Nothing beats spending some romantic time alone with your better half. At PartyLite, we love a date night and if you can do it at home and save a bit of money, even better!
We've broken our ideas into five different categories to help you find your ideal date night quicker. You’ll have plenty of fun sharing these ideas and experience with your loved one, no matter your budget.
1. Food & Drink
2. Get Creative
3. Games & Entertainment
4. Activities
5. Outdoors
Food & Drink
Have A Cook Off
Why not add a bit of competition to your dinnertime? Turn date night into a cook off with your loved one and you’ll have hours of fun before you’ve even sat down to eat. We’ve picked out some ideas that are perfect no matter your cooking skills.
PartyLite Cook Off Ideas:
Easy Dining - Twist It Up: Recreate a classic dessert with a twist, like this boozy fruit salad.
Intermediate Cooking - Improvisation: Pick a bag of ingredients for each other, set a time to make your meal, go!
Expert Chefs - No Recipe Favourites: Try and cook your favourite three course meal without using the recipe, the results are bound to be interesting and will give you plenty of talking points!
Have An Indoor Picnic
There’s something extra special about giving a familiar space a new and romantic twist by turning indoors into a brand-new outdoor setting. Having a picnic indoors is the perfect way to reflect this and you should always start with the right food. An easy to eat selection of finger foods paired with chilled bottles of wine or bubbly is a must, and don’t forget to finish the evening with chocolate covered strawberries for an extra touch of romance.
The setting is just as important to ensure you’re both in the mood, so if that’s rustic country, light a nature-inspired candle, set up fairy lights around the room with plenty of soft textured furnishings for comfort and play woodland sounds through a speaker. If a beach picnic is more your thing, then add sounds of gentle waves lapping against the sand paired with blankets, seashell décor and matching seaside fragrance to create the perfect ambience.
Meet for “Happy Hour”
This is ideal for couples who are both working from your home offices so you can recreate some normality after a busy working day. If you’ve got little ones to take care of, then ask a grandparent or close friend to look after them for the evening so you can get recapturing that post-work grown-up time together. Send a calendar invite for when you both ‘shut down’, and prepare for the evening with bar snacks and cool drinks (sticky floor optional).
If your other half has had the sort of week that makes you want to spoil them, then set up small surprises. A custom-made drinks menu full of puns and in-jokes is sure to put a smile on their face. You can share the duties as bartender while enjoying some quality time together to talk about how your week at work has gone. If you're both into your wines, pick up four specific bottles of the same type (this could be anything from a picpoul to a pinot noir). Pour each of them into undisclosed glasses and have your partner sample them.
This also works if craft beers are more your thing, grab some bottles from a local brewery and compare the IPAs, saisons or stouts.
Brunch With Bubbles
If you have busy evening routines in the week, then plan to have a romantic morning date in bed one weekend, it’s the ideal way to break up a work from home routine for couples. Plan ahead to pick up fresh fruit from a local market plus pastries from your favorite local bakery. Make brunch super-indulgent by getting the bubbles in to have mimosas or bellinis.
Set the ambience and bring in your favorite flowers from your garden or balcony. Play music in the background and write a note for your loved one to find at your place setting.
Make this morning one where you're more connected to one another by having a digital detox - no phones, devices or TV will mean you're spending one to one time that's all about each other.
Bake
There are plenty of ways to add romance to baking with your loved one. It’s all in the preparation for this idea, whether you’re collaborating or setting up Bake-Off style stations to compete over who will be the star baker for the evening. This could be for a dessert you’ve never tried before but have always loved the look of, or you could try and make each other’s favorite dessert.
The best bit about baking is that it's all about making luxurious desserts before heading to a romantic tabletop setting. This date is all about skipping dinner completely and devouring sweet treats under flickering candlelight and soft ambience. Perfectly romantic, completely indulgent.
PartyLite Baking Recipes:
Easy: Chocolate-dipped Strawberries
Intermediate: Apple Pie
Intermediate: Millionaire’s Shortbread
Expert: Vegan Beignets
Expert: Salted Caramel Chocolate Tart
Get Creative
Paint
Regardless of your artistic skills, spending an evening painting with your partner can bring you closer together. Before you start it’s always good to choose the type of kit you want to use - watercolors or acrylics are perfect for art newbies, whereas oil paints are ideal for aspiring Monets. For a relaxing evening, there’s nothing better than learning how to paint thanks to the joys of Bob Ross, his classic videos are still going and are available online. If that’s not quite right you could put your skills to the test and paint each other’s portraits. You could choose a subject and get painting some still life objects like bowls of fruit or your pets (if they stay in their spot for long enough!).
Home improvement project
If you’re a couple that cohabits, there’s nothing more satisfying than making something that is uniquely yours together. Upcycling is not only a fun couple's activity, but it’s also a super sustainable way to decorate your home. You could transform an old side-table with bright paint and new handles, plant some flower beds in your garden or on your balcony, or decorate some of your older drinks mugs to bring them back to life. Don't forget that finishing the project isn't the be-all and end-all for the date. In fact, if the conversation's so good that you don’t finish that just gives you an excuse to do this date night all over again.
Home crafts
You’ll love home crafts with your loved one. Whether you want to make origami, tie-dye some of your older clothes or you could decorate some old PartyLite jar candles to turn them into storage containers, this is a fun, creative and relaxing way to while away the hours.
For origami, prep the date with paper or card packs for the both of you and a starter kit you can read together. If video aids are more your thing then fold along with YouTube tutorials. Origami has been proven to improve mindfulness, so this is the perfect way to get rid of those workday stresses and let your brain rest for an evening.
Tie-dyeing is perfect for those couples who aren’t afraid to get a little messy. Start with simple pieces like handkerchiefs or t-shirts, but don’t forget to wear old clothes for this activity! If you’re blessed with good weather, take your materials into the back garden to experiment with bigger projects like bedsheets. If you love the end product, then you could stretch it out onto a canvas to hang on your wall as a permanent reminder of a great date.
If handmade home décor is your thing, then filling or decorating old PartyLite candles is a super fun way to spend an evening. Bring your own supplies home like glass marbles, decorative stones or colorful sand. Make it personal by bringing back real materials from a nature walk like rocks, wood and leaves or bouquets that catch your eye.
Scrapbook/create a photo album
This is an idea to plan ahead for: choose and print out some of your favorite pictures between you to get ready for the date. It doesn’t even have to be pictures, find old cinema stubs, concert tickets or any other sentimental items that you want to keep in one special place. Sit down and choose the right ones together and write captions below them, reminding yourselves just how special your time together has been. It doesn’t even matter if you don’t finish the scrapbook, you’ll adore spending your evening reminiscing over beautiful memories and much-loved moments.
Games & Entertainment
Video game night
Couples that game together have plenty of fun whether they’re gaming experts or total beginners. There are many games that couples can play together, whether you want to keep it simple on mobile or if you want to delve into the world of console gaming.
Keeping it fun and light if you’re both newbies when it comes to games is always ideal for date night. If you both have a favorite game, take turns teaching each other how to play, but make sure not to get too competitive! This idea is all about sharing your passions and doing a fun and funny activity together.
It’s always great to get nostalgic and reminisce about classic games you might have played as a kid, like Tetris or Pac-Man, so hunt down online simulators you can both play on your phones. If it’s something you both loved, then it’s time for a high score battle.
If you’re controller-phobic but love the idea of gaming, then games like Just Dance on the Nintendo Switch are ideal for competitive entertainment as a couple.
PartyLite’s Favorite Console Games:
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout
Portal 2
Mario Kart
Pokémon GO
Board games and puzzles
Turn date night into a competitive event thanks to the addition of board games or puzzles and get ready to win at all costs! As a little sampler for the evening, why not see who can finish a New York Times mini crossword the quickest? Once you begin, you’ll feel the stresses of the day leave you as you laugh the night away playing some brilliant board games.
We don’t only recommend doing a jigsaw together, there are plenty of other board games that can take up an evening for couples. Before you sit down for your couple competition, ensure you have the right setting with low-intensity fragrance that will last the night, fill the room with fairy lights, get plenty of snacks in and prepare yourselves for hours of fun with these games for two.
Board Games For Couples
Taco vs Burrito
Monopoly Deal
Carcassonne
Brass: Lancashire
Movie night
Make movie night the biggest event of the week and get the full cinematic experience from the comfort of your sofa. Before the evening, make some homemade cinema tickets to recreate the feeling of going to the movies. Set up an at-home cinema and buy a simple projector kit that you can use easily with your smartphone. Make sure you set the right mood with romantic fragrance, prepare some typical cinema snacks like nachos, M&Ms and popcorn and dress in your perfect dating outfit. Treat yourselves and buy one of the latest films neither of you have seen or relax and watch your favorite romantic film together (The Notebook, every time).
Activities
Spa night
You know all about how to have a spa day on your own, but why not take that one step further and turn date night into a romantic spa evening with your partner? Make sure the mood is right with the perfect Spotify playlist, light your favorite fragrance and massage and pamper each other using oils and lotions before hydrating your faces with some nourishing masks. Don’t forget to pair your evening with the right food and drinks. Prepare some healthy infused water using cucumber, lemon and lime (or any combination you like!). Skip chips for crudités and dips for a healthier twist on snacking that means you don't go hungry while keeping everything wholesome and nourishing for your bodies.
Karaoke
Some of your best nights out have involved singing into a mic, so why not bring the karaoke booth into your home? Make sure you’ve got the right setting for the evening, with plenty of bubbly in the fridge and snacks at the ready. If you want just the basics, this machine is perfect for a quick set-up for belting out solos or recreating your favorite duets using YouTube on your smartphone. If you want to do battle and have a games console at the ready, then games like Let’s Sing give you the chance to see who has the best voice while singing classic or current hits.
Virtual Dance Class
Whether it’s passionate salsa or a dramatic tango, recreating a dance floor at home can bring you closer together regardless of your dancing ability. If you want to really learn the ropes, schedule a Zoom class with a local dance group or teacher, or if you prefer to keep your moves to yourselves then use an online tutorial. This will not only be fun for you both to try something different at home but combined with romantic and passionate dance moves this is perfect for creating a super sensual setting for the rest of your evening.
Make A Wish List
If you’re a new couple who are looking to get to know each other better or if you’re an experienced couple looking to deepen your loving connection. The concept of a wish list is a more positive spin on a bucket list and is ideal for a night of romance. This is perfect to make privately to share once it’s complete or you can make your lists together in an evening. These can be big ideas to dream about (around the world cruise or backpacking holiday), achievable plans that you’ll both love (visit the most expensive restaurant in your area), or simpler goals that just feel right (work out how to make the perfect chocolate soufflé).
Plan A Weekend Away/Staycation/Holiday
Let yourselves be whisked away as you plan your next trip or holiday. Get drinks and snacks at the ready so you can spend the hours researching your ideal destinations, then draw up a wishlist including where you want to eat, specific sights you want to take in and activities you don’t want to miss out on.
To get yourselves excited, light the right fragrance that transports you to your potential destination and watch virtual tours of prime sightseeing spots. Browse Pinterest to fill yourselves with inspiration from mood boards from your dream location. Then make a board of your own and pledge to see all the beautiful sights you find together.
Outdoors
Have a dinner under the stars
Nothing suggests romance like a candlelit meal under the glow of the moon and stars! So dig out those fairy lights, surround your table with luscious greens, pop open an expensive bottle of bubbly and enjoy each other’s company over dinner outside. To make this setup unique, source an outdoor stove to keep you both warm once the night has drawn in, with an extra large blanket for you to both cuddle under.
Make the most of your evening together by staring into the Milky Way and trying your hand at some amateur stargazing. If moving activities are more your thing, take a romantic moonlit walk once your meal is over or prepare a nighttime garden scavenger hunt for your loved one filled with romantic clues. End it on an intimate high with the final destination being back together under the blanket.
Camp Overnight In The Garden
Why not take your outdoor meal a step further and camp under the beautiful starry night sky as a replacement for summer festivals that could have been. Before getting down to sleep, bring some cozy outdoor seating outside, grab those big blankets and sit in front of a firepit. You’ll love the romance of dancing flames as you cook marshmallows for s'mores on the fire with your loved one.
Elevate your outdoor sleeping experience by turning your garden into a glampsite: make sure your tent is big enough to fit a double air mattress, fill your space with pillows and duvets and you’ll have the best night ever being at one with nature.
Elevate your date night with our indulgent and romantic fragrance range.