10 Thanksgiving Traditions for Couples

Thanksgiving traditions have a special place in my heart because these traditions mark the beginning of the holiday season, which is such a special time for me! Thanksgiving is a time to practice gratitude by spending intentional time with the person we love most. Spending time with your spouse at Thanksgiving is one of the most powerful ways to express appreciation for them. Plus, there’s something so exciting about showing your spouse your family’s traditions, taking in their family’s traditions, and blending them together during the holiday season. However, it’s also important to make your own, new Thanksgiving traditions as a couple! Make Thanksgiving a time that’s special just for the two of you! Here are 10 of my favorite Thanksgiving Traditions for Couples.

Have a Cozy Thanksgiving Breakfast in Bed 

Imaging waking up to the sweet smell of pumpkin waffles, sweet potato hash, and fancy homemade pumpkin lattes! I can think of nothing cozier! To save time, consider making a pumpkin French toast casserole you can whip together the night before. This way, all you must do is pop it in the oven the next morning. Or even better yet, treat yourself to your favorite delivery service! Take your meal back to bed, throw A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving on your TV, and relax together.

Take a Walk and Chat About What You’re Thankful For 

I think we can all agree that a little movement and activity before all the feasting wouldn’t hurt, right? Hold hands, cuddle up in the frigid air, and go for a morning walk together. Chat about all you’re grateful for and observe the beautiful morning together!

Make a Thanksgiving Dessert Together 

One of my favorite fall date ideas is making a warm Thanksgiving dessert with my husband. This is a great time to be truly adventurous with your dessert-making skills because your husband is the only person stuck eating it if the recipe flops! Dream big and try your hand at that homemade pie crust you’ve always been too nervous to attempt! Or better yet, have a Thanksgiving Dessert competition to see who can create the yummiest dessert. It’s sure to be a sweet time spent together!

Gratitude Post-Its

This is one of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions for couples because it’s so easy to do! Starting on Halloween, grab a handful of post-it notes and each day, write something you appreciate about your husband. Pick a special place he visits every day; somewhere obvious that he’ll see! Some ideas include his dresser, the bathroom mirror, his office desk, the coffee bar, or his nightstand. Each day, add another gratitude post-it to your designated area. By Thanksgiving Day, he’ll have such a fun visual display of your appreciation for him!

Watch Your First Christmas Movie of the Season Together

There are so many amazing Christmas classics to watch every year, and Thanksgiving is the perfect time to get a start on that Christmas movie bucket list! Together, decide what your first Christmas movie of the season will be, and make it a tradition to watch this movie first every year! Maybe you watch from bed, snuggled up together on Thanksgiving night, or maybe you throw it on while you start decorating the house for Christmas. Whatever you decide, make it a tradition so you have this time to together to look forward to each year.

Pay It Forward

Thanksgiving is a great time to give back to your community, but sometimes in the hustle of the season, you can find yourself lacking time! You can still give back to your community by donating to your local clothing shelter. Make this chore an enjoyable experience by cranking up your favorite playlist and having a dance party together while you work or set a timer to see who can complete their part of the closet first! This is also a fantastic way to get rid of the excessive clutter before the Christmas presents roll in, and shelters are always so grateful for donations prior to the cold winter season.

Make Thanksgiving Paper Lanterns

We have nighttime Halloween decorations, we have nighttime Christmas light decorations, but where’s the love for nighttime Thanksgiving decorations?! I’m on a mission to solve this by making Thanksgiving paper lanterns your new Thanksgiving tradition with your husband! On Thanksgiving night, grab some paper bags, and fill them with sand and tea candles. Line your driveway or balcony with your paper lanterns for all your neighbors to see on their post-Thanksgiving dinner walk! There are even creative tutorials that show you how to cut shapes and designs into your lanterns. This is a bit too skilled for me, but it could be a genius way to make fun of your spouse’s artistry skills! 😉

Draft Your Black Friday List Together

Grab your pen, paper and laptop and carve out some time visiting your favorite retail websites to start your Black Friday List together! This way you can brainstorm together, research the best deals, and even drop Christmas Gift hints. If you’ll be shopping in person, get a gameplan together of when you’ll start and the order of which retailers you will visit first!

Create a Thanksgiving Playlist

Spoiler Alert – this is a tricky one! I’m a big fan of starting up the Christmas music early, but the biggest argument coming from those pesky Facebook friends I haven’t talked to in years is always, “you’re skipping over Thanksgiving, wah wah wah.” Ok, I see you, challenge is on! Put your money where your mouth is and spend time with your spouse putting together a Thanksgiving playlist. You might have to get creative in what counts as a Thanksgiving song but that’s half the fun of it! See who can come up with the most songs. If you’re a cheater, I’ve linked mine here for ya!

Thanksgiving TV Marathon

Grab your favorite, cozy takeout (I suggest Chick-fil-a or Chinese food) and snuggle up on the couch to watch Thanksgiving episodes of your favorite shows! You’d be surprised how many of your favorite TV shows include feel-good or hilarious Thanksgiving specials. Put them all back-to-back with a Thanksgiving TV Marathon!

I’ve included a list of Thanksgiving specials to get you started, so in no particular order (just kidding, this is totally in order of my favorites!):

• Gilmore Girls: “A Deep-Friend Korean Thanksgiving”
  • Season 3, Episode 9
  • Stream on Netflix
• Parenthood: “Happy Thanksgiving”
  • Season 2, Episode 10
  • Stream on Hulu
• This is Us: “Pilgrim Rick”
  • Season 1, Episode 8
  • Stream on Hulu
• Full House: “The Miracle of Thanksgiving”
  • Season 1, Episode 9
  • Stream on HBO Max
• Friends: “The One with the Thanksgiving Flashbacks”
  • Season 5, Episode 8
  • Stream on HBO Max
• Reba: “Thanksgiving”
  • Season 4, Episode 9
  • Stream on Hulu
• Gossip Girl: “Blair Waldorf Must Pie”
  • Season 1, Episode 9
  • Stream on HBO Max
• New Girl: “Parents”
  • Season 2, Episode 8
  • Stream on Netflix
• Grey’s Anatomy: “Thanks for the Memories”
  • Season 2, Episode 9
  • Stream on Netflix
• Modern Family: “Punkin Chunkin”
  • Season 3, Episode 9
  • Stream on Hulu
• Glee: “Thanksgiving”
  • Season 4, Episode 8
  • Stream on Hulu
• How I Met Your Mother: “Slapsgiving”
  • Season 3, Episode 9
  • Stream on Hulu
• The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air: “Talking Turkey”
  • Season 1, Episode 12
  • Stream on HBO Max
• Friday Night Lights: “Thanksgiving”
  • Season 4, Episode 13
  • Stream on Netflix
• Orange is the New Black: “F*cksgiving”
  • Season 1, Episode 9
  • Stream on Netflix

Conclusion

There you have it, my top 10 Thanksgiving traditions for couples to add this year. The importance here is spending time with your loved one, not the quality of the tradition! Do you have any favorites you’ll be adding to your Thanksgiving date nights? Let me know in the comments below!