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Middle-aged married couple dancing together after taking a dance class, one of their alphabet dating ideas

How To Do the Alphabet Dating Challenge + A-Z Date Ideas

September 21, 2022
Marriage Enrichment

Alphabet Dating Challenge: A List of Creative Date Ideas from A to Z

So, you’ve done brunch, bowling, dinner, and movies…now what? If you’re running out of date ideas, you’ve come to the right place because we’ve got an easy date hack for you and your spouse—ABC dating! Don’t stress about being stuck in a rut. Mix up your dating routine with fresh and interesting ideas that you might not think up otherwise. Ready to get started ABC dating? 

Make your first date creating your list of dates! Grab some snacks. Then, pull up the notes section on your phone, or go old school, and dust off pen and paper. Now, type or write out the alphabet, A to Z. Spend time with your spouse filling in all the letters with unique dates ideas. Don’t get in over your head. Aim for three to five per letter, for now.

Young couple canoeing, one of the abc date challenges on their alphabet dating list

As you’re working through creating your list of alphabet dates, keep these considerations in mind. 

  1. This is your list, no one else’s list, so include ideas that speak to your personalities and interests. Be open to trying new things, too! The goal is for you both to contribute even if some of the ideas get one or both of you out of your comfort zones. 
  2. Stay simple, yet dream big. We know we just contradicted ourselves, but let this list run the gamut of date ideas. For letter H, you could list “Holiday decorating”, a simpler date, and “Hot air balloon ride”, something a bit more extravagant.  
  3. Include ideas that can be done year-round and those specific to seasons and holidays you love. For letter C, you could list “Charcuterie board,” a year-round activity, versus “Cut down a Christmas tree,” a holiday specific activity.
  4. The dates you know and love…keep them on the list. Just balance them with brand new ideas, too.
  5. There isn’t a correct time frame for creating your list of alphabet dates. Keep adding to it as new ideas pop up.
  6. Also, there is no right time frame to complete your list. Just keep it in your back pockets, so you immediately have something to fall back to when you don’t want to “do what you always do.” If you and your spouse want to set an achievable goal for yourselves, go for it!
  7. How you approach choosing what date to do is up to you. One idea—keep a jar with 26 pieces of paper labeled A-Z. When it’s time to go on a date, pull a letter from the jar, and pick a date from that letter. Or, go down the alphabet, and do one date in the order of the alphabet until you’ve gone A through Z. Then, start back over.
  8. If traveling is important to you, consider including places you want to visit on each letter—“Grand Canyon” for letter G or “Paris” for letter P.
  9. This entire challenge is up to your interpretation. For letter I, you might list “Ice cream.” This could mean go to your favorite ice cream shop, make homemade ice cream, or invite friends over for an ice cream sundae bar. There are no “rules.”  

We hope this easy challenge will inspire you and your spouse to put your heads together to come up with the ultimate list of date ideas. If you need a little help getting started, we’ve listed some of our favorite and out of the box A-Z date ideas below. 

Married couple stargazing, one of the abc date challenges on their alphabet dating list

Alphabet Dating List 

A: Aquarium, Afternoon tea, Archery 

B: Batting cages, Bingo, Bubble bath 

C: Comedy show, Crepes, Canoe 

D: Driving range, Dance class, Day trip 

E: Egg toss, Exercise, Elegant evening 

F: Food tour, Frisbee, Fondue 

G: Gyros, Go-karts, Glass blowing 

H: Helicopter ride, Hot tub, Hockey game 

I: Indoor swimming, Ice skating, Italian food 

J: Jazz, Jet ski, Junk food 

K: Karaoke, Kites, 5K 

L: Laser tag, Limo, Line dancing

M: Musical, Mud run, Massage 

N: National park, NFL, Nerf guns 

O: Oysters, Opera, Orchard 

P: Potluck, Pottery, Polar bear plunge 

Q: Quesadillas, Quiz, Quilt 

R: Rom-com, Random act of kindness, Ramen 

S: Sushi, Surf, Stargaze 

T: Tennis, Test drive, Tapas 

U: Unplug, University, Uno 

V: Volleyball, Visit friends, Volunteer 

W: White water rafting, Waffles, Walking tour 

X: aXe throwing, eXhibit, eXplore 

Y: Yoga, Yard sale, YouTube 

Z: Zoo, Zip line, Zzzzz 

So, what else will you come up with? Remember to share your ideas and pictures with us @winshapemarriage. ABC dating is a great way to keep you on your toes and allow you and your spouse to learn new skills or even learn new things about each other. We can’t wait to see your cool and quirky alphabet dating adventures!

Add WinShape Marriage Retreat to Letter W

You know we had to! Don’t forget to add a WinShape Marriage Retreat to letter W—an all-inclusive date weekend for you and your spouse where you’ll relax and reconnect. We can’t wait to meet you!

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