Marriage is not all what it is cracked up to be. Marriage is beautiful but hard work and in the midst of the daily responsibilities such as going to work, taking care of the household chores and the children, it is easy to get stuck in a routine and forget to make time for your spouse. Some days, it might even feel that you barely even have time for yourself.
When you find yourself being distant from your spouse and only talking about the mundane things such as the bills, your schedule and things that are unrelated to the way you feel about each other, then it is time to set the clock on to romantic quality time for the two of you to reconnect. It is essential for a healthy marriage to cultivate date nights and ensure they happen on a regular basis. Every couple is different, some find that they enjoy spending one night per week on a romantic night out while others might like a weekend per week, at the end of the day, it is up to you and your spouse how much time you want to set aside regularly to that effect.
You don’t need to splurge or go into an intense week of preparation for this. We suggest these 7 romantic date ideas for you to start establishing this habit:
1. The classic dinner and a movie
Such a classic, old-time favourite of a lot of couples, married or not and it isn’t hard to see why this ranks highly on the date night selection: watching a movie transports you into another world, sometimes of fantasy depending on the genre obviously, but mostly it makes you experience emotions and you get to share the story with your better half. Dinner brings you closer as you chat over a meal about the movie or on other matters. You might want to go to the cinema and to a nice restaurant or stay home, order some take-aways and watch a classic movie or to rekindle the romance of your love story by watching your very own movie – the one you had made from the wedding videography. A special treat to share and relive these emotion-filled moments.
2. A late afternoon walk or a picnic with your camera
Go for a walk if the weather and your location allows it and pack some snacks for a picnic on the way. Use your camera to capture photography or videography of each other during the walk and also the fun of you have have. Do remember to bring a small and light tripod if you wish to achieve stable and non blurry shots at night or to do a nice scenic background shot.
3. Candle-lit dinner in a restaurant
This one requires some efforts in booking a restaurant you both like, getting dressed up and enjoying a romantic dinner together as if it was your first date.
4. Theatre show or musical
Check out the events in your town and see if there’s anything that tickles your fancy. It might be a circus evening or a theatre show, a ballet performance or musical. Whatever it is, make it a fun evening where you allow yourselves to be entertained while you cherish the time you get to spend with your spouse
5. A creative evening
Get out of your comfort zone by doing something the challenges you both on a creative level. Perhaps you might find that your voice is not so rusty after all and you could sing a duet on karaoke or perhaps you might want to write each other a poem or paint your respective portraits and have a good giggle about it, basically it is to have fun and not taking this activity too seriously but rather remember to laugh and find your inner child. You can also take some creative photography or videography with your smartphones and form a montage when you get back.
6. A cook off
Nothing warms the heart more than a home-cooked meal: buy groceries together, stay in and cook yourselves a storm in the kitchen. You can either split the meal – one of you does the starter and the other the main course, or one of you chops and dices while the other cooks over the pan.
7. Board games
Get competitive in a good, fun and interactive way by playing a game of chess, or any other board games you both enjoy. Perhaps you could also try something new just for a challenge and for an interesting twist, the one who wins gets to have one night off from having to wash dishes or the one who loses has bring the other breakfast in bed the following morning.
