While home theaters are generally considered “man-cave” domain, they are useful for the entire family. One of the best uses is for a stay at home date idea with your significant other. Even though at-home date nights have gotten a bad rap as a cop-out date, they don’t have to be that way. With a little creative planning, you can make the home theater the most romantic home in the house. The best way to take an evening movie from boring to surprising is to take it up a level. 

Focusing on the Details

The biggest problem with a stay at home movie night is that you don’t have to put any effort into it. Most couples are wearing pajamas or something super oversized and comfortable. Sitting in two separate seats, you are not interacting. While there are times that couples enjoy this type of activity, it gets old if you do it too much. To help make the night special and exciting, put some thought into the details. You can do as little or as much as you want, but know that surprising your date will be part of the fun.

Picking the Movie

The first part of any movie night is picking the movie, usually by surfing through long lists of icons on your media server. Depending on the group you are with, this can take longer than to watch the movie. The reason it is so hard is because people have differing taste in movies, changing moods, and even read conflicting reviews. With just you and your date, you can take some initiative and already have a movie picked out. Remember not to pick something only you are interested in seeing, but think about your significant other. Choose one you’ve both been wanting to see or just one you’ve heard your partner mention wanting to watch. Once you have the movie, you can use it to choose other details.

Send an Invite

What will make your at home date night special is that you set it up with careful thought. Think back to when you first started dating. You would put a little more effort into planning, including asking out your date. So consider sending your date a special invitation ahead of time to let them know you have something planned for your date. This doesn’t have to be on paper, but it could be a text or email. Any kind of notification will let your partner know that you’re planning something out of the ordinary.

Hype It Up

Has this been a movie you two have been wanting to see for a while?

Whether it is or not you can still hype it up by talking it up throughout the course of the day or week.

To take things to the next level, make it a themed movie night. Wear certain clothes, eat movie-specific foods, and even decorate your viewing area. It’s little touches like these that will make your average movie night that much more special.

Seating

The way to make a movie-viewing date special is all in the set up. As mentioned before, at home movie dates usually involve sitting on different couches, in separate chairs, or just far apart. Most home theaters have separate reclining chairs, bean bags, or other single-type-seating, so it isn’t an intentional decision. Make the seating intentional by finding a way to make the seating different and exciting. Some ideas might be setting up an air mattress in the room, or watch the movie in a giant beanbag together. The point is to sit closer and interact somehow.

Food

This step can be as creative and expensive as you want. At the bare minimum, stop by your local grocery store and grab some of your favorite treats to share in a regular theater. Take the time to pop some popcorn and have both of your favorite drinks on hand. Have them prepared and laid out, ready to be eaten when it’s movie time. If you want to get fancy with the basics, try grabbing flavorings for the popcorn or a new recipe for your standard treats.

If you want to step it up to make it even more special, do a fun spin on dinner and a movie. Instead of going out for dinner though, do it inside of your home theater or movie viewing area. Knowing your partner’s preferences will be the key to success here. The dinner you pick should be based on something you both enjoy, whether it’s pizza and beer, steak and potatoes, or sushi. Order and pick it up, or make it yourself. You can set up the atmosphere for a great dinner inside the home theater room and either eat while you watch, or eat and then watch.

Atmosphere

Try adding a little romance. Set up a picnic on the floor of the theater and enjoy watching your movie on the ground. Bring in a table and prepare a nice candlelight dinner on a table in the back before going to the seating. Place candles around the room and have them lit to give a little light during the movie, but not so much light it’s hard to see the film. If you want, add a little music to play in the background. Have everything set up before so you aren’t fumbling with set up while your partner sits waiting. Also, have the movie already queued up on your media server to avoid distracting from the atmosphere you’ve set up once you’re ready to watch.

Taking It Up a Notch

If you need more inspiration, a fun idea is making the night themed, based on the movie you decide to watch. For instance, if you enjoy watching super hero movies together, make the food choices fun. Pull up your favorite search engine and look at what parents have done for their child’s birthday party. Or just tap into your cheesy side and nickname foods something related to the theme. If you want to get extra crazy, pick out some costumes for the two of you to wear.

Other ideas might be a little more difficult because the movie choice is serious. Movies with a major following, like the Godfather, are easy to theme a night around. If you are going with a choice that has a sadder message, balloons around the room isn’t appropriate. In those instances, you can have tissues around the room, extra blankets, or try to lighten the mood with a stack of ice cream cartons ready for eating those feelings away. No matter how you work out the theme for the evening, the effort and time put into the details will impress your date.

A Little Goes a Long Way

You don’t have to do all the suggestions in this article to elevate a regular movie night into a romantic date night. The idea behind these suggestions are that you are taking creativity and effort to make a special evening for the two of you to spend time together. Even if you don’t go into the extra steps of making the night themed, you will still have a successful date. The thing people want to see from their significant other the most is that they put the time into making them feel loved, appreciated, and valued. It really is that simple of a concept.

Next time you can’t think of something to do on the weekend, want to do something special for your significant other, or just want to do something new, you can use these ideas to get your creative juices flowing. Do not let yourselves get stuck in a rut of binge watching a television series. Keep the romance a live by investing in your relationship. Try making your next date an amazing, in-home movie date night and see how much it improves your love life. It will show your significant other just how much you love them.

Dating Decoded

Interested in learning how we here at emlovz can help you?

We teach our students the shortcut to finding their ideal match by MegaDating. MegaDating is our dating philosophy and it shapes everything we teach here at emlovz. Simply put MegaDating is dating prolifically with the specific goal of going on 20 dates in 90 days. This will give you ample women to compare and contrast so you can refine not only your dating skills but also who your ideal partner is.

To teach you how to quickly find highly compatible women in just weeks and become the most eligible bachelor in town you’ll team up with romantic experts, each skilled in their own unique area to support you.

Our Team

• Emyli (me), co-founder, curriculum developer, head coach, and I host two coaching sessions every week
• Thomas, co-founder, and coach. He’ll lead the biweekly Man Cave event where men come together to talk dating, bond with one another, and support other single men
• Brooke, and Audrey are mock date specialists. Go on a practice date with them (and receive feedback) before your next date
• Darshil is a confidence coach, wingman, and all around great guy to have on your team. Once student, now a teacher he knows what you’re going through and how to get the most from your dating life
• Hailey is your new stylist. She’s worked with celebs from every industry and is now about to raid your closet
• Tilly is our holistic sex & intimacy coach. She’ll help you get the most out of your sex life so you and your partner are happier between the sheets
• Renee is our anxiety dating coach. As a licensed therapist she knows the steps needed to turn you into a cool, calm, and collected dater
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Our Community

And look, we realize that the single life can be difficult. If accepted into our coaching program, Dating Decoded, you’d be joining a community of supportive men and coaches who are there to listen, support, and encourage you as you navigate the single life.

Our program offers every student a lifetime membership (as if you’ll need it) so the support won’t stop until you’ve found your ideal partner.

If you’re ready to find your forever partner, book a Zoom session with our team today. Together we’ll talk about your dating history, your goals and show you how our program, Dating Decoded, can help you find your ideal partner.

Hear what’s going on in our students’ dating lives.