One of our favorite things about a date night out without the kids is enjoying a quiet and leisurely dinner together. It’s nice to be able to talk and connect with each other without interruption. We’ve also been known to wait until the kids are in bed to eat dinner on nights when we’re staying home for date night. We just really enjoy eating good food together and connecting while we do it. We’ve looked for ways to make our at home dinner dates just a little extra special and fun. By pulling out some nicer dishes and adding a few touches from the dollar store, we are able to create the perfect atmosphere for date night at home.
Romantic Dinner Date At Home
This setup is perfect for a Valentine’s Day date! We don’t love fighting the crowds to celebrate the holiday with a date night out, so we choose to stay in most years or go out without the kids later. This year we’ll be celebrating with a special family dinner and I plan to use this idea to make it extra special. After the kids are asleep, we’ll finish off our night by enjoying dessert, just the two of us.
You know that I’m a big advocate of date night, even if it has to take place at home. I will also tell you that date night doesn’t have to be extravagant to be special. By taking a few minutes to add a few special touches, you can turn your every day routine into something a little extra special. A little extra special is perfect for date night!
When I set up the table for a dinner date, I pull out the tablecloth (ain’t nobody got time to wash a tablecloth when the kids spill every day) and our dishes that are a little nicer than the every day but not quite as fancy as my china. These dishes are still dishwasher safe, because the last thing I want to do on date night is the dishes. I make a point to pay attention to my table settings and put out the nicer cloth napkins. Just those few added touches turn what could be just another night at home into something date night worthy.
If you’re looking for ideas for what to serve for dinner or dessert, we have a few favorites! You could use any of the recipes that we’ve posted here on the blog, the date night in the kitchen meals are especially perfect for a date night at home. We also love our Date Night In cookbook and the variety of meal ideas that it provides for our at home dinner dates all year round. Another idea for dinner is fondue! We love fondue because it’s easy to put together, looks and feels fancy, and it’s always delicious! There are a lot of different cheese fondue recipe ideas on Pinterest. We found a really delicious Swiss and Cheddar one recently that even our kids liked. For dessert fondue, we melt a candy bar or chocolate chips with some evaporated milk.
For this date, I picked up some candles and their holders from the dollar store. I also got some fun table scatters that I saw to add some variety and fun to the table. We usually pull out our champagne flutes for date night at home and try to always have some sparkling cider on hand that we can drink. The little things make a big difference for your at home date nights and they don’t have to cost a lot of money or take a lot of time to put together.
After your at home dinner date, find something that you don’t do together every other night your home and continue your date. We love date box subscription services for date night at home or we pull out one of our favorite board games to play. If we want to keep the night low key, we have one of our rooftop rendezvous or we cuddle up on the couch and watch one of our favorite date night movies.
Photography by Sadie Banks Photography
