15 Autumn/Winter Date Ideas

Cold weather got you down?
Don't know where to go now you can't have as much fun at the beach?

Well, we've got you covered!

Here are 15 of our Autumn and Winter Season date ideas, for the most part you'll be warm and cosy but still enjoying all the Seasons have to offer.

Pumpkin Carving & Halloween

If you're home over Halloween you can get pumpkins and carving kits and carve out a pair of pumpkins together. You could even theme them so they match. Or if that's not your thing, you could host or go to a Halloween party together.

If you're going to or live near a Disney Theme Park you should definitely go to one of their Halloween night events, last year we went to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party in Florida, where for the first time in years we got to Trick or Treat! I got a mountain of candy and ended up taking most of it into work for my friends.

Pillowforts

A really warm and cosy date idea! Grab your blankets, pillows, movies and snacks and spend the evening snuggled up watching your favourite Winter movies together

Themed Baking

'A couple who bakes together, stays together'

Get into the Christmas spirit by baking some gingerbread men or even a gingerbread house/village. Decorate them together and show off your creation as the centrepiece of your Christmas decorations.

If gingerbread isn't really your thing, bake some Christmas cookies with lots of sprinkles, chocolate crinkles with snowdust icing, thumbprint cookies or stained-glass window biscuits. It doesn't really matter which sweet treat you bake, just as long as you enjoy doing it. You can find some good Christmas recipes here.

Fireworks

Venture outside on the 5th of November. Wrap up warm and go see a Firework Display, two of the big displays near me are at Ashbrooke Cricket Club (buy a ticket) and Saltwell Park (free). Ashbrooke's display has a fairground so theres plenty for you to enjoy while you wait for the fireworks to start, you can eat candy floss, ride the ferris wheel and grab a hot chocolate to warm you up before the main event kicks off.

Ice Skating

This is one we've never done together, we went together with one of my friends around eight years ago, but we just sat and drank hot chocolate while we watched her fall over every few minutes. Ice skating isn't my thing, I went once when I was very young and I can remember falling and not being able to get back up, I was only around four years old! so this is one I have no interest in doing!

Decorating for Christmas

Decorate your house for Christmas together, we have quite a few bits of Disney in our house as we pick up a Christmas decoration every time we visit a Disney Park (except Tokyo) and I tend to do at least one big Christmas decoration order from the Disney Store each year! The Simpsons bits are from Universal Studios and the Santa Stitch is from Animez and the M&Ms bits are from M&M World in London. If your boyfriend/girlfriend is a bit of a Grinch at Christmas, why don't you sneakily decorate the house while they're working so you can both just enjoy the house together when they come home without the stress and grumpiness of your Grinch detangling the lights.

Snowman*

*Weather permitting

A couple of years ago we wrote a list of fifty things to do together in the next year, one of the things was to build a snowman, but for the last two or three years there hasn't been enough snow here to even make a snowball! Lets hope this year we can have a couple of days of snow (preferably while i'm off work) and we can finally enjoy it for once!

Christmas Shopping

Let's face it, this one can't be avoided, no matter how much online shopping you do! Wrap up warm with easily removable layers for when you're indoors and hit the shops! Every Christmas Season my fiancé and I venture over to the MetroCentre, we don't go there very often throughout the year as it's a bit more difficult to get to than The Bridges or Eldon Square, but it is huge compared to those! It's worth it even if just for a visit to the big Disney Store, which is the only one in the area that sells Vinylmation figures.

Christmas Market

I don't know if Sunderland are getting one this year, or if they are when it will actually be there, but the Christmas Market in Newcastle will be open between the 4th of December and the 8th of December. I'm hoping I can visit it this year as with it being on for such a short amount of time I could end up working all of those days!

Christmas Lights

Christmas is all about the lights! Go to your city or town's light switch on or to another lighting event. The photograph below is from last years Sunderland illuminations. This year the Sunderland illuminations will be held from the 26th of September until the 1st of November, it will be the last year the event has an Alice in Wonderland theme. There is also Durham Lumiere, but you need a ticket for this event and its not on for as long. I've still never managed to get to it, but the ticket information for this year is going to be released in October.

Christmas Windows

The Fenwick Christmas Window is a big tradition in the North East of England. Every year the giant department store redecorates its full set of windows and transforms them to tell a story. 

The window is always busy as people flock from the surrounding cities and towns just to see it, it signifies the start of the Christmas Season here more than the Coke van does! If you want to see it but don't want to queue in the cold, visit around 7pm after its been open for a couple of weeks and you'll have it pretty much to yourself.

Last year the theme was Alice in Wonderland and you can see the video of the window below. 

Last year the window was unveiled on November 7th.

Make S'mores


This toasty, chocolatey treat is perfect for the colder months.

All you need is:

                                           - Graham Crackers (or Digestive Biscuits)

                                           - Marshmallows

                                           - Chocolate

                                           - Baking Tray

                                           - Oven

First put one set of crackers or biscuits on your baking tray, then add a chunk of your chocolate and one large marshmallow or a few mini marshmallows on top of each cracker/biscuit. Stick the tray in the oven for a few minutes on a medium heat and then once your marshmallows are puffy and golden take them out of the oven and add another cracker/biscuit on top of each s'more. Then enjoy!

PJ Date

Cosy up in your pyjamas and a blanket, sit in front of the fire if you have one, it just makes the cold season feel warm and fuzzy. Play boardgames or video games and binge on your favourite tv shows and comfort junk food while you catch up on what the two of you have been up to that week. Plan out the year ahead so you can both happily work towards your goals for the next year.

Movies

Go out to the cinema, theres always new films coming out at this time of year! This year i'm looking forward to seeing Pan and A Peanuts Movie. We were looking forward to seeing Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F but the only showing is on our 10th anniversary and we won't be in the country to see it!

Hot Chocolate Tasting

Go to your local supermarket or Whittard's and pick up a few types of hot chocolate to try out together, or if you're going out Christmas shopping you can even tie these two together and visit all the coffee shops to try out their new seasonal flavours. My favourite last year was the chocolate orange hot chocolate from Costa Coffee.

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