Picnic Date Night: At the Sunset Cinemas!

I always have people thinking that Jesse gets off cheap when it comes to date nights because I'm allergic to everything and can't exactly eat out at a restaurant - but that's definitely not true! We also get lots of emails from SIL readers looking for suggestions for allergy friendly date night ideas and date nights that don't involve going to a restaurant - so we thought we'd start sharing ours!

When it comes to date nights, we just have to get creative! One of our most common date venues is the movies, however, last week we did things a little bit differently!

Most Australians know that the summertime is the perfect time for entertaining outdoors and this summer, Sunset Cinemas and Outdoors Cinemas have popped up all over the country.

We headed to the IMB Sunset Cinema at North Sydney Oval (they also have them in Canberra and Wollongong) with a picnic dinner in tow to see The Delivery Man. We'd been waiting ages to see the movie so we were super excited - and it didn't disappoint!

If you're looking for a good movie, be sure to check out The Delivery Man - it's the perfect mix of laughs, emotional bits, love and seriousness. 

Outdoor cinemas are totally different to regular cinemas - and so much more fun. We got to eat our picnic dinner and talk whilst we waited for it to start and then enjoyed our movie in the fresh air. You also don't realise that there are so many other people there as you're quite spaced apart. 

I don't know about you, but I've sat next to waaaay too many annoying movie goers - a lady who talked the entire time on her phone, a man who tapped tapped tapped tapped his leg and shook the seats throughout the entire movie, a kid who decided the movie was so boring and instead wanted to talk about some other movie he'd seen the whole entire time - you name it, when you're sitting so close to people it can get a little bit annoying. 

I think that outdoor cinemas are a little bit more romantic too as you make a whole night out of it, rather than a couple of hours. We're actually already planning on heading back to the Sunset Cinema as they're open until March 9 (with a special Valentine's Pretty Woman Event if you need a V-Day date idea!).

We had "General Admission Tickets" ($18 each plus extra for beanbag/backrest hire) but you can also purchase "Star Class Service" tickets (inc. reserved deckchair, dinner hamper, welcome drink & butler service), "Crust Lawn Lounge" tickets (inc. entry for 1 + reserved beanbed + Crust gourmet pizza + Maggie Beer icecream) and a discounted "Groupies Pass" which gets you 4 tickets for just $44.

But I know what you're thinking, what about the food Kristy?! Picnic dinners can be a little bit tricky - you don't want things to be soggy, cold, smushed, gross - so you have to find a balance.

We went for homemade cold pasta salads (pesto for me and a mexican style for Jesse) with veggie sticks and grilled chicken breast - and don't forget the popcorn!

Now, Jesse thought I was totally weird when I packed this popcorn trail mix. I added chocolate chips and raisins to store bought salted popcorn  (we like Sunbites Popcorn which is gluten free) because I knew it was a winning combination, but Jesse was totally skeeved out. 

And then he ate it. Salty, sweet, crunchy, chewy - yum.

But tell me, what are your favourite kind of date nights?

And what are your ultimate trail mix add ins?

When I could eat apricots, I used to love mixing dried apricots with white chocolate chips and salted popcorn or pretzels - holy yum.

PS: You can find out more about the Sunset Cinemas at their website.

Kristy and Jesse received complimentary tickets to the Sunset Cinemas, however, all opinions are their own and have not been influenced by the company in any way.