If you’re planning an at-home fall date and want to get creative, I have you covered with this post of ideas! We have gotten into the habit of planning at-home date nights more often than we go out since becoming parents. Budget, sick kids, exhaustion, and lack of babysitters some weekends are all reasons we date each other at home on occasion.
Rather than ordering pizza and watching a movie every week, we try to add some novelty to our dates. I always tell couples to make date night a habit but don’t make a habit out of date night. What I mean by that is that you need to change things up! If you’re doing the same thing for date night every week, it’s not as much of a special time for your marriage. And date night could start to feel like every other night of the week. Using the at-home fall date night ideas in this post will help get you out of your rut and have fun together again!
For more date night ideas like these ones, check out the book, Prioritizing Date Night in Your Marriage, with 300+ date night ideas.
Related: 11 Ways to Play More in Your Marriage
Because my husband and I fell in love in autumn, we drank a lot of hot chocolate together at the beginning of our relationship. For this date, I suggest purchasing a variety of flavors of hot chocolate from the same brand. Or get one flavor of hot chocolate in a variety of brands. You could also grab a can of milk chocolate and choose a variety of syrup flavors or creamers to add to your drinks.
Whichever way you choose to put together your tasting, make sure you’re prepared to drink lots of hot chocolate or make smaller batches of each one.
Related: Hot Chocolate Tasting Date Night
I know I just said at the beginning of this post that I was trying to give you ideas beyond the classic dinner at a movie for these at-home date nights. But if we’re being honest, there’s something so good about getting cozy together on the couch and watching a movie together! Search Pinterest for a yummy fall popcorn recipe that the two of you can make together. Then curl up with your favorite blanket and be present for the movie. Some great fall movies include; When Harry Met Sally, Hocus Pocus, any of the Harry Potter movies, The Princess Bride, Dan in Real Life, and Sweet Home Alabama. Click here for a list of more great date night movies. Check out the 30+ Fall Date Night Ideas post for even more ideas for this date.
Related: 5 Tips to Connect More on Your Next Movie Date
You can find paid or free dance classes or tutorials online. Pick a dance you want to learn and spend some time using a class or tutorial to do that. After you’ve learned the dance, practice randomly on nights after the kids are in bed, or while dinner is cooking. Make mini mid-week dates out of your new skill.
This is one of my favorite things we’ve done for date night in our marriage. We set up our tent in the family room, and it took up the entire room. The air mattress was blown up and we got takeout and played games in our tent. It was a fun and simple date! And the kids enjoyed playing in the tent for the rest of the weekend and having a little campout of their own! You could set up a full-blown campsite in your home. Or just move the mattress to another room and make that your set up. Eat camp food and do activities that you would do if you were up in the mountains.
When my husband saw this idea on the list, he verbally denied it. He’s a, blow all of the leaves into the center of the yard and mow them up type of guy. Based on his reaction to this date night idea, leaf piles are his mortal enemy. So, I need you to do this one for me and tag me on social media so I can live vicariously through you. Spend the afternoon raking all of the leaves in your yard into a pile. Then have fun jumping in those leaves together. And have a leaf fight before you bag them all up.
No matter the weather, fall afternoons are an amazing time to take a nap. Curl up on a blanket in the shade of a tree, in a hammock or porch swing, or on the couch with a window open. Hold hands, cuddle, or just lay near each other. Set an alarm for 30 or 90 minutes and enjoy sleeping. Wake up slowly and talk while you cuddle together.
Fall rainstorms are so calming and beautiful. If you have a covered area outside your house, set up a comfortable seating area where the two of you can cuddle up under a blanket together. Bring a warm drink with you and enjoy watching and listening to the rainfall. While you connect through physical touch and meaningful conversation.
Related: The Best Conversation Starters for Married Couples
It shouldn’t be a secret that I love subscription boxes for date nights! We discovered these early on in our marriage and relied on them a lot about four years ago after we had our second baby. She was born early and right before cold and flu season. So we hunkered down for a long six months at home. Date night subscription boxes were our saving grace and helped us keep date night fresh and fun without a lot of effort on our part.
There are a lot of great companies out there, with marriage professionals on their teams. So their boxes are fun and marriage-strengthening at the same time. But there are also a lot of subscription boxes that are meant to be just fun. And they don’t focus on your relationship beyond having fun together. Click here to check out all of our favorite subscription boxes that are perfect for date night.
Related: Subscription Boxes for Date Night
The smell of freshly baked treats is comforting and romantic on a fall day. Cookies, sweet rolls, lava cakes, or these skillet cookies are all good choices. Make them together, play a card game while they bake, then curl up and enjoy what you made together.
When we finished our basement, one of the must-have items for us was a deep soaking tub. We didn’t have room for a large jetted tub, but we could get one that was deep. I turned that space into one where we could enjoy relaxing together or on our own. Toss in a bath bomb, light some candles, and pour some bubbly. Enjoy your time together without any expectation of intimacy beyond being physically together in the tub. Stay in until the water gets cold, then wrap up in a warm robe. And cuddle up together in bed until you fall asleep.
Caramel apples are a classic fall treat. Grab apples, caramel dip, or the ingredients to make it homemade. Don’t forget candy or other toppings you love on your apples from the store. You can dip your entire apple in caramel and cover it in toppings, then cut it up and eat it. Or slice your apples ahead of time, dip them in the caramel and other toppings and eat them that way instead. We enjoyed mini caramel apple charcuterie boards and played Battleship one night and it was a lot of fun!
When was the last time you built a fort together? Not a fort for you kids, a fort for just the two of you. Get really creative with your building skills and work together to build an amazing fort you can both sit in comfortably. Bring in pillows and blankets and your favorite book and spend some time reading together.
Related: Starting a Book Club in Your Marriage
I hope these at-home fall date night ideas help you have more fun and fall in love with your spouse all over again this season! Even when you aren’t able to get out of the house together, it’s possible to have a date night. Be intentional with the time you spend together each day, especially one day a week.
