Ah, Valentine’s Day. Love it or hate it, it IS the holiday for love. If you’re in a relationship, this probably at least means planning and/or going on a special date to celebrate your relationship. If planning something romantic makes you feel like you’re being held at Cupid’s arrow-point, fear not! There are many non-traditional date nights you can enjoy for Valentine’s Day that may be a perfect fit for your personality as a couple. Here are six sexy and quirky date night ideas that are bound to be a whole lot more fun than a stuffy candlelight dinner for $80 a head!
Get Your Game On!
If you and your lover have a competitive streak, let it out in the most fun way possible! Spend your Valentine’s celebration at an arcade or fun center. Challenge each other at Skee-Ball, air hockey, basketball shooting, or getting high scores on your favorite pinball game. As long as you’re playing and having fun, you’re doing it right. Being able to forget your worries and act like kids together sometimes is healthy for any relationship!
For something a touch more active and fun (and that makes a great group date), get several more couples together and play laser tag, complete with cutesy couple’s codenames. An activity center with go-karts, mini-golf, batting cages and the like are a bit more active and challenging, if that’s what you like. If you’re okay with LOTS of running around and possibly a tiny bit of pain, Knockerball, a Nerf arena, or a paintball match might be the ticket for you, thrill seekers!
Chill and cooperative games like an escape room or pub trivia can be fun, too, but it’s okay to compete and make the stakes a little higher. Loser has to do a sexy striptease for the winner when you get home? Complete with the sexiest underwear or lingerie underneath? Sounds good to me!
Sip, Sip, Hooray
Make a date to celebrate your favorite imbibement, alcoholic or otherwise. Many restaurants, breweries, wineries, distilleries, and upscale bars hold special events this time of year. Much to the relief of the increasing number of folks who’d rather stay sober, dry bars are a thing now, too, well-stocked with the fanciest mixers and alcohol-free “spirits”!
Keep an eye out for local wine tastings, wine or beer & chocolate pairings, wine or beer & Girl Scout Cookie pairings, multi-course wine dinners, and cocktail and mocktail tasting nights. Chatting about what you’re drinking can help you bond over something new no matter how long you’ve been together. And a tiny bit of social lubricant can help set the mood for a more romantic night of conversation & getting to know each other better. If you want something more nostalgic and cute, splitting a milkshake at an old-timey soda fountain is a sweet way to end your Valentine’s Day date!
Art Night at home
DIY art party venues such as Painting with a Twist have been a popular Valentine’s date for a long time now. You take your own wine, and usually sit on an uncomfortable stool for several hours while you learn to create your masterpiece together. Who says you can’t do this at home, though? Many studios now offer take-home art kits with all the supplies you need to create a beautiful picture as a couple, complete with video instructions.
If you have your own art supplies, you need only find an image or video for inspiration, then create it together. If you’re brave or just up for a challenge, you can even offer to paint portraits of each other…nudes, maybe? No matter your skill level, your creation will come out great because it was made with love.
For an even sexier end to an art-themed night date, create art with your bodies by making love on a canvas with the Love is Art kit…then shower together to get all the paint off! You can also treat your lover as your canvas by decorating them with yummy chocolate body paints…then kissing and licking it off. Sounds like a sweet ending to me!
(Dim the) Lights, Camera, Action
For a super-hot date night, indulge your inner exhibitionist and create your own adult film. Don your sexiest lingerie (even though you won’t be wearing it for long) and set the scene with lighting, candles, rose petals…whatever does it for you. Then rig up a cell phone camera or other recording device to be trained on you as your get your most passionate lovemaking on. You can try a silly, scripted scene like it came right out of a bad porno. Give into a role-play fantasy adventure you’ve been desiring, or just be yourselves and do what comes naturally, while filming it all!
This one requires a more loving, trusting relationship than some V-day date options, and of course, enthusiastic consent from all parties. If that describes you, though, you’ll have fun making the video and then be able to enjoy it together for years to come. May it inspire many more future sexy shenanigans!
The Great Romantic Baking Show
Channel your favorite Bake-Off shows and celebrity bakers, and spend your Valentine’s baking up sweet treats for each other. Find out your sweetie’s favorite sweet, find a recipe, and make your best version of it. Or, present your partner with your favorite recipe and challenge them to bake it for you. The outcomes may be worthy of either The Great British Baking Show or Nailed It, but either way you’ll have fun in the process, and enjoy some yummy desserts. Sure, you can buy your lover cookies and candy for Valentine’s Day, but imagine how much sweeter it would be if those goodies were baked from the heart.
Camp Out, Indoors!
I’m all about camping, but not so much about the bugs, weather, poison ivy, lack of flush toilets…the list goes on. You and your partner can enjoy the campy quirks of camping without all the inconveniences by enjoying an indoor camp-out. Stash your tech so you can truly enjoy each other and the experience, but you can still enjoy the comforts of home.
Pitch your tent in a large room of your house, or build a blanket fort if you don’t have a tent. Make things more authentic with lanterns, coolers, and any other camping equipment you may have. Feed yourselves by cooking on a camp stove and roasting marshmallows. Then stay up late telling scary stories, or even better, sharing favorite romantic memories with each other. This is one V-day date that can lend itself to being family-friendly, but hopefully you can put the kids in their own beds at night so you can enjoy your own romantic adult time.
