The fact that you’re here right now means you’re one of the lucky ones that understands that date night doesn’t always have to mean leaving the house. When you choose to have a romantic date night at home, you have so much more flexibility, you can really set the mood, and you usually end up saving a boat load of money.
It’s important, though, that you know exactly how to set up a romantic date night at home in a way that shows intention, effort, and really builds the romance.
Today, that’s what we’re doing. We’re going to walk you through the six most important steps to planning a romantic date night at home that truly sizzles.
1. Clean the house. Seriously.
We’re not kidding. If you don’t clean the house, you can’t ever expect your romantic date night at home to go well. And we’re not just talking a light cleaning.
Clean the place like your mother in law is coming over to judge you or like a drill sergeant is about to do a white glove inspection.
Why? Glad you asked. Clutter and mess cause stress. If your date and you live together, you can expect them to be thinking about “all the work and cleaning” they’re going to have to do later, plus now cleaning up from the date.
This is not what you want to happen. Instead, create a space where stress can’t survive or thrive.
2. Decide what type of romantic date night at home you’re going for.
When you say a romantic date night at home, that can actually mean quite a few different things. Do you just mean a date night where you’re going to connect and have some great intentional time together? Or, do you mean a date night where things might get a little steamy? Or is it both?
It’s important that you take the time to decide what your goal of the romantic date night actually is, so that you can plan accordingly.
Here’s an example of why it matters. Let’s say you’re planning on a romantic date night where things get a little steamy. You decide you want to cook a nice dinner and then set the mood. For dinner, you make a massive feast of all of their favorite foods.
Great, right? Well, maybe not. If they eat a ton and get all bloated (because they love your food), that’s great for connection, but a big miss if you think things are going to progress to steamy-mode later.
Take the time to really figure out what the goal is. There are no wrong answers here; just make sure you have an answer.
Want to knock it out of the park? Get the LoveTrack app (it’s free).
Want some help planning the perfect romantic date night at home? You need to get the LoveTrack app. It’s a 100% free date night planning app designed to help you plan the perfect date nights every time. It has tons of ideas that you can sort by at home, with plenty of romantic options ready to go for you.
It tells you step by step how to set up, what you need to get, how to cook (if you’re planning that), and even gives you romantic playlists to put on in the background.
It’s free. It’s made for you. It’s the key to a great romantic date night at home.
3. Set the ambiance.
The next step to a romantic date night at home is setting the ambiance. It needs to feel romantic to be romantic. And yes, spoiler alert, this means all the cheesy trimmings you’d expect from a romcom like lights, candles, music, etc.
Here are some ideas:
- Get the lights lower than normal, but not weirdly dim that you can’t see each other.
- Light a few candles for ambiance, but also for fragrance. If you’re going super-traditional romantic, you can do a bunch of small candles. If you’re going more modern romantic, a few candles will do the trick.
- Turn on some romantic music in the background. Think slow, maybe without a lot of words (so you can talk), and nothing inappropriate or too “steamy”. You want to be classy and romantic, even if you’re hoping the night goes a certain direction.
- Dress up! Seriously, one of the best ways to make a romantic date night at home feel special is to dress up (especially if you don’t normally do that). It shows buy-in and effort, which are certainly romantic and attractive qualities.
- Think about the details. If you normally eat on paper plates, get out the regular plates. Instead of just setting out silverware, roll it up in a napkin (even a paper one). The LoveTrack app we shared has a lot of these ideas, but these are just a few to get your mind thinking in the right direction.
4. Eliminate distractions.
Now that you’ve put in all the perfect prep work for your romantic date night at home, it’s time to protect it.
Distractions are one of the single biggest threats to a successful romantic date night, but they can absolutely be avoided with proper planning.
Take a minute and think about the things that could happen that could be a distraction for your date night.
For example:
- Do you have kids and need to get family to watch them?
- Are there any work things that could pop up you can take care of now?
- Do you have friends or neighbors that tend to randomly stop by that you need to send a quick message to?
- Do you have alarms on your phone that typically go off?
Think through these things, and get out ahead of as many of them as you can. There’s nothing worse than being in the middle of a great connection moment and your phone goes off or your buddy stops by.
5. Prepare for contingencies.
Lastly, prepare for contingencies. Ideally, your romantic date night at home goes exactly how you plan it. Realistically, though, that doesn’t always happen.
Have a plan in place for anything that could happen. For example:
- If you’re cooking, have a backup plan if the meal gets messed up (like a place to order from ready to go).
- Have some headache medicine or anything else on hand just in case.
- If your special someone tends to get cold, have some nice clean blankets ready.
There are a million and one things that could happen. Just think through the biggest possibilities, and see if there is anything you can do to be ready.
6. Don’t overthink it.
It seems counterintuitive to say don’t overthink it after we gave you a ton of things to think about, but hear us out!
Before the date, spend a ton of time preparing. Put the work in. Plan as best as you can. That all said, once the date starts, relax. Enjoy yourself. Roll with it. Don’t focus on it needing to be perfect.
You’ve done the prep work for an amazing romantic date night at home. Now it’s time to enjoy it!