Every year when my anniversary comes around I think about what I want to do.

• Go out to a nice restaurant.
• Take a short trip
• Go Out For A Nice Outing
• Do Something Adventurous

This year I am thinking of doing something a little different.  Staying in.  I love going out like everyone else, but who says you have to go out to have a great time?

How To Plan For The Perfect Night In

Staying in and making it a night to remember requires planning.  First, you want you and the people you invite to be alone so that means that you have to make plans for everyone else.  Call the babysitter, grandma, who ever is your go to person make it know that you have plans and you are going to need their help to make this day special.  This is a great time to have the kids spend the night at their friend’s house.

Decide On Dinner

Now dinner can take on so many different shapes and sizes.  If you want to be adventurous you can take out a cookbook and whip up your own dinner.  You can make picking out the ingredients part of the evening or you can do that the day before.  You can try one of those delivery services where they will go to your favorite restaurant and pick up the food for you and deliver it.  Another option is one of those delivery boxes, the ingredients are all there all you have to do is put them together and cook. Those are also pretty fail safe. So think about it and pick the option that will work best for you.

Think About Dessert

Dessert is a great addition to any meal and there are certainly tons of options.

Want something healthy and easy you can shoot for strawberries and whipped cream.  Want something more involved you can try a syrup like chocolate or caramel.

Places like The Cheesecake Factory have cakes you can ship or pick up, so does your local bakery plan ahead.

Don’t Forget The Entertainment

Making time for quiet time to talk and connect is important, but you also want to think about what to do after dinner.  This isn’t a night for your everyday programming you want to quench’s your #DVR up so record your favorite shows so you can watch them later.  This is not a good time to binge watch #Insecure or catch up on Scandal.  You want to watch something that is no longer than 2.5 hours long.

You probably want to watch your movie themes unless there is something that you both want to see.  The infidelity movie is probably not a great choice for let’s say an anniversary and if you are trying to get away from the stresses or regular home life stay away from a family theme.  The last thing you want to have to do is go chase down a movie at the last minute, so go for convenience.  I looked on demand because we have Verizon Fios to see what the options are The Circle, Snatched, The Fast and The Furious, and United Kingdom  would all make great pics (you can see what they have beforehand here).  They even have the latest Star Wars Rogue One, if that is your thing.  Even if you are thinking about a streaming service like Netflix, you are going to want to make sure your network speed can handle it before hand, buffering in the middle of a great movie can really kill a great night you can test your speed here (if your speed doesn’t measure up think about making a change you don’t want to ruin a great night).

Don’t Forget Those Special Extras

If you want to make the night extra special, don’t forget to add the special touches.  Pick up his or her favorite snacks, think about having those extra special beverages chilling in the fridge.  Create a special card just to say I was thinking of you.  If you love wine have it stashed away and take it out just in time to make it the perfect surprise.

You don’t have to leave the house to have a perfect night, you can have just as much fun at home and you can save a ton of money.  So get creative and get intentional and start planning.