On Friday night we started Jacob’s Birthday weekend with gifts, including a date night gift. I gave Jacob tickets to see The Phoenix Symphony.

We’ve always talked about going to the symphony, it’s even on our big 101 date night ideas list. There are a few problems that have prevented this in the past.

#1- Expense– have you checked out tickets before? Most range from $100-$150 a ticket. Ouch, that would blow about 2 months of our dating budget in one shot!

#2- Worries that we may get bored.  Did you ever go on a field trip as a kid and find yourself kind of bored? I know I did. Not that I don’t love and appreciate musical talent, I just worry we’ll pay a lot to realize that adult ADD gets the best of us.

#3- One spouse may love it, the other not so much.  I’m lucky to have a husband who grew up 20 feet from his grandpa who has a PhD in music composition and was a music teacher his whole life. He has a deep appreciation. However, the stereotype of dragging the husband to the opera/symphony still concerned me.

With gift #13 in his pocket and high hopes for a great night, I took him for #14, the world’s best burritos at the Crescent Ballroom in Downtown Phoenix. We’ve been before and sung its praises, you can recap HERE on why this is such an amazing gift that made for one happy Jacob!

We headed over to the symphony for one amazing experience! Let me tell you how we avoided each of the 3 fears and had one exceptional date.

Symphony Date Night Tips

Symphony Tip #1-

Look for discounted tickets through Goldstar or Travelzoo local deals. Also, if you go to the season opener, a lot of people don’t realize it’s started already, so they usually have additional discount tickets. We found our tickets for $16.50 a seat- thank you Travelzoo and season opener!

Symphony Tip #2-

Choose a concert theme that meshes with your interests. If you like Christmas music, go to that show. If your spouse is a die-hard Star Wars fan, go to movie tunes night. We like modern musicals, so the Wicked Divas show was a great choice for us! It consisted of the Symphony playing with two female singers who had been cast as Elphaba and Glinda in Wicked in San Francisco. They sang several solo and duet pieces from modern musicals, including 3 from Wicked. It was a cheap way to experience the musical again!

Symphony Tip #3-

Ask your date before you buy!

I sent Jacob the link a few days before I purchased and let him stew over going. The last thing I wanted to do was go on a selfish date on his birthday weekend extravaganza. He decided it would be fun, it wasn’t too long, and the idea of his favorite burrito in Downtown didn’t hurt either! Yes, it was funny to go dressed up to a concert venue, but if it makes it more exciting- great!
One more thing I do to help, I made sure I had curly hair that night. I have the world’s most naturally stick-straight hair. Jacob notices and compliments me every time I curl my hair. You may now notice most date nights I try to go for this. I wake up a little earlier Friday or ditch my morning run to ensure it happens. I don’t mean this in any sexist way, he loves me not matter what. But I just try to wear things he likes and do my hair that way too to keep the love alive! He does the same for me, and we both appreciate the effort!

And the final result? We actually REALLY loved this date! We’d gladly do it again! It was fun to see our friend Marshall at the Phoenix Symphony, on a date with his Mom. He’s so great like that! It was also great to meet a reader who sat by us and had JUST accepted a proposal, happily sitting by her fiance of 1 hour. Congrats you two! Way to start life out on a great date. 🙂

This all helped, but the music, my obsession with the Cello (I’ve always wanted to take lessons), the talent of the Symphony and director, and the voices of two very funny and very talented women made for a really classy, really fun date!
So seriously, dispel those Symphony date fears and get out and go!

Like this date idea? You may like these posts too: 

The Phoenix Art Museum

Phoenix Date Ideas

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