy your materials
• Build your garden bed and sow your seeds
• Take pictures, document your progress, and make plans for the next season!

6. Window shop: There’s something fun about looking around a store without buying anything. Who knows, you might get some good Christmas gift ideas! You can do this from the comfort of your own home by browsing some fun stores. Uncommon Goods is one of my favorites.

7. Give each other a present: Who says you have to wait for a special occasion to give each other gifts? This could be the theme of your next date! Take the time to think of something special to gift. Use your date to explain why you picked that particular gift.

8. Get a jump start on your Christmas gifts: Sit down together and talk about:

• All the people you want to get gifts for
• What you’ll get each person
• The overall budget

9. Play with your kids’ toys: Who says they get to have all of the fun? Bust out those Legos and create something together. Or pull out a couple of pages from their coloring books. Bring out your inner child with this fun date.

10. Travel around the world: Pick a place on a map and Google it! Find out everything you can about the place (best restaurants, tourist attractions, best hotels, etc.). By the end of it, you’ll feel like you’ve already been there. Who knows? You might even find your next vacation destination!

11. Exercise: Working out with your spouse comes with so many benefits. Use it as a date night option to help motivate you to work out together.

12. Make a plan to volunteer: Do some research on local charities and dive deep into each one. Pick one together and make a plan to volunteer together.

How to set up the perfect at home date

For some, the idea of a diy romantic date night at home can be daunting. Here’s my equation for the perfect at home date:

Step 1: Pick an activity

You now have some great date night at home ideas for married couples with the extensive list above! Try to vary what you do on a date night at home.

Step 2: Add a special drink

It doesn’t have to be alcoholic! Try to think of something that you don’t normally drink. For example, if you rarely have soda, it’ll be special to open a can of Dr. Pepper on your date.

Step 3: Add a special food

You can do so much with food on your date. Focus on something that you both enjoy. It can be as simple as a favorite snack or as big as a 3 course meal. You can’t go wrong with sharing some good food together!

Step 4: Use conversation starters

I’m a huge fan of conversation starters! They help you talk about more than work and the kids. You might even learn something about your spouse! You can find our favorites here.

Step 5: Set the mood

Nothing sets the mood for a date night at home like a candle and music.

Choose a candle that is not too potent. You can even pick one that goes with the season you’re in (pumpkin and spices for fall, peppermint for the winter).

The music will depend on your activity. You might want a favorite artist or album, take into consideration what you will be doing on your date. If your date focuses on conversation, you won’t want to pick music with a lot of lyrics: think acoustic for these kinds of dates.

If you have a fireplace and it’s cold out, setting a nice fire will add extra ambiance to your date.

Step 6: Turn off distractions

The kids should be either in their beds or playing in their rooms. Things happen and you might be interrupted by your kids. But stack the odds in your favor.

Your phones should be out of sight. If you’re using your phone to play music, place it away from where you’re having your date.

This is your special time with your spouse. Don’t let distractions take you out of the mood.

Final Thoughts

In the end, it doesn’t matter WHAT you do, as long as you spend quality time with your spouse.

What did you think of this list? I’d love to know in the comments below!