Keep the Romance Alive in Your Marriage with Thoughtful Date Night Ideas

If you’ve been married a while it’s easy to let date nights be a thing of the past.  But there’s a huge win for both of you to kickstart your date nights. Set aside time to connect (without the kids) each week or at least each month.

Investing in your marriage is not too different from investing in your savings account. If you rarely make any deposits, when you hit a snag and need a good balance to prop you back up, it’s not going to be there. And just like in investing, little deposits really do add up over time.

If it’s been so long since you’ve scheduled a date night that your spouse might look at you funny if you even suggest it, use the Olympics as a source of inspiration.

Revitalize Your Marriage Through Better Date Nights

Our family is glued to the TV every night to witness the dedication, the endurance and the personal sacrifice these athletes have made to try and shave, in some cases. .01 off their time to get on the medal stand. It’s amazing and inspiring.

We all celebrate when someone wins the gold. All their work is rewarded with a tangible sign of their achievement. You can see the satisfaction on their faces.

Now, when someone wins that typically means someone else does not. There is always a silver and bronze medalist that ALMOST got that gold medal. Sometimes you can see they’re genuinely happy for the #1 and other times they can’t hide the disappointment.

But that disappointment fuels many to dig deeper try and harder and return to the next games where they win and the victory is even sweeter.

Like Shaun White’s gold in the men’s halfpipe. His 3rd gold medal, but it seemed sweeter than the others because he had to wait for and train for after missing the podium at the winter games placing 4th. Four years of hard work and dedication.

We’d like to encourage you to take inspiration for your date night from the winners’ happiness or dig a bit deeper if you’ve missed a few training rounds and aren’t on the podium yet.

We think a great way to kickstart your date nights is to plan some Olympic medal date nights.

If date nights are new for you why not start at a bronze level? If you’ve done a few in the past, but haven’t stuck with it, shoot for the silver this time. And if you’re ready for a challenge – go for the gold.

Train towards these date night Olympic goals:

Bronze

If date nights aren’t a regular thing for you and your spouse, start small. Pick a night to go to a simple restaurant. Wear your jeans. Keep it chill. Or pick a fun place to kick back and have a drink together. Nothing over the top. Not too expensive. Not fancy. But time specifically set aside for just you two.

You can even just go for a walk or take a drive. But be sure you both know it’s a date night, not just a drive home from the grocery store run.

Silver

If you’re ready to shoot for that next level up, go for the silver date night. Maybe find something that lends itself well to doing multiple times to encourage you to stay the course and get more regular with your date nights.

If you took a 6-week evening cooking class you would take your date nights to the next level by committing to doing them more often. Wine-tasting classes are a fun idea too.

We took dance lessons twice a week for a month before we had kids. It wasn’t a favorite, but we made some great memories. (And Taylor probably deserves a medal just for going along.)

or

If you normally go for jeans and a fast casual restaurant take it up a notch with a new outfit and a leisurely time at a nicer place.

Gold

Now, don’t panic. If you’ve been training for a bronze or silver medal by this point working towards the gold won’t feel that much different.

To shoot for the top of the podium of date nights, you could take turns planning this one. Almost like a gold date night for her and then one for him. Pick their favorite restaurant, their favorite activity, or pick something brand new depending on their personality. Ask for their input if you want, but build the gold medal date night around their favorites. (You know honeymoon suites don’t have to just be for honeymoons. It’s not like they’ll card you.) Create a night that will make a memory you can enjoy forever.

OR

Call in the experts. Olympic athletes have trainers and coaches. Why not get some expert assistance for a gold medal date night? For us in Colorado that means a service like Denver Date Nights.

How Does It Work?

1. Select your option.  Whether it’s a perfect night out starting at $39 or a weekend away, $120.
2. Answer a few quick questions like budget and overall vibe.
3. Check Out
4. Relax and enjoy.  A date planner is creates a custom date.

When planning your date nights make sure you take into account your different sensitivities toward spending money (your Money Personalities). If they like to pinch pennies, honor that, but if you have a spender in the mix, leave the coupons at home and take it up a notch to honor them.

Date nights are a great deposit in your relationship “account” and a wonderful example for your kids to see.

There are lots of great articles on creating the perfect date, so there’s no end to the good ideas, but it’s like training for the Olympics – reading about a 3 hour workout is one thing, doing it is another. Reading about skiing down a mountain at 80 mph is different than actually doing it.

So just do it! Plan your next date night or plan three. Plan your bronze, silver, and gold. You’ll both be winners.

As always, Taylor & Megan Kovar

The Money Couple