Let’s be honest; it’s getting harder and harder to find new date ideas.
The classic date ideas have been around for ages. And if you’ve been in a relationship for a long time, you might be stuck in a rut of going on the same date over and over again. Vice versa, if you’re just starting to date someone, you might get a visceral reaction anytime someone new mentions the classic (if not rather overdone) dinner and a movie troupe.
We get it. There are only so many ways to spin a nighttime date night into a unique experience. So we’re countering the regular nighttime dates and presenting something new and improved: dawn dating.
What is Dawn Dating
There is something romantic and intimate about going on a date when you first wake up. The term ‘dawn dating’ was first coined by the dating app Badoo. The app saw a 51% rise in morning dates for singles, and wanted to look into this new trend. The app also found that 71% of its users said that they would be impressed if someone asked them out in the morning.
This new dating trend is pretty self-explanatory; it just involves going on a date before 10 in the morning. While some of us may gawk at that early hour, there are millions of benefits to ditching nightlife and embracing the dawn for dating.
Dating in the morning is also a new idea, so most people have never done morning-specific date ideas. This means you’ve opened up a new world of date ideas, restaurants, coffee shops, and morning walk locations for your and your perspective partner.
The Positives of Dawn Dating
One of the best reasons to go on a date first thing in the morning, especially if it’s the first date, is because you won’t have time to get nervous. Often, we can psych ourselves out and worry all day about one date, even if it’s not that big of a deal. Because we have the entire day to think about what will happen during the night, we get too in our heads and often can awfulize something that’s meant to be fun.
When we practice dawn dating, we hop out of bed and go on a date first thing, with no time to overthink it!
Dawn dating is not just an original idea; it’s also more cost-effective than regular nighttime dates. Dinner and a movie once a week can rack up on your credit card bill pretty quickly, and it’s not unusual for one outing to end up costing over $100, even for just two people.
The idea of dating in the morning also allows you to cut off or extend the date for as long as you’re comfortable with it. If you’re meeting your date for the first time, you can make it a casual coffee date and say something like, “I might have to dash out pretty quickly after.” If the date goes well, ‘cancel’ that appointment and spend the rest of the day with your date!
Because you’re not starting the date at the end of the day, it relieves any pressure you might feel to awkwardly cut the date off at the end of the night and not know what the next steps are for you two. You’ll have the entire day apart, and you can invite them back in the evening, but the pressure is no longer as present or prevalent.
How to Make the Most of Dawn Dating
Another great reason to try your hand at dawn dating is that you can kill two birds with one stone. More than likely, you and your date aren’t going to severely alter your morning routines to fit a morning date in. You both might have to compromise, but the morning date might look more like walking your dog together or going out after the coffee to pick something up. This is good for multiple reasons.
- One, it rips off the veil that so many people put up when they’re first dating. When you start to go out with someone, you want to put your best foot forward. But that facade slips away when you begin a relationship with something as casual as a morning date walking your dog together. Your perspective partner sees you for who you are rather than who you’re trying to present yourself with.
- Another reason these casual yet task-oriented dates are a wonderful idea is the aforementioned excuse. Suppose the date isn’t going as well as you’d like. In that case, you can make up an excuse (or have an actual one) to leave. Then you can go about your day as if nothing happened. Alternatively, if the date is going great, you can ask your date to come along with you as you get stuff done. You can see how they react to you in ‘real’ life.
- Lastly, casually dawn dating can help make getting your daily and monotonous tasks fun and enjoyable. When you have a partner to do them with, they’re no longer solo endeavors, and you have extra help. You’re going to walk your dog anyway, so why not get to know someone while you do it? You’re going to crave your morning java no matter what, so why not try out that new place that just opened with someone? You’ll try to get your steps in at some point today, so why not do it with someone you genuinely enjoy spending time with?
Because dawn dates are much more casual than the usual date nights, they open up endless possibilities and definitions for how so many people have always approached dating.
Ideas for the Best Morning Dates
- Go on a hike to see the sunrise.
- Go on a morning walk around the city you live in.
- Check out a breakfast place you’ve never tried before.
- Make breakfast together.
- Walk your/your partner’s dog together.
- Go to a mimosa bar and enjoy bottomless mimosas.
- Go to your favorite coffee shop and try something on the menu you’ve never had.
- Attend a sunrise yoga class.
- Get active and head to the gym together.
- Go on a bike ride around town.
- Take a mini road trip to a cute town close by.
- Check out the local yard sales around your area before anyone else gets to them.
Our Dating Advice
No matter what you do on your morning dates, have fun and enjoy your time together! There’s no need to rush anything or put too much pressure on one date. The casual atmosphere that these morning dates will provide might help you ease into the dating world more organically.
Also, understand that dawn dating might not be for everyone. If you’re someone like me who values her mornings more than anything, you might want to reframe dawn dating as ‘one o’clock in the afternoon dating.’ You can still reap the benefits and rewards of an earlier date without sacrificing your mornings or your sanity.
Remember that dating ought to be fun. If you’re not having fun, that destroys the point. If none of the morning dates we suggested above sound good, you don’t have to do them! Take dawn dating and make it your own. Because this dating trend is so new, no one has it all figured out yet, which should encourage you to be yourself on these dates and come out of the interactions happier than before.
Have fun, relax, and enjoy this new way (and time!) to date your partner.
