You are due for a date-night. Cash is a little tight or perhaps you can’t find a baby sitter? How about the next time you are planning date-night, plan it at home?
There once was a time hubs and I use to view date-night as a luxury for those without children or parents who were lucky enough to have help/or afford to hire a sitter. So, for a long time it wasn’t a priority. Nowadays we view date-night as a necessity. We learnt that without quality one-on-one time we often get too complacent in our home-life and home-routine and begin to take one another for granted. For us, regularly dating is keeping those sparks popping off and that fire burning. We’ve also learnt that quality time isn’t about heading out to town or expensive entertainment and food. In fact, our favourite date-night is at home.
At first I was a little hesitant to share some of our date-night at home ideas, thinking you all would think they are super cheesy. But then again…no sitter necessary! Inexpensive! AND regular quality time! Im doing ya’ll a solid here! What we do has inspired some of our friends to try the same and we’ve received feedback its’s worked out well for their relationships too.
Below is my personal favourite Date-Night At Home idea, mini-wine tastings and platters. Additionally we’ve also included a few other idea’s for inspiration, trialled and tested by us! Just before I share, a few prerequisites. Make sure the home is tidy, pop on some good background music and get some subtle aroma going i.e. scented candles (to add to the ambience). Don’t forget, get dressed up! When you look good you feel good! Lastly, put the kiddies to bed a little earlier.
Lets get into it, hope these ideas are just as fun for you as they are for us!
Mini Wine-Tasting
Isaac and I are passionate wine enthusiasts. It’s on our bucket-list to visit all our favourite Kiwi wineries from the tip-to-toe of New Zealand. It’s not a reality now with our children being so young, so while we can’t make it out to the vineyards we have fun creating our own winery at home. We’re New World shoppers, the wine selection there is extensive and we always find top quality wines at good prices. New World just so happens to be celebrating their 15th year of the New World Wine Awards. It’s a great time to go into your nearest New World and sample the ‘Gold Medal-Winning‘ wines to see what suits your palate. For our mini-tastings we usually decide on 3-4 bottles of wine and then head to the deli to match finger-foods and canapés. We make our platters a large serving size so it will cover our starters, main and dessert. Shopping together for our date-night food and wine creates a great build-up for our at home date-night.
Our Wine-Tasting Lineup: Dashwood Marlborough Pinot Gris 2017, Morton Estate Premium Brut NV, Real Compania de Vinos Tempranillo 2016
International Night
Choose a country and centre your date-night around it. One date-night we had an Italian theme with delicious homemade pizza, of course we used Italian ingredients. Our table cloth was the Italian flag and we played Italian music. We also ended the night with an Italian movie. So much fun!
Our go-to celebration tiple and my absolute favourite sparkling wine: Morton Estate Premium Brut NV
Trivia Night
Isaac’s favorite date-night, consisting of BBQ, beers and a whole load of laughs. This is also a great ‘couples’ date-night. Invite friends and their kids. The kids can have a slumber-sleep-over and the adults can bust out the board games for a bit of healthy competition.
Hubbys new favourite: Dashwood Marlborough Pinot Gris 2017
Spa Night
No doubt you’ve seen Isaac and I post silly pictures and videos to our IG stories with our face-masques on. Well, these are actually date-nights. On these particular nights we focus on re-centring and try to do this once a fortnight. We prepare super healthy meals, sip green tea and indulge in spa-like treatments i.e. face, hair & body beauty treatments, body scrubs and massages.
Real Compania de Vinos Tempranillo 2016 – Who doesn’t love a deep, full bodied red?
Movie Night
We go as far to make our own snack boxes consisting of our favourite foods and wine (check out Pinterest for some great ideas on how to make your own movie theatre style snack-box). So it’s fair, we ‘paper, scissors, rock‘ who gets first movie pick. We will pre-order delivery food and aim to have that arrive between movies. I try to set-up the living room so it looks a little different. From fairy lights, candles, Turkish floor style set-up to bean bags. PS. Cute pyjamas is a total must!
WIN! WIN! WIN!
To celebrate this years New World Wine Award Winners I’m giving away a $150 New World voucher so you can create your very own date-night at home! ENTER TO WIN! Tell me in the comments below which bottle you’d most like to try for your date night. Winner will be drawn and announced on Sunday 12th November. Good luck!
Thanks to New World for partnering with me on this post. Head into your nearest store to discover their ‘Top 50 Gold Medal-Winning’ wines and celebrate 15 years of making it easy to find the perfect drop.
Until next!
See you, love you, BYE!
Morton Estate Premium Brut NV
Love these ideas! Your platters looks amazing!!
Definitly that Dashwood Pinot – i don’t have a partner but am a single mum and love doing these things by myself!!
Such a fab idea we are currently saving for our wedding in 3 months time and struggling on the date nights but will definitely give a few of these a go with a nice bottle of Morton’s estate premium brut nv
I’d love to try out the Dashwood Marlborough Pinot Gris 2017 (yum!!) on an international themed night, so my hubby and I can branch out on our meals instead of basic child friendly dinners! ☺️
Ooohhh definitely the Morton Brut! I am such a bubbles for a special occasion kind of gal xx
Would love to try the Dashwood Marlborough pinot gris 2017 🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷…After having a baby we are in need of a date night 💑💘⚘🍷🤗
I would love to try the Morton with my boyfriend! We’re saving to travel so date nights at home are a really good idea so we can still have fun on a budget. Loved this post Leo xx
Would love to try the Dashwood Pinot Gris! Have been thinking of doing an at home date night for a wee while now – so this post was perfect timing for some inspo!
Hubby & I aren’t big wine drinkers, but the sparkling morton Estate bottle sounds more like one we’d give a try. We have date night by sneaking off to the garage to play darts, or we pack a hot flask of tea or coffee with homemade afghans & ride out to the beach on our Harleys to chill together (sometimes the 2youngest are on the back)…having that common interest is ideal & definitely keeps that spark between us alive…We have been married 8years later this month so are planning a road trip up north without the kiddies, to nibble on some goodies as well as each other haha.
Loved the ideas for date nights. I’m tempted by the Morton Estate Premium Brut.
It would have to be the Morton Estate Premium Brut NV 🍾🍾🍾😊
The Morton sparkling wine please.
That dashwood for sure! Cant go wrong with a Pinot Gris!
Definitely would love to try the Marlborough Pinot Gris! Also, I’d just like to add we have two young girls and struggle to find babysitters so your date night suggestions were on point!! I love, Love, LOVE your blogs & vlogs – keep up the great work! Xx
This is an awesome idea!!!
We are the same find it so hard to have time out something always happens and we have to cancel it so we are going to do this looks like fun and such a great way to have you two time ❤️👍🏼🥂
Woah…. I loved this soooo much!!! You inspire me daily. Thanknyou so much for taking the time to share these awesome tips for date night. Xxx so yaassss my favourite to want to try would also be dashwood !!!!!
Seriously this was the best !
This is a great blog Leo! Thank you for sharing you and Issacs ideas with us. I love my bubbles so I definitely need to try the Morton Estate Premium Brut NV you talk about, especially ifs received a Gold. Thanks babe x
Devinos
I’ll trust Isaac! I’ll go the Dashwood Pinot!
Would love to try the Morton Estate bubbly! One of our favourite date nights at home is to make a yum platter and chill with a bottle of wine and watch a movie. Perfect chill date for a Friday night! X
Ohhhhh The Dashwood! This will come in handy when Im back, can treat all my lovely friends to a wine night! <3
Actually eff that … il take any dam bottle I can get. 2 babies 1 teenager one partner one dog one cat and they all annoy the shit outa me non god dam stop. Even as I type trying to eat my cold dinner my kids just hang over like vultures then spat it out back on my plate. I promise I will buy $150 of wine and try not to pass out in front of my kids . I will wait till they are fed first .
I’d like to try Compania de Vinos Tempranillo 2016 because of the food match 🙂 love the ideas of a stay at home date which we kind of do already every now and then but decorating and putting a theme on it sounds so much cooler. Will have to set this up 🙂 thank you
Would love to try the Morton Brut sparkling wine please 🙂
The Morton Sparkling wine
Love to try the real-compania-de-vinos-tempranillo!
The dashwood Pinot Gris is already a fave of ours!
We are so in this phase of life! Would love to try the Morton Estate Premium Brut NV – a date night at home with hubby warrants bubbles! x
Such beautiful snaps as always! That cheese board!!
I would love to give the Morton Estate Premium Brut NV you talk about a whirl, gold medal has got to be GOOD
I’m single as a pringle and don’t like wine, but I’d still love to enter and win because I love food! 😂
Great ideas 😁 Marlborough pinot Gris would be our pick. Been a while since we have managed a date night since we became three!
I would love to try the Morton Estate Premium Brut NV! All of these date ideas are so awesome! Our date nights are usually just movies and snacks once the kids have gone to bed.. but that hasn’t happened since daylight savings started and now the kids are in bed later 🙈
Hi
Love the dress where is it from!
All of the above! But prob the dashwood Marlborough Pinot Gris 😊
That Morton Estate looks scrumptious 😍😍 And thank you for the ideas, me and my partner will definitely try them out!
Dashwood Marlborough Pinot 😍
Been so hard lately to have “us” time. With the kids a d their activities, work, and Dad being sick. Would def to down a treat with a yummy platter on the side. 😘💗
Awesome blog!
Definitely would love to try the Taylors Promised Land Cabernet Sauvignon 2016!!
My husband and I both love our reds!
Trying to save after an expensive wedding so don’t always get those date nights
Oo the dash wood Pinot Gris has my name written all over it!!
Real compania de vinos tempranillo..🍷 yum that would go delicious with a platter ! We are having our first baby soon so I think we will definitely need to get into home date nights !! This would be the perfect way to get us started!
Such cute ideas I love this! ❤️💥 Vinny and I often have home spa dates, we’ve got a massage table and I’ll! I’m a red girl for sure, love to try the Real Compania de Vinos Tempranillo! P.s I totally had to copy and paste that, there was no way I could remember the name and spelling! 🙈😂 CO
I love date nights! These are great ideas, thanks for sharing!! I’d like to try the Dashwood Pinot Gris with my lovely man 🙂
Such cute ideas I love this! ❤️💥 Vinny and I often have home spa dates, we’ve got a massage table and I’ll! I’m a red girl for sure, love to try the Real Compania de Vinos Tempranillo! P.s I totally had to copy and paste that, there was no way I could remember the name and spelling! 🙈😂 XO
REPLY
I’m partial to a good Pinot Gris but those bubbles look like so much fun. I think I will put that on the to try list on the next shop. 1 Morton Estate Brut To go thanks x
Oh great ideas! Thanks for sharing.. I’m going to initiate the in-house date night in my home now. We have two little ones just like you. By aged 1 and 3 so the date nights are few and far between. I’d like to give that red a try, haven’t seen the real compania before.
Tbh!! Completely… Hubbs and I after 11yrs have never been big on date nights at home with three crazy kiddies, I couldn’t tell which wine ide like to try because in all honesty.. We don’t have the time or money to Indulge to finding new and different ranges, I honestly stick to what I know which dare I say,is ,Moscatto!! Cheap nasty yet highly recommended lol it’ll be nice to win but it’ll be nice to even be given suggestions by you! Cheers x
The Dashwood Pinot Gris sounds good! I can’t go past a good Pinot Gris. My partner and I love doing technology free nights sometimes. It is so nice just to have some uninterrupted quality time!
Dashswood Marlborough pinot gris
What’s a date night? (Haven’t had one in soooo long 😭) Cash is tight, no sitter as we live out of town. Would love to try the dashwood 🙂
Would love to try the Morton Estate bubbles.
Having four kids, including 1 y/o twins is near impossible to get our kids watched.
So this is Such a cool idea for our situation. 😍🥂xx
You two are such babes!! Thanks for being a beautiful inspiration to Hubby and I. We would definitely go for the Morton Estate we love a good bubbles.
Nothing like a good bubbles. I would love to try the Morton Estate. Thank You for sharing your tips too, great and simple ideas.
What simple yet great ideas !! We have everything we need right at home! My partner and I love Pinot Noir so I would love to do a wine tasting with a few of those… And ofcourse, some bubbles. Matching door to each wine is a great idea! Vinaka Vaka Levu Mama x
Kia ora Larissa!
Would love to try the Dashwood. The Tane and I havent just hung and laxed for awhile so would be mean to win this and be able to spend it on some nice things instead of the usual “needed things”.
Dash wood Pinot Gris 😍
Amazing read and what absolute babes! I would love to try the Morton Estate – I’m usually a red wine kind of gal but I have been craving a good glass of bubbles (or the whole bottle) X
The sparkling wine sounds very sexy! Haha I would be getting the morton estate premium brut, and get giggly and flirty on our date at home
Would love to try the Morton Estate. Now that bubs is born I’d love to treat myself to a glass of bubbles (or two)
Ohhhh that Dashwood Marlborough Pinot Gris sounds Devine 💁🏽🍾 we both love a good bottle of wine and a platter of fine cheeses, fruit, bread and crackers 🥖🍇🍓🍉🧀🍫
You guys are too cute! And what great ideas, your platters look amazing. Id love to try Morton, ive heard its delish and so in need for a date night! 😍
The Morton Estate Premium Brut NV sounds divine- I’m OBSESSED with this gorgeous post (and you’re totally still my girl-crush 😍😍😍
I dont drink wine. But id like to try something fruity and sparkling… im not sure if that exsists but thats my ideal kind of wine.
I cannot remember our last date together… at all. I do wish to change it. When we can! 😊
Such a fabulous idea having date nights at home! Considering we have our hands full with our kids. Haven’t had a date night with the Mr since I had our twin girls 10 months ago. Would love to try the Morton wine sounds delish! 🙂
The Morton Estate Premium Brut NV sounds like the perfect treat!
Loves bubbles would like to try the Morton estate premium brute 😍 that platter looks sool good . Such a neat idea having date night’s at home 😊 I’m always wanted to go out as, but love the idea of being comfy at home too.
Real companies de Vinos Tempranillo – this sounds and looks yummy! Thanks for the oppportunity to enter! Xo
Morton please this will come in handy for my upcoming wedding.
I would love to try the Morton estate 🙂 me and my partner are in desperate need of a good date night, the three year old is driving us nuts haha I love these ideas thanks!!
This is a fantastic idea and I will def be trying some out! Thank you! I want to try the Dashwood Pinot Gris!! Good luck everyone.
Definitely the Tempranillo! I love a good red, and trying something I wouldn’t normally choose is always fun.
We’ve not long had our first baby so hubby and I are definitely in need of date night. We would love to try the Real Compania de vinos!
Me and my partner would love a date night. Doesn’t happen very much now with two amazing kids they get all our time. would love to try the Morton estate together.💜
Such good ideas for an at home date! I’d love to try the Morton estate brut
Definitely the Morton Brut! Sparkling wine is the best to make a night that little bit more special, not to mention it’s delicious! Awesome ideas for date nights XO 🥂
We have two beautiful boys ages 7 & 3, my husband is a shift worker and I travel a lot for work so we never really get a chance to get out as all of our family have just moved to Australia. I’ve booked our first date night after reading your awesome blog!! My husband is an absolute wine lover and we would love to try Dashwood Pinot Gris!
Such fun ideas! The dashwood pinot gris sounds yummy 👌
I would love to try the Pinot Gris!! I love any opportunity to share a bottle of wine with my hubs and play ‘adults’. We are both big kids at heart but don’t always make the time for each other that we should inbetween two young children, running a household and full time jobs. I love your ideas and will def have a go at a few of them. Thank you for sharing!
We would love to try the Real Compania de Vinos Tempranillo please!! Love a great recommendation for a red!! Date night perfection!
Would love to try the dashwood pinot! Yum! And thanks for the ‘at-home date night’ inspo!