New Year's Eve ideas for couples at home: 12 ways to ring in the new year, just the two of you

You've done New Year's Eve every way there is. At a friend's party, checking the clock on the microwave and waiting for midnight. At a restaurant, with a prix fixe menu and a babysitter on holiday rates. And for the last few years, on the couch, nodding off in front of the Times Square coverage before the ball even started to drop.

The best New Year's Eve ideas for couples at home don't need a cabin rental or a plane ticket. What makes the night memorable is that it looks like no other night of the year: no usual dinner time, no usual clothes, no "should we head to bed?" at 11:15. And it's the one night when everyone thinks it's perfectly normal for the two of you to stay up late.

Here are twelve ideas for ringing in the new year at home, in the order they fit into the evening, from the first drink to breakfast on January 1. After that you'll find twelve dares for the last hour of the year, one every five minutes until midnight, and how to make it all work when the kids are home.

Why spend New Year's Eve at home, just the two of you?

Because it's the only way to have the whole night. Out in the world, midnight belongs to everyone: you kiss in the middle of a crowded room, you wait forty minutes for a rideshare at 1 a.m., and you get home to pay the sitter. At home, midnight belongs to the two of you, and so does everything after it.

There's one condition, and it's where most nights in fall apart: the evening has to be different. A slightly nicer dinner followed by TV is just a Tuesday with a better bottle of wine. Every idea below breaks one specific habit, the time you eat, the room you eat in, what you wear, or how you spend midnight.

Before the 31st: four things to settle during the week

A good night is partly decided in advance. These four things take ten minutes, one evening the week after Christmas.

• The kids: if they can sleep over at the grandparents', book it now, because that spot goes fast. Otherwise, offer another couple a babysitting swap: you take their kids on the 30th or the 1st, they take yours on the 31st. And if the kids are staying home, read the section about them further down, it all works out.
• The plan: pick three or four ideas from the list together, no more. Twelve ideas in one night is an obstacle course. Three ideas done well is a memory.
• The shopping: stores are packed on the 31st, and plenty close early. Do it all on the 30th, including the ice bucket, the champagne and whatever the ideas you picked call for.
• The phones: send your texts to family and friends around 11:30, then put both phones in a drawer. Keep just one, set off to the side, for the timer and the countdown.

Twelve New Year's Eve ideas for couples at home

They're listed in the order they fit into the night. Pick three or four that flow into each other: one to start, one or two for the heart of the evening, one for midnight.

1. The first date, replayed: you meet at 8 p.m.

One of you leaves the house at 7:50, walks around the block and rings the doorbell at 8 sharp, dressed for a first date. For the whole of the first drink, you act as if you've never met: you introduce yourselves, you ask first-date questions, you laugh politely at each other's jokes. "So, what do you do?" lands very differently when you've known the answer for fifteen years. The game ends when one of you breaks character, and whoever cracks first pours the champagne.

2. The outfit you don't choose: each of you dresses the other

On the morning of the 31st, each of you lays out on the bed the outfit the other will wear that night, underwear included, and the other puts it on without arguing. That rule is the whole game: nobody turns down the outfit they were given. She pulls out the dress he loves and you never wear anymore, he gets the shirt from a friend's wedding back out. Mostly, you find out what the other one wants to see you in, which is valuable information and rarely asked for.

3. The hotel at home: your bedroom becomes a hotel room

On the afternoon of the 31st, one of you sets up the bedroom like a hotel room: clean sheets pulled tight, two towels folded at the foot of the bed, a chocolate on each pillow, the bedside lamp instead of the overhead light, and a "Do Not Disturb" sign taped to the doorknob. The laundry basket, the ironing pile and the kids' toys leave the room. A tidy room changes everything, because your everyday bedroom reminds you of everything still left to do. Put a bottle of massage oil on the nightstand: a three-round massage, like the one in our sensual games for couples, fits right in before midnight.

4. One small plate an hour: the New Year's Eve dinner that doesn't knock you out

The big New Year's Eve dinner has a flaw everyone knows: by 10:30 you're full, you're warm, and the couch wins. Serve one small plate an hour instead, at 8, 9, 10 and 11, then dessert after midnight. Each of you makes two, and the other doesn't know which. Oysters at 8, shrimp cocktail at 9, seared scallops at 10, a cheese board at 11: you eat as much as at a real New Year's dinner, but you reach midnight light, and awake.

5. Dinner in bed: the tablecloth on the comforter

Spread the tablecloth on the bed instead of the table, and eat sitting cross-legged with the tray between you. It's absurd, a little awkward, and that's exactly why it works: you're in the room where the night will end, eight inches from each other, with no table between you. Keep a napkin within reach for the crumbs, and a second bottle chilling by the bed so nobody has to get up.

6. The soundtrack quiz: one song for every year together

One of you secretly builds a playlist with one song for every year you've been together: the one from your first summer, the one that played on repeat in the car when your oldest was a baby, the one from your friends' wedding. The other hears the first ten seconds and has to name the year, then say what you were doing that year. Every right answer is a point, and the loser does a dare of the winner's choice. If you want a few ready to go, our funny dares for couples are made for exactly this kind of night.

7. The year in review, without turning it into a performance review

Looking back on the year has a bad reputation, because it quickly turns into a list of what went wrong. Do it differently: each of you answers five questions, taking turns, in a sentence or two, and nobody comments.

• When this year did you find me the most attractive?
• Which night this year would you relive exactly as it was?
• When was the time we should have had sex, and fell asleep instead?
• What did I do this year that you noticed and never got around to telling me?
• What do you really not want us to do again next year?

The third always gets a laugh, and the fourth often does more good than a present. If the conversation takes off, our couple questions game has eighty more, with rules to turn them into a real game.

8. Resolutions in an envelope: three wishes each, opened on January 1

Each of you writes down three things you'd like to do with the other next year and have never asked for: a weekend without the kids, sex somewhere other than the bedroom, trying anal, being woken up by the other on a Sunday morning. The papers go into a sealed envelope on the nightstand. You open it when you wake up on January 1, and each of you keeps one of the other's wishes and commits to making it happen before the end of the month. The envelope takes all the risk out of asking: you're not asking face to face, you're leaving a note. To sort through what you both want one wish at a time, our yes or no questions for couples are a good warm-up before you write.

9. The New Year's casino: a game where you bet your clothes

Bring out a deck of cards at 10 p.m. and play War, blackjack or any game you both know. Every hand you lose costs a piece of clothing, and you count before you start: six pieces each, jewelry included, so nobody starts with three extra lives. The first one naked loses, and the winner decides what happens at midnight. The full rules of Strip War and the other sex games for couples take a few lines, and they spare you refereeing disputes at a moment when you have other things on your mind.

10. The last hour in twelve dares: one every five minutes

At 11 p.m., start a five-minute timer, and every time it rings, a dare. The twelfth lands at midnight exactly. It's the best cure for the last hour of New Year's Eve, the one that always drags while you wait in front of the TV. The twelve dares are right below, in order, with a random draw if you'd rather be surprised.

11. Midnight in the bathtub, or out in the cold

The midnight kiss is the one tradition nobody skips, so at least change where it happens. Run a bath at 11:40, with two glasses and the bottle on the edge of the tub and the phone off to the side for the countdown, and spend midnight in the water. If you only have a shower, take a blanket out to the porch or the balcony at 11:55: the cold gives you every reason to stay pressed together, and the bedroom is ten steps away.

12. Ring in the new year having sex

It's the simplest idea on the list, and the one couples actually do least, because it takes planning. Head upstairs at 11:45, with the bottle in the ice bucket next to the bed and the countdown running on your phone, and have sex while midnight passes. You end the year together and start the next one the same way. The champagne can wait, and it'll still be cold.

The last hour of the year: twelve dares, one every five minutes until midnight

The rules fit in four lines. At 11 p.m., flip a coin to see who goes first: that person does the odd-numbered dares, the other the even ones. A five-minute timer calls the next dare. Nobody turns down a dare, that's what keeps the hour moving. And the twelfth lands on the last second of the countdown, which means starting the first one at 11 p.m. on the dot.

1. The toast. Raise your glass to one specific thing the other did for you this year, with the month, and the day if you can remember it.
2. The photo of the year. Show your favorite photo of the other from this year, and say in one sentence why it's that one.
3. The slow dance. One song, lights off, in the middle of the living room: you dance pressed together until the last note, without a word.
4. The hands-free kiss. Kiss the other for ten seconds with your hands clasped behind your back. You can't unclasp them, even if they pull away.
5. Last year's layer. Take off the piece of the other's clothing you choose. It doesn't go back on until next year, which is less than an hour away.
6. The confession of the year. Whisper the day this year when you wanted them the most, and what stopped you from showing it.
7. The ice cube. Take an ice cube from the champagne bucket and slide it from the back of the other's neck down to the small of the back, as slowly as you can, until it has melted.
8. Blindfolded. Blindfold the other with a cloth napkin until the next dare, and kiss them anywhere you like, except on the mouth.
9. The glass. Pour a sip of champagne into the hollow of the other's neck or onto their stomach, wherever they point, and drink it off their skin.
10. The resolution. Say out loud one thing you want to do in bed with the other next year, and give it a date. January 1 counts.
11. Undressing. Ten minutes left: undress each other completely, one piece each in turn, and never stop kissing for longer than it takes to get a piece of clothing off.
12. Midnight. On the last second, whoever has this dare decides how you have sex for the first time this year: the room, the position, and who leads. The other doesn't argue.

Twelve dares is deliberately few: an hour goes fast, and you'll almost certainly skip a timer or two before the end. If you want to change things up from one year to the next, pull from our dirty dares for couples, keeping a steady build toward the twelfth.

What to do on New Year's Eve as a couple when the kids are home

This is the most common situation, and it doesn't rule anything out. It just means splitting the night in two.

• An early midnight, with them: on the West Coast, the Times Square ball drops live at 9 p.m. your time, so watch it together and call it midnight. Everywhere else, a countdown video on the TV at 8:30 does the job. Under ten, nobody checks the clock, and they go to bed feeling like they rang in the new year.
• Your night starts at 9:30: the kids' dinner is cleared, yours begins. That's when you change, and when the outfit the other chose for you (idea no. 2) really comes into its own.
• The bedroom door: if it doesn't lock, put a simple hook-and-eye latch on it before the 31st. It's the most useful thing you'll buy for New Year's Eve, and it keeps earning its place all year.
• The teenagers: they'll be up until 1 a.m. and won't go to bed at 9. Keep the living room and the dinner for the family part of the night, and move your own celebration to the bedroom from 11 p.m., with the midnight bath or the last hour in dares. They'll be on their phones anyway.
• January 1, early: kids who went to bed at 9 are up at 7. Set out a breakfast the night before that they can serve themselves, put on a cartoon, and go back to bed. Sleeping in on the 1st is part of the celebration.

Your questions about New Year's Eve as a couple

How do you make New Year's Eve for two feel special?

Break at least one rule of your ordinary evenings: when you eat dinner, which room you eat in, what you wear, or where you spend midnight. One broken rule is enough to make the night memorable, because it's the contrast with every other night that makes it stand out. The rest, the champagne, the candles, the good food, is just there to go with it.

What can couples do on New Year's Eve without spending money?

Almost every idea on this page is free. The replayed first date, the chosen outfit, the soundtrack quiz, the year in review, the resolutions in an envelope and the twelve dares cost nothing but a little preparation. What costs money on New Year's Eve is going out: the babysitter, the restaurant and the ride home. By staying in, you can put that money into a really good bottle, or into nothing at all.

How do you stay awake until midnight when you're both tired?

Skip the big dinner and serve one small plate an hour (idea no. 4): it's the heavy meal that puts you to sleep, much more than the hour. Take a nap at 5 p.m. if the kids let you. And save something active for the last hour, the twelve dares or the casino, rather than TV. Nobody falls asleep with a timer going off every five minutes.

What if one of us wants to go out and the other wants to stay in?

Do both. Go to a friend's place or a restaurant until 10:30, and come home for the last hour, the one with the twelve dares. One of you gets the social evening, the other gets midnight for two. Otherwise, take turns from year to year, and write on the calendar who gets to pick next December 31.

How do you suggest a sexy New Year's Eve to your partner?

Bring it up a week before, not on the night itself, and suggest something specific rather than a vague intention: "this year, I'd like us to spend midnight in the bedroom" goes over much better than "what if we did something a little naughty for New Year's?". Let the other pick one of the ideas, so the plan belongs to both of you. If you're not sure how to phrase it, our guide on how to suggest a naughty game to your partner walks through what to say and when.

What's a good game for New Year's Eve as a couple?

One that does the choosing for you. On the 31st, nobody wants to hunt for dare ideas or come up with questions between two courses: you want to play, not host. A deck of naughty cards, or the Oopsia games you play together on a single phone, do that work for you: they draw the next card, turn up the heat on their own, and leave you free to focus on each other.