Date Night In Box is a subscription service that sends you a complete date in a box each month. Date Night In also offers Faith Night In and Kids Night In box options.
My Subscription Addiction paid for this box. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
This is a review of the $34.99 a month Date Night In Box.
About Date Night In Box
The Subscription Box: Date Night In Box
The Cost: $34.99 a month + $7.00 shipping (less for longer subscriptions)
The Products: A complete date in a box including an activity, snack, and other items to create a sense of ambiance to bring you and your partner closer together.
Ships to: the US, Canada, and select countries
Date Night In Box May 2018 Review
This month’s theme was Adventure Together and our itinerary came in the form of a newsletter with instructions for our activities. There was a note introducing the date on the first page followed by a table of contents.
When your box ships, you receive an email with tracking information as well as a link to the website featuring a menu designed around your date theme. This month they also included the recipes in the newsletter which I thought was helpful.
I like how the menu includes drinks (alcoholic & non-alcoholic suggestions), an appetizer, main course and dessert all based on the theme for the month. They include a complete shopping list to print out which is very convenient and the meals this month sounded delicious! Unfortunately, making these meals is too time-consuming for us right now since we have a newborn tagging along for our dates. If you have the time though, it is really nice to have this option.
In this section, they give you directions to go to your Spotify playlist for the evening. This time we had a nice, folksy mix that was reminiscent of The Lumineers and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. It was a pleasant playlist and went well with the date. In order to set the mood, they also included some candles this month.
Tea Light Candles, 10 pack - Estimated Value $2.00
These candles had no branding on them whatsoever and I have bought similar ones at the dollar store before so I think it’s a fair estimate. They are unscented and didn’t last that long, nor were they really a great option during our game portion of the night which involved quick, flailing hands.
So I get it, candles are great for ambiance, but this whole date has a campfire vibe so what about a scented candle? They could have literally made ANY scent work with the theme - marshmallow, graham crackers, floral, woodsy, etc. Or they could have skipped the cheap tea lights and given us a cute little lantern flashlight! Something a bit more substantial and fitting with the theme considering this was one of only THREE items in the box other than the itinerary.
The first activity for our date was to play I Would/ I Would Never… This was not anything like college editions of Never Have I Ever, but instead, the questions focused on 6 different adventurous situations. For example, “would you go white water rafting on the Tully River in Australia which has 44 rapids?” This was a fun, short game to get us into the adventurous spirit, while also teaching us about some international events.
The next page of our newsletter highlighted a Fort Building Challenge as a competition they are sponsoring. It was sort of unclear about whether it was supposed to be part of the date or just giving us details on the contest. The only directions were “set it up inside or outside.” This could have been a fun activity if we were up to the challenge, but we are exhausted parents adjusting to life with 3 kids, 2 of which were asleep just up the stairs. Not to mention, we already spend a lot of time cleaning up after them and this would be one more thing to clean up!
I also really wish they gave some parameters for this challenge (use only 2 sheets, use only items from your kitchen) or provided us with something to help build it with (clips, a sheet, etc.).They could have even just included something to spruce up our fort like a string of lights or a cute do not disturb sign! I have so many ideas..
Wabash Valley Farms Microwave Popcorn on the Cob - Buy 2 for $5.99
The snack for this month’s bag was really unique and cool. I didn’t pop it the entire way because I was really worried about over-popping it! Oops! The popcorn had no seasoning or added flavor, so I topped it with some melted butter and it was delicious. They also recommended drizzling chocolate, marshmallows and graham cracker crumbs on top of it, which will definitely be on my list of snack ideas for this summer!
The next activity was to download a star chart app and search for the newly named Date Night In Star. We couldn’t go outside due to some torrential downpours, but we downloaded the app and attempted to find the star. If it had been a clear night, it would have been fun to go outside, lie on a blanket and star gaze. The app was not very user-friendly and we weren’t able to locate the star since there wasn’t a place to input the coordinates (unless we paid to upgrade our app, of course!). A bummer, but I could see where this would have been a good activity had weather and technology cooperated. Just for value’s sake, it costs about $45 to name a star, assuming they used the middle package and that is split amongst however many boxes they sell so not really a high value itemize.
Premium Quality Deck of Playing Cards - Estimated Value $4.00 (pretty sure I found the exact cards, and I think this is a pretty fair and average price for playing cards.)
The next part of our date was to use our included deck of cards to play a speed card game. This was really basic and fun for my husband and I considering our competitive nature (I won, 2 out of 3, in case you were wondering). However, this was also where we had to blow out the candles since this game involved speedy movements! This was definitely the most fun activity from our date.
These boxes always focus on some questions for you and your partner to help bring you closer together and I really appreciated the questions that they included this time. It has been super stressful adjusting to life with three children, and my husband’s workload has been ridiculous lately, so questions like “Tell me about some things you struggled with this month” really hit home and opened up a good dialogue between us. I also loved that they asked us to “Describe to me one specific actionable way I can help you this month.” They ask that you revisit these questions on a weekly or monthly basis and I really hope that we will. This is the part that Date Night In Boxes excel at - asking questions that help you and your partner communicate in a setting where you are actually hearing each other, which is so important. But could I have done my own research to come up with questions? Probably.
Verdict: This month’s Date Night In Box was on par with last month’s - another great theme that just wasn’t carried out the way it could have or should have been to make it a real experience. The theme was cute, the snack & playlist were good and the card game was fun. Once again, we received an estimated value of about $10 worth of goods and the cost of the box is $41.99 ($34.99 + $7.00 shipping), That leaves $30 for the Spotify playlist, the star naming. and activities, which to me is definitely not worth the value. Especially considering in my research I found several sites that offer digital dates for $5 and you gather the materials yourself. I’d much rather pay that and provide my own snack, tea lights, music, and cards. Then I can spend that extra $35 on pizza and a bottle of wine!
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? No, you'll receive the June box. Boxes ship on the 16th of every month so in order to receive that month’s box, you need to order by the 13th.
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