This Friday night Harry P. Leu Gardens will be featuring a very special Holiday Movie Date Night In The Park. The gardens open at 6:00p with the classic movie, White Christmas, starting at 8:30p. Pack a picnic dinner and a couple of chairs for a great date under the stars. The weather should be perfect with a low of 51 Friday night, so don’t forget a blanket and some hot coffee too! The cost is $7 for adults and $2 for children. If you are a member of the gardens all their Movie Date Nights are FREE.
Membership for a family is only $45 and well worth the cost if you like watching movies outside. They offer this about 4 times a year, not to mention all the other events they do throughout the year. You can check out more information on their website: leugardens.org
Winter Park offers a very special celebration each year to light their Christmas Tree in the park. The event this year takes place on Thursday, December 4th (this week) and marks the 30th anniversary of this event. There will be live Christmas musical performances by the Bach Festival Choir, Youth Ensemble and Brass band. Festivities begin at 6:15 – 8:00p and it is FREE. For all the details click here!
Friday Night there will be FREE admission to the Morse Museum of Art on Park Avenue from 4p – 8p. Their Tiffany windows are absolutely beautiful and can make for a very romantic date night.
Are you feeling bored with your date nights? Do they feel like another appointment on your already busy calendar? Then you, my friend, are in a rut! How does one get out of a rut? The hardest part is the first push, then the wheels take off quite easily on a new path. Think of this blog as your first push. Tom and I hope that the ideas we offer will help you get started on a date night journey that will be full of years of precious memories that are all yours! Need more than just a push? Try reading these five warning signs for being in a rut.
Everyone is feeling the squeeze on their wallets these days, but our date nights don’t have to suffer for it. In fact, some of the most memorable dates we’ve ever had cost little or nothing. It’s important to remember that dates are about wooing your spouse like you did when you first fell in love. In fact our married years should be more romantic than ever because it just gets better and better.
Beach Front Dining: Pack a cooler full of your favorite picnic foods. If you have a camp stove take some hamburgers or steaks ready to grill, otherwise pack cold fried chicken or something ready to eat. Drive to the beach and set up a table with table cloth and candles. Play soft music through your car stereo and before dinner take a walk on the beach. If it’s too cold bring a large beach blanket with you and bundle up while watching the waves roll in. After sunset, prepare your dinner under the stars and don’t forget a really special dessert and coffee. As an added bonus, one of you can plan this date night without the other knowing where you’re going or what you’re doing. It’s fun to be surprised.
NOTE FOR CENTRAL FLORIDA RESIDENTS: a great park is Bethune Beachlocated in South New Smyrna Beach. It has built in charcoal grills and covered picnic tables overlooking the beach, perfect for a beachside rendevouz. Be sure to check out the Event Calendar on the New Smyrna link above – the Holiday Boat Parade sounds like another fun date night that is completely free!
Tonight Tom came up with the most meaningful date night to me…he called and said that tonight was “You’ve Got Mail” night. I was extremely excited because I watch this movie every year during the holidays, but can’t remember the last time we’ve watched it together. I’m usually ironing while I watch it. 🙂
What I didn’t know was that Tom researched the movie and found the menu of the restaurant featured in New York. He made a meal that came from their menu and then printed a menu for me to enjoy – amazing! We also had Sushi, as well as Starbucks drinks.
Speaking of Starbucks – Joe Fox said this memorable quote, “The whole purpose of places like Starbucks is for people with no decision-making ability whatsoever to make six decisions just to buy one cup of coffee. Short, tall, light, dark, caf, decaf, low-fat, non-fat, etc. So people who don’t know what they’re doing or who on earth they are can, for only $2.95, get not just a cup of coffee but an absolutely defining sense of self: Tall. Decaf. Cappuccino.”
It was the most thoughtful and romantic evening because he took the time to make it so special. I might also mention that before the movie began he asked me trivia questions about You’ve Got Mail to see what I knew – I’ll admit I know quite a bit.
So to all our readers – what is your spouse’s favorite movie? Do some research and make a memory using all that is featured in the movie. I am overwhelmed that God has blessed me with such a man who knows me so well and loves me anyway.
What’s your favorite movie? We want to hear all about it!
This being the week of Thanksgiving I thought I would forgo our typical date night ideas and offer you a rich quote from John Piper’s book, This Momentary Marriage:
The Husband No Wife Regrets
When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden and God came to call them to account, it didn’t matter that Eve had sinned first. God said, “Adam, where are you?” (Gen. 3:9). That’s God’s word to the family today: Adam, husband, father, where are you? If something is not working right at the Piper house and Jesus comes knocking on the door, he may have an issue with my wife, but the first thing he’s going to say when she opens the door is, “Is the man of the house home?” That’s the way it happened in the first marriage. That’s the way it will happen in our marriage.
When a man joyfully bears the primary God-given responsibility for Christlike, servant leadership and provision and protection in the home—for the spiritual well-being of the family, for the discipline and education of the children, for the stewardship of money, for the holding of a steady job, for the healing of discord—I have never met a wife who is sorry she married such a man. Because when God designs a thing (like marriage), he designs it for his glory and our good.
As an added bonus, Desiring God Ministries is offering this excellent book as a free PDF download.
We pray that your Thanksgiving will be full of gratefulness for all that God has done and is doing in your relationship as husband and wife.
“To fall in love is easy, even to remain in it is not difficult; our human loneliness is cause enough. But is a hard quest worth making to find a comrade through whose steady presence one becomes steadily the person one desires to be.”
+ Anna Strong (American Journalist and author, 1885 – 1970)
Consistent date nights with your spouse offer the growth Anna Strong speaks of in this excellent quote. With Thanksgiving next week, why not take the time to write a note to your husband/wife thanking them for specific evidences of God’s grace in their lives that have helped you in your growth in godliness?
The following is taken from C.J. Mahaney’s excellent book (page 23), “Sex, Romance and the Glory of God” – a must read for married couples desiring to grow.
“Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh,” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.” Ephesians 5:31-32
This means that your marriage is meant to be, by the grace of God, the best echo, the most faithful reflection, of that relationship that you can possibly be. It’s not about impressing people or drawing attention to ourselves. It’s about being genuinely united in a strong, godly, intimate relationship that echoes the one between Christ and the Church.
Has your marriage primarily been centered on you? On your wife? On your children? On your responsibilities? On your goals? On your comforts? On your stuff? If so, you’ve been trying to live in a way you were never intended to.
The biblical purpose for marriage, you see, is not man-centered or needs-centered. It’s God-centered. It’s profoundly mysterious and profoundly significant. Your marriage is meant to point to the truth of the crucified and risen Savior who will return for His Bride.
So, the question is – how is your marriage doing at echoing the Savior? Your comments are welcomed and encouraged.
Isn’t the weather in Orlando this time of year beautiful? It makes me want to go outside as much as possible. That’s why we’re providing you with the following suggestions for planning a great date with your spouse this week:
Festival of Trees at Orlando Museum of Art. Daily from 10a – 5p. November 15 – 23. Tickets are $10 for adults. Pack a picnic to enjoy in beautiful Loch Haven Park before touring this year’s beautiful Christmas trees on display. Click herefor how to plan the perfect picnic for two.
Orlando By Night at the Orlando Science Center. Saturday, Nov. 22 – 6p. The skies over Orlando are on display while an expert explains the different constellations visible in the November sky. Tickets $12
Crane’s Roost Park in Uptown Altamonte. This week the park offers Karaoke (Tuesday), a circus show (Thursday), and a concert featuring the music of Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack (Friday). All events are free.
Finally, we offer you one question to help you start a meaningful conversation on your date this week:
What is your favorite memory of “us” before we were married?
Cour Heureuse! (Happy Dating!) Oh – please don’t forget to take our poll – you’ll find it in the previous post! Thanks!
We have all experienced those “less than meaningful” date nights. You can usually tell it’s going to be one from the moment you get in the car. It can sound something like this:
“What do you want to do?”
“I don’t know, what do you want to do?”
“Oh, I don’t care…whatever sounds good to you.”
“How about ________?”
“No, I don’t want to do that!”
These are indicators that date nights need to improve not only in priority (that is growing in the importance and purpose of date nights), but in planning them as well.
Some of our best date nights have been when Tom chose a couple of good questions for us to discuss while sharing a cup of coffee and dessert. Asking good questions has not always been a strength in our marriage, but after many dates like the one described above, Tom purposed to grow in learning how to lead us into meaningful conversations. What a difference this has made in our communication skills and the depth of our conversations, not to mention the intimacy we share as a result.
I love talking to Tom – he is my best friend, and this is how God intended marriage to be – a reflection of His love for the church!
We have added a tab above titled, Soil Samples, that offers lots of questions that will help you get started in drawing each other out about things you may not think to talk about on your own. It is our desire to help marriages grow and flourish as we seek to glorify God in how we live.
Helpful Tip: You don’t have to leave your home to have a date night using these questions. Why not plan an “evening in” after the children are asleep? Grab a blanket, brew some hot beverages and sit out under the stars to experiment with a few questions from the list. The fall weather is beautiful this time of year!
The idea behind this blog has been in our hearts for years, and now this provides us with a way to share them with you. Like a fine wine, the fermenting process has completed, and it is our desire to provide you with you what this year has to offer. Of course, we are speaking metaphorically – and we offer you only ideas to help you as you endeavor to rekindle the romance in your marriage, or keep it blazing – whichever the case may be for you.
Here is what you can expect to find on our blog:
Great date night ideas – both elaborate as well as inexpensive or free in the Orlando area.
How to use surprises in meaningful ways
Why wives should pursue their husbands romantically
Why husbands should make date nights a priority.
The goal is to post on Monday, Wednesday and Friday of each week:
Monday will be where you’ll find date night ideas for that particular week. This will give you the time you need to plan what you’ll do that week to celebrate your love.
Wednesday will be the day we talk about the why’s of romance. This could include great quotes from books we’ve read; articles to print and read; podcasts to download and listen to; or scriptures to memorize to help us keep a biblical perspective on what married love is all about.
Friday will be reserved for whatever is on our heart for that week. It will be the surprise element of the blog.
It is our prayer that this blog will serve as a tool to help strengthen your marriage in practical and helpful ways.
It won’t be long until this blog will be providing great ideas for wives to romance their husbands in the Orlando area. Although there will be many ideas that will work no matter where you call home. Please reply to this post if you would like to be notified when this blog is up and running. Until then…
The Romantic Vineyard 
