My partner and I have been together for 13 years, so we’ve been through quite a few Valentine’s Day date night ideas. We both love food and love eating out, but we’re also over the Valentine’s Day restaurant scene. While the eavesdropping on this particular holiday is unmatched, every vaguely romantic restaurant is packed, and often the only option is to order from an expensive prix-fixe menu prepared by staff who would rather be anywhere else.
Even though Valentine’s Day is a silly, made-up holiday, we still like to celebrate it. This is where the at-home date night comes in. Cooking a meal with your partner is a great way to spend some quality time together without spending a ton of money. If your regular date night routine involves checking out a new cocktail bar every week, take this opportunity to upgrade your home bar cart and shake up a fun drink in a fancy glass. If you’re more of a handmade pasta by candlelight couple, whip up a batch of fresh pasta dough and turn a corner of your kitchen into a trattoria.
If part of the appeal of going out to eat is the appeal of not cooking, order your favorite takeout, put it on your nicest plates, and spend your prep time creating a romantic tablescape instead. So give your apartment a deep clean and tell your roommate to get lost for the evening. Here’s everything you need to have a spectacular Valentine’s Day date night at home.
Set the Table
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Valentine’s Day will feel a little more special at home with an immaculately laid table, complete with new linens, candles, and a cozy meal. It works if you live with your partner, and it’s also a great way to impress someone who only comes over during the hours between dinner and breakfast—especially if you’ve just upgraded the chipped plates that you’ve had since college for some chic ceramics.
The first dinner party I hosted was thrown together in an 800-square-foot apartment with borrowed plastic tables and chairs shoved into my living room. It was cramped, but it still looked put together once I threw on a tablecloth and some cloth napkins. Whether you plan to sit down for dinner at a dining table, coffee table, or kitchen counter, a colorful set of linens will make everything look polished. Plus, you can reuse the tablecloth, placemats, and napkins for your next party or date night at home.
Valentine’s Day at home deserves a grown-up dinnerware set, and this is the one I’m finally buying after years of using random dishware. The profile of the plates and bowls has a modern yet timeless feel, and the 16-piece set comes in trendy colors like olive, sky blue, and mustard.
Dinner candles provide just the right amount of warm, ambient lighting to showcase a great meal. These terraced candle holders have a low profile for easy storage, and they can be flipped to display either taper candles or tealights.
Taper candles never go out of style, but you can make this classic romantic detail feel a little more of-the-moment by adding a little color. These candles by The Floral Society come in both a classic 12″ size and a dramatic 18″ length. The earth tones color palette offers a subtle twist on the classic Valentine’s Day colors, though if that’s not your vibe, there are over a dozen options.
Steak is a great choice for a date night meal—the prep and cook times are minimal, and it still feels like a special treat. A nice steak knife also helps amp up the special occasion factor. This set from Material is just as sharp and chic as one you’d pick up at your favorite neighborhood bistro, and the rounded handles feel super comfortable to hold.
Prep Your Bar Cart
Putting some thought in your beverage selection is an easy way to elevate an at-home date night. Step one: Get some fancy glasses. Our Place coupes strike just the right balance between durable and sleek, and they can be repurposed as serving vessels for desserts and small bites. Bonus: They stack, and you can put them in the dishwasher because nothing kills the post-date mood like arguing over the dishes.
There are so many incredible nonalcoholic beverages out there, it seems like a no-brainer to prepare a fun fizzy NA drink for the evening. And by prepare, I just mean you should have a box of Avecs on hand in your fridge. These carbonated drinks have a subtle, sophisticated taste on their own, but they can also be mixed with spirits to make a cocktail. My partner enjoys a post-dinner pour of whiskey, so I’ll pour myself yuzu and lime tonic into a chilled coupe so we can both share a digestif.
An espresso martini doubles as a dessert course and a cocktail, so it’s great for ending your Valentine’s Day dinner. If you don’t have an espresso maker (or you’re too lazy to prep and pull a shot at 10 p.m. like me), Cheeky’s espresso syrup is the ultimate cheat code for making easy espresso martinis or carajillos at home.
Get Cozy
The best part of having date night at home is wearing soft pants and enjoying your meal while wrapped in the fuzziest blanket you own. Fancy pajamas and a nice candle are the easiest ways to transition from dinner to whatever other activities you have in mind.
While there’s nothing quite like the smell of onions frying in olive oil, you might want to switch gears once you’ve cleared the table. This Earl Grey–scented candle helps neutralize strong cooking smells, and notes of bergamot, black currant, and vanilla set a romantic mood without veering into cloyingly sweet territory. If you really want to recreate the feeling of being at a nice restaurant, put it in the bathroom.
Consider Onsen’s waffle bath robe a more fashionable Snuggie. The soft cotton weave basically feels like your favorite throw blanket, and it’s lightweight enough to wear over pajamas without getting too sweaty. The oversized fit is super comfortable, and there are two front pockets so you can keep your phone close by.
These pajamas are the ultimate at-home uniform. The soft modal feels great on your skin, and the shorts have huge pockets plus a stretchy, supportive waistband. The house shorts work as a uniform for after-dinner cuddling up to watch a movie or playing a board game together. They’re also close enough to “real clothes” that you won’t have to change to answer the door for an unexpected visitor, AKA your UPS delivery person.
Plan Some Post-Dinner Activities
You could just post up on the couch to watch a rom-com after dinner, but you should probably dial up the effort on Valentine’s Day and have something planned. And one of the most underrated Valentine’s Day date night ideas is game night. Two-person games are great for flexing your competitive streaks, or you can pull a few tarot cards and get a glimpse into your romantic future.
If you’re a fan of playing word games on your phone, upgrade for date night with this luxury Scrabble set. The raised grid helps the letter tiles snap into place, and the mahogany-finished cabinet has a built-in lazy Susan that you’ll want to spin around all night long. Plus, the set comes with a hard-cover scorecard and pencil, so you and your partner can keep score for many date nights to come.
It Takes Two is a video game where you and your partner play as a bickering couple turned into adorable handmade dolls. It’s a great entry-level couples video game because the game gently teaches you the controls at each step, and you have to work together to traverse environments like the dolls’ tool shed, their daughter’s playroom, and an overgrown garden. You won’t be able to finish the whole thing in one sitting, so think of it as an excuse to plan more date nights at home. There are plenty of puzzles that you have to work together to solve, plus lots of mini games where you can go head to head with your date and let your competitive streak fly.
Even if you don’t really believe in tarot, a tarot reading still makes an incredible conversation starter. This fun pasta-themed set is packed with fun illustrations and nods to Italian Americana, and it comes with a pamphlet to help you learn how to read the cards. Ask the deck questions, discuss the cards’ omens, or just admire the artwork together.
