Now that my husband and I have been married a few years, we are starting to get in a rut of doing the same things for date night each week. We have our favorite things to do, which is fun and all, but sometimes you need something to shake things up! Introducing . . . our Date Night Exchange!
Here are the basics of how it works: Choose another couple to pair up with for this date night. Then, using our amazing printables, YOU plan a date night for THEM to enjoy and THEY plan a date night for YOU & your spouse to enjoy! Fun right? Here is what you do . . . PART I: Planning the Dates Pair up Partner up with another couple (preferably someone with entirely different likes/dislikes than you). The benefit of choosing another couple with different interests than you, is that you are bound to try NEW things for date night and hopefully getting out of that date night rut! For our date night we paired up with my Brother and his girlfriend. My brother and I are VERY MUCH opposites so it was a perfect match! Budget Agree upon a mutual budget for the planned date nights. It just wouldn’t be fair if one couple planned a cheap-o date night and the other goes all out. Setting a price limit helps to keep things more even. For our date night we went with $30 and it was just right! I am thinking in the future, though, I would love to have a cheap-o challenge and plan each other’s date nights with NO cost! We have 50 Free Date Night Ideas to choose from right on this site! Get Organized!
You betcha – we have ah-mazing printables for you to organize everything! You would need 1 Date Night Favorites Survey, 1 Date Night Planner Organizer, 1 page of activity description cards and oneset of labels PER couple. These are all provided in the link at the bottom of this page! The printables were created by our Diva Designer Courtney at All Things Bright and Beautiful. She is amazing and can create anything you need for your special event! Stop by her site and see her stuff! Get Inspired
Separately, each couple fills out their own date night question prompts to get the ideas rolling. This is a chance to remember all of your favorite dates you and your spouse have done and dates you would want to do and more! The other couple WILL NOT see your answers. It is purely for you to get ideas and brainstorm. Plot It Out
Select which of your favorite date night activities you would want your friends to do for their date night. You can choose to create a date night of your absolutely favorite things, a date night you dream of doing, your typical date night, a date night you think is perfect for the other couple – it is totally up to you! Their date night fate is in YOUR hands! Fill out the Date Night Planner Printable with your final choices for the other couple’s date! This will help you organize everything, make sure you are in the budget range and review anything you will need to tell them before their date night. Give Details
Fill out the instruction cards explaining to your friends the details for each portion of the date. There are 4 categories we provided, but there are also blank labels so you can personalize it! Feel free to include any type of activity you want! Who says you have to dinner? Have a breakfast date instead! It is completely up to you! Remember to include details such as location address, dress code, items they might need, driving directions etc. Seal the Deal
Place each of your instruction cards in an envelope and seal it! The couple will open the envelopes one by one on their date night so the surprises keep coming all night long! Label It
Make sure to label the outside of the envelope with our corresponding printable labels. Tip: I printed my labels unto 8.5 x 11 sticker paper so that all I had to do was cut and attach. It looked extra nice and was so easy! Special Instructions
Label on the outside of the envelope any special instructions they might need! This is where you can let them know if there is a certain order the envelopes are to be opened in or if any of the envelopes need to be opened by a certain time or at a certain location. Exchange Envelopes
Finally, before the designated date nights, exchange the envelopes. While the date night itself IS a surprise, make sure you let them know if there is anything that they will need to bring with them or have for the date night! PART II: Date Night When the designated Date Night arrives, open one of the envelopes that the other couple prepared for you and do what it says! After each envelope activity is completed – open another and another! Most important – have an open mind to try whatever the couple planned for you and have fun with it!
We were sent for dinner at a new restaurant that we had never even heard of! They had authentic Italian Pizza and it was delicious! We now have a new favorite place!
We also were sent to ride a ferris wheel in the middle of a sporting goods store (who knew that even existed?!), bumper boats at an arcade and delicious snow cones at a place we had never been too! This has absolutely been one of my favorite date night ideas EVER! Mostly because these activities were things that we either didn’t know about or would not have typically chosen to do ourselves! The surprise factor was fun and trying new things made our date night even more memorable! BONUS: We had so much fun planning the other couple’s date night that in the process we started our own bucket list of new date nights WE want to do. In fact, we will definitely be going on the same date night we planned for the other couple. It sounded like so much fun!
