Our story
We first met in a high school ceramics class (although it did take a year after we graduated for fate to bring us back together). The first few years dating were amazing! Every moment we spent together was an opportunity to learn something new about each other. It seemed like no matter what we did, each date was perfect and our relationship kept getting stronger!
Then, about six years into our relationship, things began to slow down and date night seemed to disappear. At the time, we were both finishing up our degrees (Tyler in Entrepreneurship and Michelle with a Master’s Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy) and paying for school and student loans on our own. The “adulting” phase hit hard as we had all these bills and financial responsibilities that we never had before. Oh yeah, and we were planning our wedding during all of this.
It’s not that we didn’t love each other. In fact, going through this transition made our relationship even stronger. But we did see a decline in the amount of one-on-one time together, mostly because we had so many other responsibilities. The first thing to be put on the backburner was date night.
After a few months of stress and feeling disconnected, we knew we had to make a change. We wanted to create a strong foundation for our marriage, and consistent quality time together was the answer.
On a “starving college student” budget, we didn’t have the extra funds to have fancy date nights all the time, but we decided to dedicate $20 a month to couple time. We knew that if we wanted to take it seriously, we would have to invest, so we even had a special “date night” bank account created where we would hold the funds.
Our criteria for date night wasn’t super complicated, all we knew is that we wanted to do something fun and different while helping to create a more intimate connection. One month we went to the zoo, one month we did a DIY project together at home, and sometimes, we just got creative with themed movie nights. Whatever we did, we primarily focused on increasing the face time with each other.
You know what? It worked! Even that one date night each month helped us to reconnect. And what was even better, eventually it became a part of our daily lives. That one interaction a month became two or three. Even mundane tasks like laundry or dishes became an opportunity to spend some time together.
So in 2014, after seeing how much this dedicated time worked for us, we decided to launch Crated with Love, right out of our apartment. We knew that if date night could help us create a stronger relationship, it could help other couples in a similar situation.
In our first year, we shipped over 5,000 dates to couples all over the world. A fun little note, we had so many boxes in our apartment the first Christmas after we launched, that we had no room for a tree, so we built one out of boxes!
Today, we ship to thousands of couples a month all across the country (we are proud to say we have at least one Crated Couple in every state)! Even so, we are still Crated with Love’s number one couple! Not only do we create each theme (with help from an amazing team), but we also do each date together, every single month.
Our goal at Crated with Love is pretty simple. We want to get couples talking and interacting and we want that interaction to be fun and easy. Each date that we create is specifically designed to include games and activities that not only help you laugh together, they are all built on techniques and strategies to help you build a stronger marriage or relationship.
So, what are you waiting for? Join the Crated with Love family, start your own date night journey today and see just how powerful date night can be!
Happy Dating!
Love,
Tyler and Michelle
Founders, Crated with Love