12 Dates – please help with ideas ladies?!

What a lovely idea, I might steal it too ;-)

What about a day out at the seaside? Have a paddle, an ice cream and play on the 2p machines at the amusements, etc.

Or something more adventurous like Segway-ing?

I don't know where you live but you could do one of them ghost evening walk or bus tours that they have in most big cities?

I love this idea! Going on proper dates is great fun; everyone should do it!

We go to museums and art galleries, picnics at stately homes in the countryside, afternoon tea at a posh hotel, night out at the theatre or a comedy club, ice skating on one of the outdoor rinks at Christmas, day out at the seaside, go to a rugby match together... all sorts of things!

I'd love to try this thing called Hint Hunt in London as a double date. Looks amazing!

That is an amazing idea - I am going to pinch it!

Where are you based? What about a trip to London and the free museums? The Science museum is always a hit with Mr Seven Years.

Or Ice skating? Chocolate making course? Punting in Cambridge?

Lol steal away ladies! It is a lovely idea although I can't take any credit for it! As I said, I saw the idea posted ages ago by someone else.... I cant remember who though ☹️

Thanks for the ideas, I'll have a look and see about any coach trips Charly516..... I LOVE the Paris day trip idea but we're in Plymouth, it would take us the best part of the day to get to the eurostar lol. I've wondered about ferry trips before but when I looked into it I only found Plymouth to Roscoff which takes over 7 hours ? but I think I will keep it as maybe one mega treat to make a weekend of it if I can find some good deals.....

miss pickle - brilliant, thanks! Trip to a Cornwall beach for the day in one of the summer months! That's so going in; when we first got together we went for a trip to Cornwall and had a go at surfing, it was so much fun and we have just been too busy to do it again so that's definitely going in! Thanks! xx

IGB2B You are awesome! lol! I can use some of these! I don't think we have an abundance of museums available to us in Plymouth but having lived here 10 years I've only been to the aquarium once so that could be one.... Theatre would be lovely, our one is a bit disappointing (I grew up in Surrey and used to go to the theatre in London a lot) compared to "proper" London theatres but I'd deffo still give it a go.... And COMEDY - why didn't I think of that?! We've been to a few comedy shows at the Pavilions so I'm going to go straight on the "what's on" and see who's lined up this coming year - thanks hun ❤️

SevenYears - we're based in Plymouth so London is a good 4 - 4.5 hours away ☹️ but your chocolate making suggestion has just jogged my memory! I this there is a pottery painting thing I've seen advertised.... That could be fun!

Thanks ladies..... Any other ideas welcome! My imagination so rubbish ☹️ lol I need all the help I can get! xx

Glad to be of help ;-)

I had one more idea... 2.8 hours later

https://8hourslater.com/

Not sure if it is your kind of thing but it is a zombie race thing set in cities, I did it this year and it is amazing, really well organised and great fun ;-)

How about something sporty?

Tickets for his fave football team?

Bowling, butterfly farm, picnics, comedy evenings, seeing a live band?

Love this idea but want it done for me lol.

This is a fab idea!

Do you have any food festivals near you? They are fun! Can't think of anything else that others haven't said but will be watching this post for more ideas!!

I absolutely love Paris, I think flybe fly from Southampton if you do look into it. We stayed in an apartment in the centre (cheaper than a hotel too) was amazing! Xx

I heard another bride talking about something similar 'alphabet dating' basically the couple took it in turns and worked their way through the alphabet planning a date in the theme of the letter which could be a themed night in or a day out.

e.g,

A= Aromatherapy massages, Apple pie, Archery, Abseiling, Antiques, Afternoon tea.

B= Beach, Breakfast in Bed, Baking

C= Castle, Cinema, Cocktails, Cake

D- Dinner, Dancing, Driving

etc etc

Funfair, circus, theme park, fireworks display?

I'm definitely stealing this idea!

I may also steal this it's so cute My oh and I love our days out but we have a 1 year old so it's a good excuse to get out and about. I don't know if you shop at Tesco and collect points but we use our points for days out vouchers. They have all the theme parks, zoos, historical places to visit, such a big selection, you can just look on the website under tesco rewards. Do you have any big zoos/safari parks near you? As this may be a good one to add to your list. Could also do a spa day, use the pool, sauna etc and maybe have a couples massage...quite romantic and something you wouldn't ordinarily do (or I wouldn't anyway lol). Hope this helps x

Plenty of local ideas here (or similar sites): https://www.visitplymouth.co.uk/things-to-do

I've briefly looked through the other replies but can't remember them all so i'm sorry if i repeat any!!

Ideas:

Cheaper end : Ten pin bowling, cinema, meal out, ice skating (might depend on if you have a local indoor rink or if you have a local outdoor one in winter!), a country walk with a traditional nice/posh pub at the end of the walk, visit to the coast (if local enough to the coast!)

Mid range : An afternoon tea at a nice hotel or somewhere like betty's (yorkshire area!), wine/beer/food tasting or something like chocolate making - often vouchers can be found online/red letter days/groupon

Dearer options: A weekend in a city abroad, weekend in UK based city (london/dublin/edinburgh/york/newcastle, etc), weekend at the coast, stay over & time in Alton Towers (if into that kind of thing!), a spa break (again, if both of like that sort of thing!).

The theatre could be an option as well, depends on which theatres & their prices & also whats on - popular shows & celebs doing stand up, etc, can be booked up months in advance. Although that gives me the idea of going to your local theatre's (or other) comedy nights. Sometimes it people that have never been heard of before (some good, some not so good), sometimes it the comedians that do the warm ups for the bigger stars. They're usually cheaper than going to see the bigger stars too!

Thanks so much to all of you ladies! Some absolutely brilliant ideas here & I'm nearly there now! Only got a couple more to fill....... Mainly winter month dates, things we can do when it's freezing cold & tipping it down with rain. I don't get on too well with being stuck outside in the rain! Lol. You guys have great ideas xxx

What about seasonal ideas for some of the winter months? (someone mentioning fireworks made me think of this) - as you've got bonfire night in November - you could do something Christmas related in December - e.g, any Christmas markets/events near you every year? Or how about doing the ghost night idea or something similar near Halloween? January you could do something health related (like the cooking class) for a new year/healthy resolution?

What about a favourite movie night in for one of the colder months (you could pledge to watch his favourite films?)

I know this is

Bump

For myself, so I can come back to this later, LOL. Newly married, I think we might just plan 12 dates whilst we're on honeymoon

Picnics even indoor ones! Movie days under the duvet for winter!

Im planning this for OH!

Also a trip to the zoo, sealife centre etc!

This is a brilliant idea....I'm so stealing it!;-) so in the envelopes is it just what you're going to do or would you have it all booked and organised etc already, having already paid etc?

I did this and OH loved it! One of the things I put in which we both love doing is from a company called treasure trails (google and you'll find the website) it costs about £8 and they do trails around most towns in the UK, takes a good few hours and some are walking others driving. The driving ones are brill as they take you into places you would never usually go! The clues are good fun and some take longer than others as they are mainly landmarks, one was even a number on a drain and another at the top of a church! A really fun day out (until you get stuck lol) Anyway hope that helps with your list of ideas...I don't work for them honest!!Just really enjoy them xx

As well as places to go like a tour of his favourite football teams ground (Arsenal!), going to an ice cream parlour, the zoo etc. I also included making his favourite meal, making a cake of his choice etc.

So pleased this has been bumped, and LOVING the treasure trails which I had never heard of.

For those who have done or are doing this - are you pre-paying for these and "booking" them into specific dates or are you just putting the activity for the month into the relevant envelope with a "we will do this at some point during March" ???

I would have thought pre-paying and booking would be a nightmare. You can't plan everything a year in advance and shape your entire calendar around 12 specific dates. What about if you have flu etc? Or get pregnant, LOL !!!

Plus, it'd be a really big expense in one go.

Your latter sounds much more do-able - just put something in the envelope for "March". You can then pick seasonally-relevant things for each month too.

BTW, also LOVING this treasure trail thing. I'm going to look it up and try and do it whenever I go and visit ANYWHERE, lol !

I didn't pre pay anything and didn't choose specific dates as we both work shifts. I just put ideas in envelopes and left a couple as his choice It just means that each month we make sure we do something together rather than spend every bit of time off we have together on the sofa! With our shifts we are sometimes like passing ships! Enjoy planning and have fun on the treasure trails if any of you do them xx

Bump! this is amazing, best thing i've ever done!! highly recommend doing and sharing brilliant date ideas here tp help each other create 12 perfect dates! xx

Love this idea we keep meaning to try out one of the city centre comedy clubs so I think I'll put that in as one of ours The Glee club actually do a 'new material' night which is only £3 but has comedians trying out new material... Sarah Millican was there not long ago so it includes some of the well known people so should be a good night for a cheap price!

I think most people have covered lots of great suggestions. Might also have a trip to the Harry Potter studios (we're both Harry Potter geeks a bit) but that would be a pricier one.

This is brilliant - i may just borrow it also! There's been a good 36+ dates suggested rather than original 12, there's at least 3 years worth of dates lol

Thanks for bumping Miss Twizz. This is a great idea, I've been racking my brains trying to think of something to give OH on the morning of the wedding. Now to decide on 12 dates! :-)

Ooh this looks fab, definitely going to do this when the time comes!

This is such a great idea.. I have set out my 12 dates for myself and OH.. Thanks for sharing all your ideas ?

Well, we are doing something similar. The week leading up to our wedding every night we are switching our phones off and going out and doing things we did on our first few dates and in our early dating days, so we are going the cinema, bowling, watch some local bands, eat at our favourite restaurant, crazy golf, and things like that, but we have said no phones as we just want to spend some time just the 2 of us. Is there anything like that from your early dating life togther that you could put in there?