Dating is an important part of getting to know someone. But it’s also an important part of keeping a longterm relationship healthy. In fact, couples who make a habit of having a date night at least once a month are 14% less likely to split up.
But after a while, the routine of dinner and a movie can become boring. If you want to spice things up, we’ve got the list for you.
Check out these surprise date ideas for inspiration to make your dating life more exciting.
1. Make Them Dinner
One of the best surprises can be coming home after a long day at work and discovering that dinner has already been made.
Consider taking a half-day off of work so you can get home and get started on making dinner. Try out a new recipe using high-quality ingredients, and pair it with a nice bottle of wine. To increase the sense of ambiance, consider setting the table with some candles and a nice appetizer.
To finish off the night, pick out a movie your date loves so you can watch it while you cuddle on the couch.
2. “Chopped” Night
If you and your partner both like cooking, you can do a fun date night by doing your own variation on the television show “Chopped.”
Go to a grocery store together, and split up. Each person should select three random ingredients. Next, you have to work together on making a meal that incorporates all six ingredients. If you want to make this more of a challenge, consider visiting a gourmet or international grocery store.
Perhaps you will discover a new recipe that the two of you will love. Or, perhaps it will be a strange meal that doesn’t work out as well as you hoped. Either way, you will have fun being creative together.
3. Plan a Picnic
A variation on making a romantic gourmet dinner for your partner is to plan a nice picnic meal.
You can take them to the beach, to the park, or even just to your backyard to eat under the stars. Connecting with nature and with your sweetheart can be a great way to enjoy one another’s company.
4. Surprise Them at Work
For this one, you might want to coordinate with one of their coworkers to make sure you are not disrupting their work schedule. That said, if your partner has a relatively regular lunch break, it can be very sweet to surprise them at work for a lunch date. This can be the perfect way to help them break up their day!
5. Re-Do Your First Date
Taking a trip down memory lane is always a sweet way to show the person you love how much you value your time together.
For this date, simply let your date know that you’ve made reservations, and offer to drive. They’ll be pleasantly surprised when they see you remember where you had your first date. If you have a particularly good memory, you can try requesting the same table or wearing the same outfit.
6. Revisit Your Childhood
No matter how old you get, there’s always something fun about revisiting the activities that you enjoyed as a child. If you know what your partner enjoyed as a child, it can be fun to plan a date around these activities.
For instance, consider going someplace for mini-golfing, rollerskating, arcade games, or bowling. To top off the experience, go someplace for dinner afterward to get burgers and milkshakes.
7. A Surprise Trip
This one can be a little harder to pull off, and should only be attempted if you know the person you’re dating well enough not to overwhelm them. That said if you know that your sweetheart loves to travel, setting up a surprise trip can be an amazing display of affection.
One of the tricky things about planning a surprise trip is making sure that your partner has the time off. To get around this, consider setting up a diversion. For instance, tell your partner that you’re going to visit your family, or invite them to come with you on a business trip. This way, they’re still planning on being out of town, they’ll just be surprised about the destination.
Another option some couples use is taking turns setting up surprise trips. One partner handles booking airport transportation, the room, and activities, and the other doesn’t find out where they’re going until they get to the airport.
8. Stay Overnight in Town
If you like the idea of a surprise trip but aren’t sure about going out of town, you can always plan an overnight stay locally.
Consider booking a room at a swanky hotel in your area. A great way to make this even more of a surprise is to not let your partner know until after dinner. After the two of you have had a nice meal and a couple of drinks, let them know that you can continue the evening down the street at the hotel, rather than going home.
9. Be a Tourist at Home
Similar to the last idea, you don’t have to go far away or even stay overnight to get the feeling of traveling together.
Do some research on touristy activities in your own town, and explore it together.
Keep it Fresh With These Surprise Date Ideas
These surprise date ideas are a great way to let that special someone know just how special they are.
Looking for more dating advice? Check out the rest of our blog for more helpful tips.
