5 Fun, Different and Surprising Valentine’s Day Dates

It comes around every year, and yet every year you wonder what kind of date you should take your sweetheart on for Valentine’s Day.

There’s always dinner and a movie, but that’s been done. You could see a show and have late-night dessert. If it’s cold, you can freeze your tushes off ice-skating. Or you can just bring home some flowers and let that be all acknowledgement the day gets.

But if you want to celebrate your relationship in a new and different way, something she (or he) will really love and remember for a long time, we’ve come up with a few suggestions for you. Obviously, you know your mate better than we do, so don’t schedule something that’s going to scare someone more than it thrills them.

Make Your Gifts Together

If you’re looking for a fun, creative, indoor activity—it is winter after all—that you can do together, look no further than making or decorating pottery together. It’s been such a trend over the last several years that most cities and towns have stores where you can buy premade pieces of pottery, paint them however you want, and then have them glazed and made ready to give to your Valentine.

It’s a great way to be creative together and make something for each other that you’ll get to enjoy much longer than that overpriced bouquet of roses. And if you’re celebrating your kids on Valentine’s Day, it’s an activity the whole family can enjoy together. If you don’t want to go out, consider family craft time together at home.

Learn to Cook Together

Making dinner together can be very romantic. What’s even more fun, while still having that romance, is learning to cook together. In most places, you can find businesses that give cooking lessons. We can also just about guarantee that your city is full of caterers and chefs who, if asked, might accept payment for spending an hour or two teaching you and your special someone how to prepare a certain kind of dish. Then you’re left alone with a delicious, professional meal to which you can add candlelight and a bottle of wine. This is far more memorable than fighting the Valentine’s Day dinner crowd at Le Whatever’s and spending way too much money on the world’s smallest salad.

Helicopter Tour of the City

You may not be able to do this just anywhere, but most big cities have helicopters and pilots who can be hired to give you a flying tour of your city. It’s loud, so don’t expect to do a lot of talking, but it’s a very memorable and romantic way to begin or end a special night out together. See the city lights. Find your house. Buzz the zoo and get the animals riled up.

If this is the night you’re popping the question, a beautiful view of the city lights could be the perfect backdrop for you to shout how much you love her. Do a search online for service providers in your area, and then do a little checking into the company’s history to make sure you’ve found someone safe and reputable. Then let the skyline do the work.

Skydiving

Maybe a helicopter tour is to tame for your sweetie. No problem. How about skydiving? Jumping out of a plane together is frightening and exhilarating all at the same time. Like love. There’s a big buildup while you get trained, suit up and take to the skies. Then there’s that moment when you’re not sure you can go for it, so you look at each other to see if it’s really going to happen. Then, because it’s inevitable, you take the leap and realize it’s that the free-fall is the most fun you’ll ever have in five minutes.

Be aware that you won’t be alone, though, on this Valentine’s Day date. If it’s your first time skydiving, you’ll jump in tandem with a professional. You’ll appreciate having a pro strapped to your back, but it might seem weird to have taken a couple of strangers on your special date with you. Again, make sure you find a safe and respected company and then have fun. If skydiving is too much for your date, look into a hot-air-balloon ride. You get all the beauty and romance of being in the air without the scary-jumping-from-a-perfectly-good-plane part.

Celebrity Date

Nothing makes a person feel more special than being treated like a celebrity for a night. You don’t have to let your valentine order you around or throw a cell phone at you, but you can make her feel like Hollywood royalty for the evening. She’ll love having an excuse to get dressed up even more than any regular date night.

Start by sending her out for a mani/pedi and facial before she gets dressed up. Make dinner reservations at the most ridiculously expensive restaurant in town and arrange to get the most special treatment you can get. This isn’t your standard Valentine’s dinner, so be creative and see if you can get the staff to go along with your celebrity treatment. Hire a limo to take you to dinner and then on a tour of the city, while you drink champagne and pretend to avoid paparazzi inside. Then, rent the best hotel suite in town, have flowers waiting when you arrive and open up at least one bottle of bubbly to drink with your hand-dipped strawberries. Spend the evening together enjoying each other’s company, and then arrange for spa treatments or massages before you check out the next day. This will definitely be one for the books.