August 21, 2015
This is the first of a weekly series I’ve decided to call Table for Two! I will be posting every Friday about fun date night ideas because I believe it is so important to continue to date your spouse years after the wedding date! I hope to share date night ideas that Joel and I have found affordable and fun, ones we repeat often and ones we’re looking forward to trying in the future! :)
You fall in love, you start dating, you get engaged, you plan a wedding, the wedding comes and goes and it’s back to 9-5’s, practice regimes, daily chores, church commitments and acting like adults. Candle-lit dinners and movie nights don’t need to stop once you get married, but sometimes life just takes over. We see a lot of our spouses because, well, we are in fact married to them, but it isn’t enough just to see them. We need to DATE them!
This past year, Joel and I have really had to work hard at protecting one-on-one quality time together. Before our wedding, we decided that when we got married we would make sure we had a date night at least once a week. Some weeks we’re lucky and we get to have two or even three dates, but most weeks we struggle to even have one! In keeping this commitment in our marriage, we’ve had to learn what to say yes to and what to say NO to! Committing to date night once a week has taught us to put each other at the top of each other’s priority lists and to give each other our best, not our left-overs. We’ve learned more about each other, we’ve talked and planned and dreamed together, we’ve laughed uncontrollably, experienced new heights, new restaurants, new movies… and it’s been such good soil for our marriage to grow.
“Date Night” doesn’t just apply to spouses, but to other couples too! Along with other couples, I also want to encourage my brides and grooms as they prepare for their wedding days – it is just as important to date each other in the busyness of planning a wedding as it is after the wedding when life settles down!
In our book, there are 3 big NO’s for date night…
We’re not trying to be hermits and cut ourselves off from society, we’re just trying to minimize distractions for one evening a week so we can focus 100% on each other. We don’t always get it right, and sometimes Joel catches me checking my Instagram out of habit *hangs head in shame*, but we work together to practice this one-on-one quality time together!
And of course there are 3 big YES’s!
Without further ado, here is Date Night Idea #1!
All too often we crave Pizza Express… so last week Joel and I decided to make our own express pizzas! They were awesome. ;)
If you have a bread maker, you can make your own pizza dough in about 20 minutes with nothing more than flour, water, and yeast. If you don’t have one you can buy pre-made pizza bases at any supermarket!
Our pizzas were topped with tomato sauce, artichokes, pepperoni, mozzarella, rocket and balsamic glaze.
To drink – £5 bottle of red wine and £2.30 bottle of elderflower pressé. That’s cheaper than ONE glass of each at a restaurant. And no, I didn’t drink the WHOLE bottle of red wine!!
Total cost of meal – £15.50
Win.
Now, The Amazing Race is something Europeans probably know nothing about, but should! It’s an American reality game show about teams who race around the world to win one million dollars. There are currently 26 seasons, it’s available on Youtube and it’s FREE of adverts!
Toal cost of evening entertainment – nothing apart from your monthly internet bill. ;)
Simple as that.
Happy Friday once again my friends!
Enjoy tonight with your loved ones <3
Love,
Hannah
PS.
Please feel free to leave a comment below with your date night ideas!! :)
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