With her vast experience in the wedding industry, Sasha offers invaluable advice on how to avoid common pitfalls and ensure your wedding planning goes smoothly.

You Get Engaged! What Next?

Here’s what Sasha suggests:

1. Sit Down and Make a Budget

Sasha’s first piece of advice is to have an honest conversation about the budget with everyone financially involved. This includes:

• Determining the total amount available.
• Deciding how much to allocate to major expenses like the venue, photographer, and dress.
• Highlighting the most important aspects to you, whether that’s a high-quality photographer, a spacious venue, or elaborate décor.

“We know the budget might change, but having a ballpark figure helps set expectations,” Sasha emphasizes.

2. Plan Out a General Timeline

Sasha suggests creating a timeline as soon as possible. This should include:

• Booking the venue, which often needs to be done several months in advance.
• Scheduling other big-ticket items and vendors accordingly.

“A timeline helps you prioritize and ensures you’re not scrambling at the last minute,” says Sasha.

3. Start Talking to Photographers or Videographers

According to Sasha, it’s crucial to book your photographer or videographer early. “Busy seasons get booked quickly, so securing your date ahead of time can save you a lot of stress.” Sasha also recommends considering weekday weddings (Monday-Thursday) to increase your chances of availability.

“No matter when you book, make sure your photographer/videographer captures your day authentically and beautifully,” she advises.

4. Make a Vision Board

A vision board can be a powerful tool. Sasha suggests using it to:

• Solidify your color scheme and themes.
• Communicate your vision to everyone involved, from the bridal party to the florist.

“Having a clear visual guide helps everyone stay on the same page and brings your dream wedding to life,” Sasha explains.

Conclusion

Wedding planning can feel overwhelming, but these steps can help you start strong. If you need more guidance, Sasha By Design is here for you. “We understand the ins and outs of wedding planning,” Sasha says. “We’re not just there to capture your moments; we also help you plan them.”

Taking these initial steps can set the tone for a successful and enjoyable wedding planning experience. By creating a budget, timeline, and vision board, and by securing key vendors early, you’ll be well on your way to your dream wedding. And remember, having a professional like Sasha By Design by your side can make all the difference in creating a day that’s both beautiful and memorable. Happy planning!

The post The First Things to Do When Planning a Wedding in 4 Simple Steps appeared first on Don't Quit Dating.

Still, I wanted it to look wedding-y and beautiful, and a draped tent ceiling seemed like the perfect answer.

It turned out to be a much bigger job than I had anticipated, and the resources out there for this were slim. Now that I’ve figured it all out, I’m here to share and stop the cycle of trial-and-error draped ceilings.

The three most important tips for hanging a draped tent ceiling have to do with the materials you use: 1) Fabric in bulk is crazy expensive – use plastic instead (shown below). 2) Use CABLE WIRE, not fishing line, to hang the middle. 3) Attach the draping to thin PVC pipes on the cable so that when you raise the ceiling, they’ll slide naturally rather than bunch up.

Keep reading for more tips and a step-by-step guide to how we did it. Save yourself both money and a migraine!

I took this video at my friend’s wedding because I was stunned by how the ceiling design made the church gym look SO much better!

Use Plastic Instead

My original intention was to buy a ton of white fabric to drape the ceiling. My research quickly indicated that it would cost a small fortune, and the better option was to use a giant roll of soft white plastic. Up on the ceiling, your guests can’t even tell, and it’s significantly cheaper.

Something like this:

Check Price!

Cable Wire, not Fishing Line

You might think that some plastic and lights won’t be that heavy, but it really is. No matter how strong you think your fishing line is, you’re better off just using cable wire.

Something like this:

Check Price!

PVC Pipes Make For a Beautiful Drape

As we practiced setting up the ceiling a week before my wedding, we ran into a problem: the plastic had a habit of bunching together on the cable rather than spreading and draping like it was supposed to.

To solve this problem, we got some thin PVC pipes and cut them to match the width of each strip of white plastic.

Then, we glued the PVC pieces to the middle of each strip. When we hung the ceiling later, it gave the draping the fluidity to move that it was lacking before. More specific info on this in the step-by-step guide.

Something like this:

Check Price!

Step-by-Step Guide: Before Wedding Day

Step One: Measure Venue

You’ll need to know how much cable, plastic, and lights to buy. Measure length, width, and height of your space.

Another thing to note are the features of your venue. Some things that proved useful for us were the machine-operated basketball hoops on both sides of the room, rings secured into the walls near the ceiling, and grooves in the wall that we rested excess on.

Step Two: Obtain Materials

Here’s what you’ll need to get:

1. White draping plastic
2. Lights (battery-powered, not plug-in)
3. Batteries to power the lights
4. Cable
5. Fishing line
6. Thin PVC pipe
7. Clothespins
8. Clear tape
9. Ladder(s) tall enough to get close to the ceiling

Step Three: Cut Plastic

After measuring, determine how many feet of plastic you need for each strip. Remember that it will drape, so don’t just measure the width of the room and cut there – add some generous feet.

You might be nervous that cutting and folding the plastic will make it crumpley, which it does, but it doesn’t affect the beautiful draping process much in the end. Cutting in advance will save you lots of time on your wedding day – it’s definitely worth some wrinkles.

In practice, the cutting process was a bit of an ordeal. Most people don’t have sufficient space in the house to reasonably lay out and cut that much plastic. My mom and I went to our nearest church building, marked the measurement on the gym floor, rolled out the plastic and layered it about 5 times, cut, then folded the cut pieces back up again. This way is a little more efficient because you can get multiple strips cut at the same time rather than doing each individually.

You definitely need at least two people to achieve this, but three is more ideal.

Step Four: Cut PVC

My dad did this for me in the garage. It’s pretty self-explanatory – use a saw to cut the PVC into pieces that are the same length as the width of your strips of fabric. Cut enough PVC pieces for each strip of plastic.

Step-by-Step Guide: On Wedding Day

Step One: Form a Perimeter

The drapey ceiling needs a cable down the middle for the tent effect, as well as something to hang over on the sides of the room to stay put. Secure fishing line to both sides of the room where the plastic will fall. Our venue had rings secured perfectly into the wall, so we tied the line to one loop and strung it through the rest.

Step Two: Attach PVC to Plastic

Once both the PVC and the plastic are cut to the correct size, attach the PVC right in the middle of each strip. We used double-sided tape.

Step Three: Secure the Cable

Secure the cable down the middle of the room.

My venue was a church gym, so there were machine-operated basketball hoops on both sides of the room, which we used to our advantage. We attached the cable to the thick pole on the backboard of the hoop using a wire rope clip.

Check Price!

Then, we strung the PVC pipes through the cable and attached the latter end to the other basketball hoop.

If you don’t have these basketball hoops in your venue, you’ll need to find a different way to attach your cable to each side of the room.

Step Four: Tape Lights

Put the batteries in your battery-operated lights, turn them on (depending on how soon your reception will start – if not for several hours, you better wait), and attach the not-battery-pack ends to your cable. We just taped them onto the ends of the PVCs so they wouldn’t mess with the draping effect.

Step Five: Raise the Hoops

Now that everything is secured, you can raise the hoops and watch your drapey ceiling come up!

Step Six: Pin the Ends

The next move is clear – you must attach the ends of the plastic to the fishing line on the wall.

Depending on how tall the ceiling is, you’ll probably need to get up really high. We used a construction ladder meant for climbing on rooves because our normal garage ladder wasn’t tall enough.

With a tall enough ladder, you can pull the plastic through the fishing line and secure it with a clothespin. You’ll need to decide how drapey you want the ceiling with the first go. Someone can stand on the ground and ensure that each following drape is draping to the same degree. Do the same thing with the lights.

Unless you’re an absolutely perfect plastic cutter, your plastic will hang down the wall unevenly and look weird. At my church gym, they had grooves in the wall near the top of the ceiling that were perfect for resting the plastic ends on. If you don’t have that, you might consider getting white curtains to hang over the plastic ends to make the room look more cohesive.

Enjoy Your Gorgeous Ceiling!

Although this was the single biggest project I embarked upon for my wedding, it was well worth the effort. It looked amazing, and doing everything ourselves saved us a ton of money. Don’t book those companies that will do it for you for $2000! It is very possible to do it yourself, and you can save the money for dates.

If you’re reading this, you might also like 11 Low-Cost and Creative Date Ideas:

The post How to Create a Draped Tent Ceiling for Your Wedding appeared first on Don't Quit Dating.

2. “Dude took me to lunch. Went well so we went to the beach right after, even though we weren’t dressed for it. We went kayaking on a whim. Saw a sea turtle, jumped off into the water with our clothes and everything to chase it. Then drove me home on his motorcycle with our clothes still soaking wet.”

3. “My first date with my partner involved us sitting on a park bench watching people fall off of skateboards”

4. “We went to the science museum! Hours of walking though the various exhibits and talking about nothing in particular, it wasn’t very luxurious but it was heaven spending time in my favorite museum with someone special.”

5. “Believe it or not, the dog park. We were both students living in the dorm that doesn’t allow pets. It was a perfect afternoon, breezy and sunny, laying on the grass and petting all kinds of dogs!

6. “Giant flea market. (There’s one a few towns over and it’s ENORMOUS and full of cool, cheap treasures you can haggle over.) She was an awesome negotiator and every time she bought something, she and the seller were left happy. Plus, we could suss out how high-maintenance the other was (not at all) and find a million things to laugh at, like the woman who wouldn’t sell a Burger King kid’s meal toy to ‘Nicola’ because Nicola said it’d be perfect for her puppy to play with … (lady thought it was too good for a dog to just chew on, but only valued it at a quarter) … or the guy with the Beanie Baby stand who told us as we casually walked along that he’d ‘take $40k’ if we wanted all of them.”

7. “First date was second hand book shopping and coffee. My 2 favourite things to do, and his. Then amazing conversation.”

8. “I met him at the Queen Vic Markets midday on a Saturday. We wandered around looking for fruit to make jam, bought interesting delicacies in the deli, and custom-ground coffee. Then we trammed to his house and sat on his balcony drinking coffee and eating halva and turkish delight and talking for hours before we actually went downstairs and made the jam with a record playing in the background. While the jam cooled we sat upside down on the couch giggling like little kids before I asked him to show me his guitar. He was super nervous but played a bit of Just Like Heaven by The Cure for me before admitting that he had a huge crush on me and officially asking me out. Spent about nine hours together that day and we’ve been peas in a pod ever since.”

9. “We were sitting next to each other in the library at college fairly late in the evening and some other kid was making a scene, just really being very loud and making a fool of himself. We bonded over laughing at his ridiculousness and right before the library closed he turned to me and said ‘Would you like to go on an adventure with me?’ We ended up taking a stroll to a nearby elementary school and goofing around on the playground equipment before making our way back to the college campus. This is in Oregon so there was this beautiful walkway by a creek (we took the long way back), and we ended up climbing a tree that hung over the water. We sat on it next to each other with our feet dangling over the water and had our first kiss.”

10. “We met in a park near my place and walk around a bit and he told me ‘hey, since we’re in this neighborhood and so close to the airport, wanna go watch airplanes land?’ he asked. ‘aaahmm. Sure?!’ I responded, thinking that next time I should propose a cafe. We walked for around 20 minutes until the spot he had in mind, and I was thinking how can I escape this fast, without being impolite… But we had the most amazing time watching airplanes landing. I was surprised that so many people were there and enjoying the show. Most of them brought snacks! I had so much fun just sitting there and talking and guessing the stories of the people who were next to us.”

11. “The first real date I went on, my date got us tickets to the Trans Siberian Orchestra. Christmas is my favorite season, and the concert was beautiful. Still my all time favorite date.”

12. “We had matched on tinder, exchanged numbers, and had been texting for about 2 weeks. I was working on homework in the library when he texted me saying that he was getting a burrito and asking if I’d like him to bring me a burrito. Obviously I said yes, because free burrito. He brought the burritos to the library, and we sat together and ate them and really hit it off. About halfway through the burrito I got on my phone and cancelled the plans I had for that afternoon so I could spend more time with him. I would say the main things that made it such a great first date for me was the spontaneity, the fact that we hit it off immediately, his kind gesture of bringing me a burrito, and obviously the burrito itself.”

13. “We went on a 30 mile bike ride, during which we stopped at vineyards and a brewery. It was awesome because he knew I was into biking and he wasn’t. To prepare, he’d bought a bike and started riding to get in shape. The effort was really cool.”

14. “I met this guy on Tinder and was living in Southern California at the time. He wanted to go on an adventure, as did I. He picks me up and we drive to Tijuana Mexico. I didn’t have my passport with me but he did. I kid you not, I got in and out no problem. We spent the day sight seeing the beautiful ocean views. We rode horses on the beach. Got amazing street tacos. He gets a call saying his buddy’s funeral was in a few days all the way in St. Louis Missouri. He says he needs to go and asked if I wanted to drive with him. I do. This first date turned into a 3 week cross country road trip.”

15. “I was living in NYC at the time – about 15 years ago – and this guy took me to an interactive play. For the life of me, I can not remember the name of it. You stood the whole time and were shuffled around while the action took place around you. It started with paint falling on massive white sheet of paper above the crowd to simulate rain and then the actors literally bungee jumped through the paper and would grab people in the audience. The actors ran up and down walls (on wires) and there were strobe lights, actual water to simulate rain, music, and all kinds of craziness.”

16. “We went to a botanical gardens while it was raining and chatted for hours. He was a great swing dancer and taught me how to dance while it was raining. Made a move at the perfect time. Just a really lovely first date”

17. “First date was to Chipotle. I ate all of my burrito and he was only halfway done with his. I asked if he was going to finish it and he gave it to me and watched in horror as I shoveled it in. We’re married now.”

18. “While in college a guy I had been talking to over the summer asked me to dinner at his place when school started in the fall. He cooked us a pasta dinner, then afterwards suggested a walk around campus. Our campus was small but beautiful and we chatted about this and that as we walked, and ended up in a little alcove of benches surrounded by little bushes. We sat there talking for at least two hours, despite the fact it was September and chilly. Neither of us were very social people, but somehow we never ran out of things to talk about. When we finally decided to part, the guy turned around and pulled a bouquet of roses out of the bush behind him. He had planted them there (no pun intended) earlier that day.”

19. “My current boyfriend took me on our first date by piloting a plane on the 4th of July. We circled fireworks going off and then got ice cream. It was amazing.”

20. “We met online. After a week of talking, we met for coffee and chatting. That “one hour” date turned into eight hours of great conversation and two restaurants.”

21. “We were supposed to go to a concert but it was cancelled at the last moment. We ended up still meeting up for dinner but then were at a bit of a loss for what to do next so we wandered into a nearby toy store and discovered we both thought LEGO was really cool we got a couple small sets and blind mini figure bags and went back to his place to drink wine and build LEGO. I ended up staying for most of the night because it was just fun and playful and wonderful.”

22. “He picked me up and we went to a really cute hole in the wall restaurant. The waiter forgot to split the check so my date paid. I felt so bad that I told him we should stop for coffee, my treat. We ended up sitting in the coffee shop for three hours and only left when it was closing time.”

23. “We tried to go a nice Thai restaurant, but it had a 45 minute wait (pretty unusual for the place) and we were both starving. He turns to me, asks if I’m cool with Taco Bell, and then we sat on the beach eating burritos and talking for hours.”

24. “Our college had a zoo. He was in the zoology program and worked there, so he took me after it was closed. All the animals knew him. He let me stay at each enclosure for as long as I wanted and he could tell me everything about the animals (and plants). It was an awesome experience and so cool to see him doing what he loves.”

25. “He worked at a pet store and he gave me a tour during which he would let me hold snakes, lizards, and his pet ferret who was being housed at the store. Kind of a risky move on his part but I’m crazy about all animals so it was the best day ever.”

26. “I thought I was driving him to and from his wisdom teeth extraction, but turns out he had a date planned before. He picked me up, took me for breakfast, and then took me to an empty parking lot to teach me how to drive stick shift. Afterwards, we did go to his appointment, but it was one of the most unique and sweet first dates I’ve ever been on. Couldn’t really kiss him at the end though, for obvious reasons.”

27. “I went to his place for dinner- he had cooked and I went to sit down. He said, “no! It’s a picnic!!!” And we sat ON the table and had a picnic. After that we built a pretty intense blanket fort and watched scary movies in our fort. Just, so unique and memorable.”

28. “We went to a Yankees game- and almost everything went wrong. I lost my train fair money, our train got canceled, we carpooled with total strangers, almost didn’t have enough money for the tolls and used an annoying amount of change, took the subway all the way to Brooklyn instead of the Bronx, it rained a little bit, we were like 2.5 hours late- but I laughed so hard that day and was with someone I really cared about.”

29. “He took me stargazing for our first date. I drove us per his direction to a place that didn’t have much light pollution. (I have a hard time trusting people to drive me haha.) It got dark and it was beautiful. The sky was very clear and we saw several shooting stars.”

30. “He initially wanted to take me to an art gallery street but realized on the way there that everything was closed that day. After a few moments of panic, he created a plan B to go to the Exploratorium – a building in SF filled with scientific demos and games, usually for kids but that night they were open late, 21+ event. It was like being a kid again.”

31. “We matched on tinder and planned a hiking/picnic date. I had planned on bringing my Chocolate lab to go hiking with us. Once we got there, started hiking, halfway through we stopped to eat our little picnic. He’d packed sandwiches, chips, watermelon, and had even brought dog treats for my lab. It was the most adorable.”

32. “We went to this event for Dia De Los Muertos. It was really beautiful and was taking place at my favorite part of town. The idea to go was mine because he was from out of town. It was nice to play tour guide though because he was full of wonder and it made the date more special because it was all new to him. We walked along the river and took in the lights and music.”

33. “Back in college (NYC), this guy I was really into promised to take me for a ride on his motorcycle. He told me that he’d take me to “Three Bridges,” and at the time, I just assumed it was the name of some bar. He came to pick me up one day just before sunset, and it turned out that he quite literally meant he’d take me across all the main bridges (Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, and Williamsburg Bridge). It was truly an unforgettable date, riding across the river during sunset, with the beautiful New York City skyline in sight.”

34. “The most romantic date I ever had was in the 90’s with a guy I locked eyes with in a pet store while peaking into a lizard aquarium, we rose up on opposite sides staring at each other (just like in the movies). We bonded over our love for reptiles. Soon after we went on a date. I assume we ate dinner, but afterwards we just went to the parking lot at the local college and hung out for hours talking and laughing. The song “A Whole New World” from Disney’s Aladdin came on the radio. He asked me to dance. I was shy and awkward. It was a really nice moment, just slow dancing in the wee hours of the morning without anyone around. I was super smitten.”

35. “Rented a brand new sports car and drove 3 hours to Atlanta Braves game! Then he took me back to his dental practice and cleaned my teeth!”

36. “He took me to a shooting range. Taught me how to shot different guns. The best date I have ever had.”

37. “Met on Craigslist, met in person at Starbucks, He packed a picnic lunch as a surprise: with a Mediterranean flair- olives, bread, wine, cheese, cloth napkins, real utensils, etc. Took me to the tide pools on the CA coast where we ate and drank and looked at sea creatures and enjoyed the sun and sand.”

38. “He brought me to one of those farms that was decorated with events and attractions for the Halloween season. Which was great because I liked him and wanted to test out how he’d react to me clinging onto him due to scariness of the rides.”

39. “We went to the mall and straight into the Lego store. He bought us some Lego packs and we went into the food court and built the while we had an awesome conversation.”

40. “So we decided to meet up and see where the day would take us. We were driving and just stopped at this souvenir store off the main highway. They had canoe day rentals for only like $14, so obviously we did this. On our way to find water, we pass a pizza restaurant in a small town. Stop there and order us a pizza. Soon enough we are on a crystal blue lake canoeing.”

41. “He took me to a light festive and for dinner we found this underground french dip place (10/10, super good) and right next to it was a thrift shop. we spent the night walking around the thrift shop and seeing all the lights on the buildings.”

42. “We met up at his school and walked for hours across town toward mine. We climbed on a jungle gym and talked about our lives, had lunch, went window shopping, and geeked out at gaming stores. It was freezing so he gave me his gloves to wear and said that way I’d have to see him again. Then he tried to finish the date with a high five, but I went in for a hug. It was all really dorky and cute.”

43. “First date was at the science museum of Minnesota, and he was genuinely interested and knowledgeable about the exhibits. We had fun sharing made up ridiculous facts about everything too.”

44. “We met up at this cool oyster bar and sat on the patio chatting until the sunset. He then took me out on his motorcycle! We kissed under a lamp post outside my house.”

45. “He knew I loved Christmas, he knew I loved to drive around and look at the Christmas lights and displays. So he took me to a whole park with a huge lights display. A huge Christmas tree made of lights that changed with the music, and a bunch of other cool little set ups. I was in awe the whole time and so happy, like a kid in a candy shop.”

46. “I met a guy while going through a tech program. While hanging out after class with some friends one day I told him about my blog and my bucket list I had on it. When he finally asked me on a date, he wouldn’t tell me where we were going. It was October, so he took me to a pumpkin patch and then drove around the city for a bit. When it was getting dark, he started driving and wouldn’t tell me where we were going. We finally pulled up to the biggest haunted house near us, which was an item on my bucket list!”

47. “He invited me to his house to play Halo 3. I don’t play games on consoles, so I sucked at it. But (I found out later) he let me kill him a few times to boost my self-esteem. If I remember correctly one involved throwing himself of a cliff to pretend I shot him. It was cute. We shared a kiss and after that I had to go home for dinner.”

48. “We were both into photography, so we took our cameras out into the city and took pictures of random stuff. I guess it wasn’t really very glamorous, but it fit our personalities and gave us something to do together other than eat or watch a movie.”

49. “We purposely got over-the-top dressed up to go to dinner. Turns out, we were both getting sick and it hit us when we got to the restaurant. We took turns running to the bathroom to throw up. We got our food packed up without even taking a bite. He drove me home, we changed in to pajamas, got into bed and watched movies all night.”

50. “We went to the zoo. In the bat cave she was a bit frightened and it was dark so I held her close and guided her through.”

The post 50 Stories of First Dates That Went Well appeared first on Don't Quit Dating.

Now, creativity often comes with a price tag. An Alaskan cruise is creative and so is front-row seats to an Imagine Dragons concert, but that doesn’t mean it’s the kind of creativity you’re looking for on a Friday night with $30 to your name.

That’s why we’ve compiled this list of 11 low-cost AND creative date ideas. From outdoors to indoors, dressing up or dressing down, food-related or not, there is bound to be an idea for you on our list. Enjoy.

Painting Painting

No, this isn’t a typo. One of my close friends came up with this genius idea, and I need to share it with the world.

For this date, you hit up a Dollar Store, Walmart, or other bargain brand with your date and each pick out a glass- or plastic-framed photo or painting. Next, you find a good painting spot: a library, park, your house, wherever you think would be best. Be sure to pack painting supplies such as brushes, paints, water, rags, aprons, and, of course, paint.

Once you’ve chosen your spot and set up your art station, you paint over the paintings that you’ve selected from the store. You don’t need to take the frame off – paint on the glass or plastic! When my friend did this, he picked out a framed photo of the forest and painted two colorful dragons on the plastic over it.

This low-cost and creative date idea is also flexible and requires no skill. Typically, with dates where you’re painting from scratch, there’s some pressure to be a good artist. But if you’re painting over a painting, there’s no particular skill necessary!

Fly a Kite

Bet you can’t remember the last time you did this, and your date probably can’t either.

Even better, go to the store and pick out your kites together! All you need is a windy day and you’re all set.

After you’ve flown the life out of your kites, you can grab a bite to eat and voila! Successful date.

Beach Picnic

Pack some food or grab it on the way, a blanket, some card games, sunscreen, and a speaker.

You’ll have lots of time to talk, activities/distractions if necessary, and the only cost is the food.

Cuisine Hunt

Each of you come up with a couple of cuisines (Peruvian, German, Mexican, etc) you like or want to try. One of you picks any street in the city, the other person chooses the direction.

And you start walking. Anytime you see a place that matches the cuisine, you go in, get a bite sized thing, and move to the next place.

This low-cost and creative date idea provides ample opportunity for walking, eating, chatting, and fun!

Thrift Dinner Outfits

Hit up your local thrift store and spend $20 each on an outfit that the other has to wear to dinner. Simple, cute, and lots of fun! Plus, you get to dress up your date just like you like ’em.

Want to see an example? Check out this cute couple thrifting each other’s outfits for date night!

Book Store Scavenger Hunt

This one is particularly fitting if you both like to read! It’s pretty straightforward: you come up with a list of prompts (examples below), go to your local (moderately large) book store, walk around, and talk!

Example Prompts:

• “Find a book you loved as a kid”
• “Find a book you’ve always wanted to read”
• “Find a book that reminds you of your mom”
• “Find a self help book that you think would be useful for you”
• “Find a book whose main character is the most like you”
• “Find a book written in the decade that you were born”

Yard Sale Sweep

Pick a Saturday, drive around some suburbs, and check out every yard sale that you see. Whoever finds the coolest item wins!

Comic Book Store

Check out some comic books, talk about super heroes, and grab a bite to eat after. Extra points for nostalgia.

Fast Food Competition

Pick a common fast food: chicken nuggets, fries, cheeseburgers, etc.

Pick a handful of places: McDonald’s, Burger King, Arby’s, Chick Fil A, Taco Bell, etc.

Drive around to each place, try the selected food, and rate it.

If you want to go the extra mile, you can print out little score cards beforehand – feel free to save and print out this image if you’d like!

The categories that you choose to rate the food on might depend on which food you choose, so we’ve left the categories blank. Here are a few examples:

Fries:

• Overall Taste
• Crispness
• Salt Ratio
• Presentation

Chicken Nuggets:

• Overall Taste
• Quality of chicken
• Presenatation
• Dipping Sauce

Cheeseburgers:

• Taste
• Quality of Beef
• Quality of Cheese
• Presentation

Animal Sanctuary

Whether you pick butterflies, birds, or critters, taking a date to an animal sanctuary is budget-friendly, creative, informative, and fun!

Multiple Choice Test

If you and your date have known each other for a while, this is a great option! You each make a multiple choice test for the other with questions to see how well they know you. Have some kind of designated prize for the winner!

If Multiple Choice isn’t your style, you can do this same thing with Kahoot or Jeopardy.

Here are some example questions:

• “What is my youngest sibling’s name?”
• “What is a food that I hate?”
• “What is my favorite movie genre?”
• “Which of these animals was my childhood pet?”
• “Where do I go when I need to think?”
• “Who was my first significant other?”
• “When is my birthday?”

Looking for some date ideas that are a little more seasonal and location-specific? Check out 15 Fall Date Ideas in Utah Valley.

The post 11 Low-Cost and Creative Date Ideas appeared first on Don't Quit Dating.

1. “Changed her Netflix password.”

2. “A friend of mine had the spare key to her ex’s truck, so we would randomly ride by his house and hit the panic button to set the alarm off. We would laugh our asses off every single time.”

3. “I went to his apartment and took (fine, stole) one of every shoe. I threw them out on the freeway as I backtracked the 12-hour drive I’d just made.”

4. “Used to send me pics of her and her new man together.”

5. “Anonymously sent him a glitter bomb.”

6. “She wanted me out of (my own) house so she could move out. When I got home, it was a huge mess; she’d ransacked it. For months I noticed little things like anything we had two of; she took the better one and left me the crappy one; she even took all the Tupperware’s with matching lids and left me with the mismatched stuff. It was a small price to pay, though.”

7. “I took every bottle out of the wine fridge and placed each in a pot of boiling water for a few minutes until they were nice and toasty. Then back in the fridge, they went. Enjoy that Cabernet Sauvignon Vinegar ‘05.”

8. “I used to go on to Snapchat and type, but not say anything, so ‘(my name) is typing…’ would come up on his phone.”

9. “Two things – I had this perfume he loved. He was in the Army, and I’d sprayed it on the letters I’d sent him while he was in Iraq. He’d also recently bought an expensive pillow top mattress. I dropped like $4k on it. I might have emptied that entire perfume bottle all over his mattress, bedding, and pillows the day before I moved out.”

10. “I went on Craigslist and put an ad up for cheap tickets to 98 Degrees, who were coming to town. I put my ex’s phone number on it and asked for people to call from 10 pm on”

11. “I knew the Reddit username for the last guy I dated. I senselessly downvoted his posts for a week or so after he broke up with me before it stopped making me feel better.”

12. “I cut the sleeve off of a dress shirt the other woman had bought him and put it back in the closet, so only the good arm was showing.”

13. “I went to Pandora, and his account was still logged in on my laptop, so I deleted all his stations and then logged out.”

14. “Bought me chocolates and a teddy bear for Valentine’s Day and posted it on my Snapchat saying ‘Thanks babe :)’. The ex messaged me and asked about it.”

15. “He was really into Marvel. I went to see the new Avengers movie and found him downtown. I spoiled the entire thing.”

16. “Signed him up for the U2 mailing list.”

17. “When I moved out of our apartment, I left an open can of smoked oysters buried behind the crisper drawer in the fridge. He told me it took him over a month to determine where the smell came from.”

18. “I threw the stuff he left at my house (for four months) all over his lawn in the rain.”

19. “After she found out he had been cheating on her, a friend of mine sat down and deeply scratched every one of her bf’s CDs & DVDs, then replaced them as if nothing had happened. Then she broke up with him and moved out, never knowing his reaction when he discovered what she had done. He had a huge collection.”

20. “He wouldn’t listen to any music that was remotely uncool because he didn’t want it to show up on his last.fm, and he always got mad at me for listening to ‘lame’ music on his computer. One weekend when he was out of town, I took his laptop and made a playlist that was just “Rodeo” by Garth Brooks and “Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon” by Neil Diamond repeated back to back. I repeated the playlist for three solid days and made sure his last.fm was connected. Predictably, he reacted like an absolute baby when he found out.”

21. “Not my ex, but a guy broke up with an old friend of mine in a nasty way, so we put his address into those things that send samples of adult diapers.”

22. “I have an ex (multiple years ago) who disliked nail polish. He found painted fingers or toenails very unattractive. He broke up with me in the summer, and I painted all my nails the brightest pink I could find the next week. It was very…empowering hahaha. I know he saw it because we went to school together.”

23. “Packed a bag with every remote in the house and left.”

24. “Started a fire outside my house with all our memorabilia (gifts, letters, and photos from the relationship).”

25. “When we broke up, he filled his house with everything I wanted that he always said was ‘too expensive’: cookware, decorations, etc. One of the most obvious was a nativity scene. So I stole the baby, Jesus.”

26. “He took the backs of all my earrings… I had about two dozen pairs.”

27. “Took the cap off the toothpaste.”

28. “I had her ukulele, and she had my shirt. She texted asking me to ship the ukulele out to her, so I asked her to do the same with my shirt. ‘Aw, sorry, I don’t have the shirt anymore.’ Sold the ukulele for the price of the shirt, rebought the same shirt, and sent her a picture of me wearing it.”

29. “He had borrowed my grandfather’s guitar. When he returned it after we’d broken up, he had sanded down all the finish on it, strung it with the wrong kind of strings, which put a terrible strain on the neck, filled it with sugar and scraps of paper, and put some daffodils in it. Truly bizarre. It took a lot of work to sort it out.”

30. “In sixth grade, this kid asked me to be his girlfriend by leaving a voicemail on my mom’s phone. My parents wouldn’t let me date as a 12-year-old, so my mom made me call him back and tell him no. Six years later, as a high school senior, this guy asked me to hang out. We had a great time, kissed, and started talking about our middle school experience. He tells me I broke his little heart because I never responded. This was when I realized he never got the voicemail I sent back explaining that I’m not allowed to date – so for six years, he thought I ghosted him. He has to go and tells me he will text me in the morning. Instead, he blocked me. He waited six years for his revenge.”

31. “I’m going through a junk drawer of mine, and I found I still had his spare car key. I am not an angry person day to day, and I honestly don’t even wish anything bad towards him. I did, however, move his car two blocks every morning for a week. And on the last day, after what I’m sure was a week of being late to work and feeling on the verge of insanity, I left his car where he had parked it. I also turned the volume to max and moved everything movable slightly.”

32. “For eight years, I have been giving creepy dudes my ex’s phone number instead of mine. His sister always texts me his new phone number when he changes it. She also sends photos and videos of him losing his mind and being angry when he gets a call from a dude looking for a hookup.”

33. “She took my shirts off the nice hangers her mom got us and put them all back on the plastic ones.”

34. “I loosened the seams in all his pants and shorts so that as soon as he sat, they’d rip open on him. It’s been ten years, and that still makes me laugh.”

35. “He repeatedly cheated on me with multiple women, so I had my pregnant roommate do a pregnancy test and then just dropped it at his front door. No note, no way to know who it came from.”

36. “I put prawns in his curtain pole.”

37. “I still use my ex’s phone number for his Walgreens card. He’s so stingy I know he’ll never redeem any of his points, so I randomly get $5/$10 off at Walgreens.”

38. “I logged into his Pokemon Go account and deleted his whole box.”

39. “I posted a shirtless picture of him and his phone number on Craigslist’s men-seeking-men page. The headline? ‘Young guy looking for fun.'”

40. “I returned the fancy, expensive, never-worn dress shirt he left at my place and exchanged it for a fancy dress for myself.”

41. “I spent our year together wearing flats because he was self-conscious that he was slightly shorter than me. When we broke up, I bought the tallest, sexiest heels I could find and wore them to a mutual friend’s party. When I arrived towering over him, the look on his face was priceless.”

42. “I still had access to his family’s Netflix so that I would change the names to ‘cheater ‘, ‘ liar’, ‘ I am garbage and treat women badly'”

43. “I waited until fifteen minutes before the new season of game of thrones started to change the password on my HBO account that I knew he was still using.”

44. “Took his free sandwich from Safeway.”

45. “I catfished her new boyfriend and sent her the messages as a concerned female so that she would break up with him.”

46. “I ordered delivery of 2 large cheese pizzas from every pizza place in town to my ex’s house, then watched from a car down the street as my ex answered the door to 5 different pizzas guys, one after another. My ex’s frustration level hilariously increased with each new delivery guy. The best part is, the address was blacklisted from all of the pizza places from then on, so… no more delivery for you.”

47. “When my ex and I broke up, his card was still on my amazon account, so I bought all the book series I wanted on my kindle.”

48. “Made sure to personally befriend any girl he mentioned having feelings for and then intentionally telling them how awful he was to be in a relationship with so that he would look undesirable to other women.”

49. “Filled his hoodie with the notes we used to pass each other during class – ripped-up like confetti. A friend in his next class described how angry he was to put on the hoodie and have piles of embarrassing confetti fly all over the room.”

50. “She sent me a stock photo positive pregnancy test. I made her come over and retake the test. It was negative.”

If you want to laugh, even more, see our post on 50 Funny Bad Date Stories

The post 50 Shocking Petty Ex Stories appeared first on Don't Quit Dating.

Utahns are well-acquainted with winter – as it seems to stretch on forever. Make the most of the cold months this year with some unique activities and someone special to do them with!

If it’s chilly outside, but not quite yet winter check out our fall date ideas in Utah valley

Ice Blocking

Ice blocking is one of those things that everyone has heard of but nobody has actually done. Well, I have actually done it … once. I may not be an experienced ice blocker, but the time that I did go was a fun and memorable date.

For those who have never heard of ice blocking, it is an activity where you get a big block of ice, sit on it, and slide down a hill. Ice blocking makes a sledding-type date possible in all seasons and conditions.

For ice blocking, you’ll need three things: a good hill, some towels, and, of course, blocks of ice.

The best hill for ice blocking is found at Rock Canyon Park in Provo, Utah (2620 N 1200 E, Provo, UT 84604). The park is shaped like a bowl with big sloping sides- perfect for sliding down.

You’ll need a towel to cover the ice block with when you sit on it. Without the towel, your butt will get cold, wet, and possibly stick to the ice (embarrassing).

Blocks of ice used to be widely available for purchase, but nowadays most stores have eliminated block ice in exchange for bags of crushed ice. Not to fear, though, because you can make your own blocks of ice at home.

Riverwoods

If you’ve never been to the Riverwoods during winter before, you’re in for a treat! They go all out with Christmas lights and it looks beautiful at night. Grab some hot chocolate from the gas station, drive down to the Riverwoods, and take a walk under the lights. Inexpensive, relaxing, and perfect for winter!

Cake and Pool at Ernie’s

Ernie’s is a pretty well-known sports deli around Utah Valley. Their most impressive location (arguably) is on Center Street in Provo. In addition to the best sandwiches, this Ernie’s also makes yummy, inexpensive cakes. Even better, they have an array of pool tables – and games are just 75 cents a piece. If you’re looking for a unique, indoor date idea, just go to Ernie’s.

Ice Castles

The ice castles are a popular winter attraction in Utah. They are pretty much exactly what they sound like – buildings made from ice. There are plenty of corridors to explore, and even two ice slides. Plus, there is irrefutably something magical about going to a place called “The Ice Castles”. If you want her to go home and brag to her friends about her date, the ice castles will do the trick. Make sure to dress warm!

Admission costs $15 per person on weekdays and $22 on weekends. A bit pricey, but probably worth it.

SmashIt Rage Rooms

I bet you’ve never gone on a date before with the sole purpose of smashing things. Well, that’s what SmashIt is.

At this “rage room”, located in Salt Lake City, you pick the items that you want to smash from a selection of satisfyingly breakable objects such as glass bottles, plates, toasters, old electronics, etc. You pay by the weight of your items, and you are taken to a secluded room. You are given a helmet and gloves, as well as a few choices for weapons (axes, hammers, etc). You go into your room, smash to your heart’s content, and emerge when your rage has been satiated.

The Wash

The Wash is like the Mormon version of a relaxed bar. Basically, they make specialty, non-alcoholic drinks. There are lots of seating options and it’s a nice atmosphere to talk and get to know someone. They open every day except Sunday from 7 to 11 pm.

Some of their drink options include “Sour Shots”, “Chocolate Chai”, “Cuddle on the Beach”, and “No-Jito”.

Basketball Game

Winter season is basketball season! Whether you choose to enjoy from the stands or from your home television, watching a game together is always a fun date idea. If you choose to go in-person, you get to experience all of the excitement and atmosphere that comes with it! If you choose to watch from home, you can invite friends over or make it a relaxing night in. Either way, if you’re both sports fans, you can enjoy the game together.

ZooLights

Every year, Utah’s Hogle Zoo hosts a special Christmas experience called ZooLights. It’s pretty self-explanatory: the zoo is specially decorated with christmas lights. Walking down the lighted pathways at nighttime with a cup of hot chocolate in your hand feels almost magical – even more so with someone special. If you’re a big fan of Christmas lights, you will love ZooLights!

ZooLights are open from 5:30 to 9 pm. Adult admission costs $12.95 per person, with a $3 discount if you already have a membership to the park.

Indoor Smore’s

On winter nights, it’s always tempting to just stay in and snuggle. You can up your relaxing evening indoors by heating marshmallows over the stove and making some smore’s!

Get a Book to Read Together

If you’ve got yourself one who’s obsessed with reading, she will love this. Reading a book together is a lot like having a special Netflix series that you only watch together. Take a trip to Barnes and Noble, pick out a book, and whenever you’re at a loss for what to do, you two can read your book! Especially perfect for your cozy nights in.

Blacklight Volleyball

Regular volleyball just doesn’t cut it – especially during winter, when it gets dark at like 4 pm.

This date takes some planning ahead but, if you can pull it off, it will be unforgettable! You’ll need a volleyball net, a ball, neon T-shirts, glow sticks, a few other couples to play against, and, of course, black lights. Plus, bring a speaker and play music for an even better experience.

Really, if you invest in the black lights and the glow-in-the-dark merch, you can use them to liven up any nighttime sport – it doesn’t have to be volleyball. Spikeball, basketball, tennis, ping pong – really, anything – is better with black lights.

Luminaria

As told by the Thanksgiving Point website, “Luminaria is an enchanting walk through Ashton Gardens that transports you to another world with all of the sights, smells, sounds, and tastes of the holidays”. Like Zoolights, Luminaria is essentially a pathway decorated with Christmas lights. If you’re looking for a special activity to get you in a Christmas mood, Luminaria has you covered!

Take the Train to Salt Lake City

Salt Lake City is also known for going all-out with its winter decorations. Temple Square is an especially popular destination to see lights and Christmas-themed entertainment. Even if you’re not a huge fan of Temple Square, there is still much to see in Salt Lake City, including Fashion Place Mall and The University of Utah. Save money on gas and make the experience more unique by taking the Trax.

Antelope Island

Antelope Island is a state park in Syracuse, Utah – about an hour and a half north of Provo. It is known for being a habitat for buffalo. Because of the long drive, I wouldn’t recommend doing this for a first date. But, it is a super fun little trip to do with your significant other/ someone you’ve been seeing for a while.

Bring a ton of blankets, some snacks, and a little lamp, and take the drive. If you follow the road into the park, you’ll come across a little beach area where you can arrange your set-up, look at the stars, and talk all night.

Some things to keep in mind: it’ll be freezing, so dress warm. There is a $15 entrance fee, so bring that amount in cash. There is a bathroom by the beach area, so no worries if your date has to pee. The park technically closes at 10 pm, but only the entrance closes, so as long as you have arrived by 10 pm, you can stay for as long as you want.

The first time I visited Antelope Island was with my then-boyfriend. We left at 8 and got there at 9:30. We didn’t know about the entrance fee, and there were no employees at the station, so we scrounged together $10 in cash and left it in an envelope. We found the beach area, set up our blankets, and laid there under the stars for hours. At one point, we both got up to use the bathroom. When we came back, there was – no lie – a buffalo rifling through our stuff. We sat at the top of the hill and waited for the buffalo to move on before we dared go back to our spot. It was a great memory.

Granny’s Drive-In in Heber

I mean, you can’t really go wrong with getting food on a date. But, she’s probably been to In N Out, Chick Fil A, Culver’s, and The BYU Creamery too many times. If you’re looking for something a little more unique, try Granny’s!

Granny’s is a little ma and pa shop in central Heber that serves some of the best food I’ve ever had. They focus on burgers and shakes, as most drive-in-style restaurants do. The food is decently-priced and not going to break your bank account. Even better, the drive to Heber is scenic and just long enough for some quality conversation to emerge.

Granny’s closes at 9, so keep that in mind when planning this date!

The post 15 Unique Winter Date Ideas Near Utah Valley appeared first on Don't Quit Dating.

“He’s not reciprocating how I expected him to.”

“Is it that he doesn’t like me, or is he just not picking up on my hints?”

“What can I do to make it clear that I like him?”

When dropping hints, many women feel it is enough to smile, look pretty, and laugh at his jokes. Here is why that’s not enough:

If you want to show interest, you need to drop subtle greens – not yellows.

The colors yellow and green refer to a traffic light where red means “stop,” yellow means “pick a side,” and green means “go.” When you interact with men, you are a walking traffic light – giving off colors as signals.

When you smile and laugh, it shows that you like him, but it doesn’t clarify how you like him. There is a possibility in his mind that you are just being friendly in a non-romantic way, and he is right to understand that possibility. So if you want to show that you like him, you’ll have to do better than yellows.

On the other hand, you don’t want to radiate bright greens and run the risk of looking desperate. If you’re overwhelmingly flirty, he’ll be turned off. That’s why we go with subtle greens.

Sometimes, there is a discrepancy between your understanding of dropping hints and a guy’s understanding. This discrepancy can leave you confused about his intentions and him utterly oblivious to what’s going on. Today, we will fill that gap and get everyone on the same page.

Here are five things to keep in mind when dropping hints:

Risk vs. Reward

Putting yourself out there is a risk.

However, the risk associated with girls for flirting is, arguably, less than that of a guy.

If a guy makes a straightforward pursuit of a girl who is not interested, he is often seen as “creepy” or “aggressive.”

Girls don’t carry the same negative associations with flirting. Even if a guy isn’t interested, he’ll feel great that someone found him attractive enough to pursue.

The risk/reward ratio is considerably better for girls, so take advantage of it! If you’re interested enough in a guy that you’re even thinking about putting yourself out there, do it!

Proximity Changes Flirting

For example, a smile from across the room is a subtle green – perfect. But a smile during a conversation suddenly doesn’t cut it.

Similarly, maintaining eye contact from across the room is a lovely green, but maintaining eye contact while talking to him is yellow – it’s not enough to be considered a dropped hint. You probably maintain eye contact while talking to your female coworker, too.

The closer you stand to him, the more prominent your hints need to be.

A subtle green during a conversation might be a touch on the arm, a wink, or wanting to compare hand sizes.

If he’s standing just outside your group of friends, you might invite him to join the conversation: “Come over here, Mark, I have something to show you”. Then, to show him the funny meme, you put your phone near his face and your hand on his shoulder. Outstanding.

Find Out What He is Investing Time Into

The quickest way to a man’s heart is to compliment him on something he cares about sincerely.

Ask him about his routine and if he makes it a priority to hit the gym daily. Find out which muscle groups he does on specific days of the week. Next time you see him, remember which muscle group he did that day, and say something like, “your shoulders look so good today” or “wow, I can see your calf muscles through your pants.”

Ask about his job, and tell him you’re impressed by how hard he works.

If he posts photography on his Instagram, mention one of his photos and tell him how great it looks. “I saw you posted a new landscape, and the contrast is stunning.”

It’s a special day for anyone when someone compliments them on something they care about, and guys receive so few compliments that it will be an extra memorable experience for them. They will remember what you said forever.

Tell Your Mutual Friends

If he catches wind from other people you’re interested in, it adds another layer to the blanket of hints you’ve been dropping. Hopefully, he can solidify his confidence in your interest and make a move.

This strategy, however, does not stand alone. You have to diversify your flirting like you diversify your investment portfolio. If you tell your friends that you like him but refuse to talk to him when he’s around, he”ll be confused.

Furthermore, there is a right way to drop hints via other people, and a wrong way:

The wrong way is to announce to everyone in your social circle how crazy you are about him.

This strategy is too green and can come off as desperate – especially if your “friends” exaggerate the story to him.

Instead, pick a few trustworthy friends who won’t run right up to him and make him uncomfortable. Friends that will mention your interest without overwhelming him.

And don’t confess your undying love for him to these friends. Say, “Mark has been looking excellent these days,” or “I wonder if Mark is seeing anyone right now.” As I said, sometimes friends exaggerate. Don’t give them a reason to.

You want him to be aware of your interest without laying all your cards on the table—subtle greens.

Some Solid Phrases

There are a lot of ways to show interest via words. But it can be tricky to stay in the realm of subtle greens with your comments.

When in doubt, these lines are great subtle greens (and each has been guy-approved):

“I’m so happy you’re here!”

“I just feel safe when you’re around.”

“This thing made me think of you.”

“I missed you at that last event.”

“Come see me again before you leave.”

Recap

It’s no secret that guys have a different perspective than girls – they process things differently. Sometimes we need to improve our communication strategy to send the message home. Your new and improved hints should change with proximity, address what he cares about, involve some trusted friends, and utilize guy-approved phrases.

The hint-dropping worked? Now he’s into you? Check out our our top guide on the pros and cons of having an S.O. in college

The post How to Drop Hints That He Will Understand appeared first on Don't Quit Dating.

Cornbelly’s

Cornbelly’s is a Utah fall classic. There are now two Cornbelly’s locations – one at Thanksgiving Point, and one in Spanish Fork. The theme park is separated into two categories: Insanity Point and Attractions. Insanity Point is a scary, haunted-forest-type experience – and a great excuse to cuddle up to your date out of “fright.” Attractions include food and activity options such as churros, cookies, carousels, paintball, and bungee jumping.

You can pre-purchase tickets at their website, or upon arrival. Tickets are designed as punch cards. They include admission to your chosen park (Insanity Point or Attractions) and, depending on which ticket option you choose, a designated number of “punches.” Different food/activities are worth other numbers of punches, and you can decide how you want to arrange your day at Cornbelly’s based on the number of punches your ticket allows.

Pumpkin Spice Tasting

All white girl jokes aside, pumpkin spice does feel like fall. There are lots of food joints that offer special pumpkin spice options for the season. Some great ones to add to your pumpkin spice taste test list are the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino (can ask to be made without coffee), the Krispy Kreme Pumpkin Spice Donut, and, if you go on the right week, a Crumbl Pumpkin Spice cake cookie.

Scary Movie Marathon

A scary movie marathon is a great way to commemorate the spooky season and get close to your date. My favorites are Lights Out, A Quiet Place 1 and 2, Insidious, and World War Z.

Haunted Forest

Haunted Forest is a frightening walk-through experience located in American Fork. As you venture through the many horrifying settings of the forest, characters pop out and make the event all too real.

If you’re seeking an excuse to latch onto your partner, the Haunted Forest provides the perfect opportunity.

Regular admission tickets cost $27 per person, plus tax and a $2 service fee. Fast pass tickets, which allow you to skip the entrance line, cost $34 plus tax and a $2 service fee.

Pumpkin Patch

Every fall-lover knows you can’t get through the season without visiting a pumpkin patch, and Utah Valley has so many to choose from!

My favorite is Kuwahara’s Pumpkin Patch and Thriller Park, located in Draper. It offers a pumpkin patch, a Halloween park, a haunted house, a variety of kid’s attractions, and a selection of food trucks. With so many fun activities to choose from, Kuwahara’s is great for those obsessed with all things pumpkins and those who have never before understood the allure of pumpkin patches.

One of the unique parts of Kuwahara’s is their famous pumpkin walls, which are great for taking photos. Pumpkins are priced based on weight, and if you visit Kuwahara’s between Monday and Thursday, your $5 price of admission goes towards your pumpkin purchase.

Sports Game

Let’s face it – there are a ton of schools in Utah Valley. And each of them has sports programs. Whether you want to sit in the stands of Timpanogos High School, BYU, or of a pro field, a sports game is a perfect fall date.

Drive the Alpine Loop

The Alpine Loop is a 20-mile scenic drive through the alpine canyons. It provides an incredible view of Utah’s mountain ranges and, in the fall, a breathtaking display of color-changing leaves.

I find that going for drives on dates provides the perfect opportunity to relax and talk.

The Alpine Loop is open from late May to late October. It can be accessed from either American Fork Canyon or Provo Canyon. Visitors to the area are required to purchase recreation passes. A 3-day pass is $6, a 7-day pass is $12, and an annual pass is $45.

Costume Shopping

Halloween is coming up FAST. We all know what that means – another year of finding the perfect costume. Why not do it together? Plus, you might be more attracted to them as a pirate.

Horseback Riding

As the weather cools, it’s the perfect time to strap on your favorite jeans, a flannel, and some brown boots. The horseback riding experience is made even better with someone special to share it with.

Lagoon’s Frightmares

This exciting Halloween addition to Utah’s favorite theme park includes the following attractions:

• Fun House of Fear: “Come one come all, and step inside to a world where strange, freakish and odd collide.”
• Treat Street: “In this fun, non-scary children’s trick-or-treat trail, you will meet the friendly spirits inside the rides.”
• Nightmare Midway: “As you watch your nightmares come alive, you may wonder if you will survive. In this house of illusion, your eyes will deceive.  Prepare for the fright you’ll undoubtedly receive.”
• Malevolent Mansion: “Tour this mansion if you dare, but beware, the malevolent spirits inside are prepared to scare!”
• Frightening Frisco: “Something sinister has taken ahold of this ghost town.  Beware the lingering evil of Frisco, where the outlaws have taken control!”
• Spook-A-Boo Walkthrough: “A fun, non-scary children’s walk-thru inhabited by friendly characters.”
• Scary and Crow’s Straw Maze: “A fun, non-scary children’s outdoor walk-thru, inhabited by friendly characters.”
• Nightwalk: “Vampires and demons lead the way; those who enter may have to stay. Nightwalk is not for the faint of heart; contemplate your fate before you start.”
• Streetmosphere: “An array of amusing characters roam the park at night. Most are friendly; some bring a bit of fright, but all here to delight.”

Frightmares is especially perfect if you and your date already have Lagoon passes – Frightmares is included in your pass! If not, this date is pretty pricey. Day passes can be purchased for $73.95 each. Still, if you don’t mind putting down the extra cash, this fall date will be unforgettable.

Make Caramel Apples

You may think that caramel apples are cheesy and overdone. But, done right, this fall classic is a cheap, easy way to have a cute night with a cute date.

Hike

Utah is full of beautiful hikes; they just get better in the fall! With fantastic weather and changing leaves, being out in nature with a special someone is a recipe for love.

Pick Fruit

Fruit picking is one of those things that nobody remembers is an option. But, once you remember that it exists, you cannot live another week without doing it. There are so many yummy crops of fruit that ripen in the fall!

McBride’s Briar Patch:

• Fall Crops: blackberries, currants (red), currants (black), raspberries (Autumn, red), strawberries,
• Address: 1849 S. 2100 W, Mapleton, UT 84664.
• Phone: (801) 477-5323
• Hours: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 8 am to 8 pm
• Other: Honey from hives on the farm, restrooms, picnic area (bring your own food).

MJ Millers Farm and Orchard:

• Fall Crops: beans, beets, broccoli, carrots, corn (sweet), cucumbers, eggplant, melons, nectarines, peaches, peppers, plums, pumpkins, raspberries (red), raspberries (Spring, red), raspberries (Autumn, red), raspberries (yellow), raspberries (Spring, yellow), raspberries (Autumn, yellow), summer squash, winter squash, tomatoes, other vegetables.
• Address: 5759 W 11300 South, Payson, UT 84651
• Phone: 801-465-2493
• Hours: Monday thru Friday, 7 am to 7 pm

One Seed Gardens:

• Fall Crops: beans, beets, carrots, corn (sweet), cucumbers, melons, onions, peppers, pumpkins, rhubarb, summer squash, winter squash, tomatoes, other vegetables, other fruit or veg, fresh eggs.
• Address: 840 Grove Creek Dr, Pleasant Grove, UT 84062
• Phone: (801) 830-0368
• Other: “Please call before coming as we do not live at this location and will need to schedule a meeting time.”

Perry’s Berries:

• Fall crops: raspberries
• Address: 325 E 1600 S, Mapleton, UT 84664
• Phone: 801-372-7744
• Hours: Monday to Saturday, from 7 am to Dark
• Other: No pesticides used, picnic area.

Rocky Top Fruit Farm, LLC:

• Fall crops: apples, apricots, blackberries, cherries, lavender, peaches, peppers, raspberries (Autumn, red), tomatoes
• Address: 8648 South 6200 West, Payson, UT 84651
• Phone: (801) 465-4408
• Hours: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 8 am to noon and 5 pm to 8 pm
• Other: Honey from hives on the farm, porta-potties

Loveland Haunted Aquarium

The Loveland Living Planet Aquarium, located in Draper, Utah, gets spooky for fall! Aquarium dates are always a success, but they can be even more special with this Halloween twist.

Petting Zoo

Everyone knows how girls feel about baby animals.

Some Petting Zoo options in Utah County:

Auntie B’s Barn:

• Address: 295 W 200 S Pleasant Grove, UT 84062
• Phone: (385) 273-9015
• Hours: Monday 2 pm-8 pm, Thursday, Friday, & Saturday 11 am-5:30 pm

Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point:

• Address: 3003 N. Thanksgiving Way Lehi, UT 84043
• Phone: 801.768.2300
• Hours: Monday-Saturday 10 am – 5 pm.

All Fall Dates are Good Dates

With so many fall activities, there is no excuse not to spice up your dating life. Don’t let the season pass you by!

Are you wanting to date but are scared you won’t know how to keep the conversation going? No need to worry. Check out our top guide on getting to know your date

The post 15 Fall Date Ideas in Utah Valley appeared first on Don't Quit Dating.

She gives vague answers when you try to make plans, and nothing sticks.

You’re starting to wonder if there’s another guy in the picture…

You don’t know what changed or what you did wrong.

People always say, “Just be yourself, and the right person will come along.” While that’s true, it’s important to remember that all goals require work and sacrifice. You’ll have to learn new skills to be a race car driver. Nobody would say, “You shouldn’t have to change anything to be a race car driver,” because that would be unrealistic. Similarly, you’ll probably need to learn new skills to be more attractive to women.

How you’ve been going about things hasn’t produced the desired results. So, make a change and regain her interest.

Be a Leader

It’s the twenty-first century, and we have seen a change in women becoming more empowered. Society is pushing women to take on more significant leadership roles and career responsibilities. Still, no woman wants to be the leader in a relationship.

She may say that she wants to be in charge. She may think that she wants to be in control. But trust me; she doesn’t. That’s your job.

What being the leader is not:

• Aggressive
• Manipulative
• Douchey

What being the leader is:

• Accepts responsibility
• Takes Charge
• Makes Decisions

Here are some things that the leader in the relationship does:

• Makes plans for dates: Girls love guys who take responsibility for planning dates. Too many guys these days text the day of and say, “Sooooo, what do you want to do tonight?”. Wrong. Instead, work the conversation ahead to find out what games, food, and activities she likes. Then use your friends, family, and brain to brainstorm some things to do. Text her the morning of your date and say, “We’re going to grab some sandwiches and tour the city tonight. I’ll pick you up at 7.”
• Initiates touch: It can be nerve-wracking to carry the pressure of breaking the touch barrier. But she needs you to man up and hold her hand. Just do it.
• Solves Problems: One night, my then-boyfriend and I went to a nearby hot spring for a date. There were a few other groups of people there, as usual. One guy from another group was being particularly obnoxious and kept harassing us. My boyfriend politely and succinctly answered his probing questions and handled the situation in a way that the guy realized that bothering us was no fun. I was very attracted to how my guy stepped up and took care of a situation that could have been much worse. As the leader, that’s your job.

Be Independent

If your self-esteem comes from her, change it. She’ll know- and she won’t like it. Why would she think you’re the best if you don’t even think you’re the best? The most attractive quality in a man is confidence. Think about it, that guy from your high school with the motorcycle and lousy attitude- girls loved him. And, the lovable student body president with a varsity jacket- girls loved him too. Those two guys were different in every way except for one thing: confidence.

Rely on Emotions, Not Logic

This is a hard pill for most guys to swallow. Girls operate based on emotions first and logic second.

What does this mean for you?

It doesn’t matter what you do, but how she feels.

It’s no secret that women everywhere complain about their significant other trying to fix the problem when they want someone to listen. Indeed, as a guy, this doesn’t make sense to you. If you fix the problem, she won’t have anything to be upset about anymore. But that’s not how women work.

Often, the rational thing to do will directly conflict with what makes her feel validated. For example, you plan a date to see the play at the local theatre. On the drive over, she looks out the window and sees her old Elementary School and the playground next to it. “Oh, I loved that swing set as a kid,” she says. Now, rationally, the play starts in ten minutes, and you should probably keep driving. Or, you could make this a tipping point in your relationship as you pull the car over and say, “Well, then, show me how it’s done.”

Associate with Other Girls

There are two categories of girls that you should have in your life: friends and flirtationships.

Friends:

Why is it important to have female friends?

Girls use other girls as a sort of vetting process. When we see a man who only hangs out alone or with other men, we have to spend a lot of time figuring out whether or not he’s a creep- or socially awkward. On the other hand, when we see that women like him, we can trust that he’s likable.

Having female friends shows others that you can successfully interact with women.

I’ve heard many men say they don’t want female friends because why put all that time and energy into a woman they can’t hook up with? But they’re seeing it all wrong. Making female friends is a stepping stone to attracting women. Your female friends act as a catalyst for your relationships.

All this being said, your female friends shouldn’t be your only friends. Just like it’s not attractive to have only male friends, it’s also not attractive to have only female friends.

Flirtationships:

You need to practice flirting.

Yes, the ultimate goal is to land the particular girl that you like, and flirting with other women, believe it or not, will help you get there.

Just like any other skill, practice makes perfect. As a child, you probably spent hours practicing soccer so that you could succeed in the big game. When you practice flirting, you’ll have the confidence to perform when it’s crucial.

If she notices you flirting with other women, even better. Being desired by other women shows her that you’re desirable. Why date someone no one wants when you can date someone everyone wants?

However, be careful not to go overboard with this. You don’t want to seem so interested in other women that it drives her away. When she pulls you in, let yourself be pulled.

Never Tell Her About Your Dating Failures

Just like how she can determine your attractiveness based on the women you interact with, she can determine your attractiveness based on your track record with dating.

One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to tell her stories about where you were friend-zoned. It indicates to her that other women don’t find you desirable . . . so why should she?

Live Your Own Life

Pick up a hobby. Win a competition. Travel. Make some new friends. Work for that promotion.

Girls like guys who do things.

If your only priority is to please her, you’ll do the opposite. When you bought your car, what did you look for? You probably wanted information about its gas mileage, reliability, and unique features. You were collecting evidence to determine if that was the car you wanted. Similarly, she’s collecting evidence to determine if you are the guy she wants. She’s looking for a guy who can provide for her, so you need to give her reasons to believe that you can do that, and that starts with getting a life.

Who knows, maybe your new passions will preoccupy you so much that you’ll forget to obsess over her.

Conclusion

You might think the change will be “Easier said than done,” and that’s true. So, if you’re feeling overwhelmed, take baby steps. Try one thing at a time and see what happens. For your date, tell her the plan instead of asking what she wants to do. Next time you go to a party, try coming out of your shell and making friends with a few girls. Instead of texting your crush for the seventh time in a row, do some extra work and get recognized by your boss. Don’t be surprised when, a month from now, you have noticeably more dating prospects. And that one girl you wanted so badly? Now she’s texting you for the seventh time in a row.

If you feel it’s time to make a change, check out our article on how to know if she wants to kiss.

The post 6 Change to Regain Her Interest appeared first on Don't Quit Dating.

Scheduling multiple dates in one day forces you to walk a fine line between the best day ever and an absolute disaster. When planning this out, there are four things you need to think about: timing, communication, food, and activities.

Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about successfully going on multiple dates in one day.

Don’t Tell Your Dates

This kind of goes without saying. You shouldn’t, under any circumstances, reveal to any of your dates that they are not your only date that day. And don’t tell any mutual friends about it, either. I’d even go as far as to say that lying is acceptable in this situation. If your date wonders what you’re doing for the rest of the day, “plans with family” is always an excellent substitution for “another date with someone else”.

Allow Sufficient Buffer Time

The first time that I scheduled multiple dates in one day was in high school. I made the mistake of not giving myself enough time between dates, with near-disastrous results. My first date of the day was a simple walk around the park with ice cream cones – cute, simple, and forces plenty of conversation. I told him I needed to be home around 3:00 for a “family thing” (hehe). He took this to mean that we had to leave the park, which was a thirty-minute drive from my house, at 3:00. He finally dropped me off at 3:40, at which point I rushed inside to get ready for my next date at 4:00. At 3:55, there was a knock at the door. Date #1 was back- returning the water bottle that I left in his car. Unfortunately, he didn’t want to hand me my stuff and leave- he wanted to stand in the doorway and chat endlessly about nothing significant. The clock was ticking, and I wasn’t even completely ready for my next date. I finally coaxed him to leave and checked the time- 4:03. The second he drove away, Date #2 arrived. Phew.

Since then, I’ve scheduled at least an hour and a half of time between dates, which is my recommendation for you, too.

Utilize Bathroom Breaks

You’ll find that you need to text your dates throughout the day- to finalize details, make reservations, or come up with a backup plan when something falls through. But, if you’re getting these text messages while you’re already on a date, it complicates things. You must text back your 5:00 date who needs to know your bowling shoe size in advance. On the other hand, it would be rude towards your current date to be on your phone. Even worse, if your date looks over and sees you texting another guy/girl, things will get awkward very quickly.

Instead, save the text messages for the next time you use the bathroom. Everyone’s happy- your later dates know what they need to know, your current date isn’t being neglected, and you gain the satisfaction of knowing that you can pull this off.

That said, don’t excessively use the bathroom, or your date will know something weird is going on. Your later dates can wait an hour for a text back.

Meal Prep

With such a busy day, ensure you’re getting fed – but not too much. If you’re playing disc golf at 11 a.m. and going bowling at 2 p.m., when are you going to eat? On the other hand, if you have a breakfast date at 10 a.m., you probably won’t be hungry for your lunch outing at 12 p.m.

Also, if you’re going to involve food on multiple dates, try to get some variety. I bet you don’t want to eat three bowls of frozen yogurt in one day. Plus, the Yogurtland employees will notice you – and the three different dates you bring.

Activity Prep

You should also get some variety in your activities. Again, if you go to the same mini golf course three times in one day, you’ll get sick of it- and the employees will notice. Imagine the horror when the cashier says, “Oh, you’re back! Is it your third round of the day?”

Also, repeatedly doing the same activity can cause your own accidental slips of the tongue (unfortunately, not in a kissing kind of way). During your second trip to the aquarium, you might say, “When I was here earlier, that penguin looked a lot bigger!” Or, on your first trip, “Maybe the shark will come out of its cave by the time I come again later.”

Save the Best for Last

In my experience, you should always save your evening for the date you are most excited about. There is just something about night that makes everything more romantic. And you won’t have to leave at a particular time – you can stay as long as you want

Good Luck!

If you’ve made it this far, you’re ready for your dates! Go get ’em, tiger.

If you need ways to deny an NCMO request, we got you!

The post How to have Multiple Dates in One Day appeared first on Don't Quit Dating.