With a chill in the air and fairy lights everywhere, there’s a certain romance to December – especially when you’re dating.  Arm in arm, wrapped up in woollies, you can soak up the ambiance together with these December date ideas taking place before and after the big day.

We’ve also added our seasonal gifts to DatingAgency.com so you can spread some festive cheer to other DatingAgency.com Members.   So login and make someone’s day with a scattering of mistletoe magic!

December is the time to….

Visit A Winter Wonderland With their outdoor ice rinks, Christmas markets and festive entertainment, you and your date can revel in the magic of Christmas as early as you like! The one in Hyde Park spans twenty acres and has free entry, whilst others in Cardiff, Edinburgh, Northumbria and Centre Parks need to be booked. Find out more about Hyde Park at Hyde Park Winter Wonderland, or do a quick search on Google to locate one near you.

See It’s A Wonderful Life It isn’t Christmas without it! Take you date for some classic feel-good 1940’s cinematic action and watch It’s A Wonderful Life at Liverpool’s Philharmonic Hall. The screening starts at 1pm on Christmas Eve so there isn’t a better way to start the weekend’s festivities. You can book box seats for £6.50 each or standard tickets for £5.50 each. Telephone 0151 709 3789 or visit Liverpool’s Philharmonic Hall website.

Theatre Date: Morecambe Morecambe and Wise fans can put Eric back into their Christmas agendas with a date to see Morecambe at London’s Duchess Theatre. It’s a biographical play about the comedian’s life with an uncanny portrayal by Bob Golding following his sell out Edinburgh Festival run, which had rave reviews from Ronnie Corbett and Nicholas Parsons. Tickets cost £20 – £37.50 and you can read all about it on the DatingAgency.com Blog.

Cinema: The Avatar If you and your date are both sci-fi fans, make sure you go and see the Avatar, in cinemas from December 18th. It’s the most ambitious 3D film ever made and will be available in 2D, 3D and in IMAX cinemas. Director James Cameron of Titanic, Terminator and Alien fame, says his inspiration for the script was; “Every single science fiction book I ever read as a kid.” The premise is a paralyzed man controlling an alien body and it stars Sigourney Weaver and Sam Worthington.

Visit The UK’s Largest Winter Garden Blow out the cobwebs before New Year on a visit to the seven-acre winter garden at the National Trust property Dunham Massey in Cheshire. With 400 metres of new pathways, 700 plant species, 1,600 shrubs and 200,000 bulbs it’s no wonder it’s the UK’s largest winter garden! December brings the bright yellow of witch hazel and fragrances of mahonia, winter honeysuckle and Christmas Box. You’ll find visitor information on The National Trust website.

Racing At Kempton Park Get your glad rags on and have a flutter at the races on the 26th and 27th December. Kempton Park’s Winter Festival boasts two days of top quality jump racing featuring the William Hill King George VI Steeple Chase. Will Kauto Star re-write history books and take a fourth successive title? Tickets cost from £8 or you can book the best view of the action at the Panoramic Bar & Restaurant from £49.95 per person. For tickets telephone 01932 753518 or visit Kempton Park.

Visit Yorkshire Sculpture Park You and your date can walk off some Christmas pud on a trip to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, the only one of its kind in the UK. The permanent collection contains work from Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth; artist Rob Ryan transforms the visitor centre with imaginative paper cuts and screen prints; and there’s sculpture and art in the Underground Gallery from one of Britain’s foremost artists, Peter Randall-Page. It costs £4 to park and entry is free. Visit Yorkshire Sculpture Park for visitor information. (Image of Peter Randall-Page, courtesy of Jonty Wilde).

Star Gazing in Galloway Forest Take your date to gaze at the stars in the darkest place in the UK, Galloway Forest in Scotland. Set in open farmland, away from light pollution you can stay at Galloway Astronomy Centre and perhaps even catch a glimpse of the partial lunar eclipse taking place on New Year’s Eve! Hot drinks are provided throughout the night although you might want to take your own Champagne! A double room is £28 per person per night. Telephone 01988 500594 or visit Galloway Astronomy Centre for more information.

New Year’s Eve If you haven’t any plans, see in 2010 with a stay in Allendale, Northumberland where the Flaming Barrels ceremony takes centre stage. This Pagan tradition starts with a colourful procession through the town by a team of local barrel carriers, dressed in fancy costumes and balancing flaming whiskey barrels filled with hot tar on their heads. Once they reach the unlit bonfire shortly before midnight, each man tosses his flaming ‘headgear’ onto the bonfire, setting it ablaze. On the stroke of midnight, everyone joins hands to dance around the fire, singing Auld Lang Syne. For details visit Allendale Tar Barrel Ceremony.

Take you date to see some fireworks this weekend

With bonfire nights, fireworks and Halloween events, there’s plenty going on this weekend if you’re dating!  Here’s a selection of what’s going on.

Well there certainly isn’t any shortage of date ideas this weekend, with hundreds of bonfires, fireworks and Halloween events taking place up and down the country.  It’s the perfect excuse to snuggle up to your date beside the bonfire and watch fireworks in the starlit sky.  Here’s a selection of what’s on.

And if you don’t have anyone to cosy up to this weekend just yet, there’s still plenty of time to organise a date.  Login to DatingAgency and catch someone’s eye by sending them one of our seasonal Halloween gifts!

Charity Halloween and Fireworks Night, Ascot

If you live in the South East, take your date to Ascot racecourse for a charity Halloween and fireworks night. Doors open at 4.30pm and the firework display starts at 6pm. There’s a free fun fair and all proceeds are going to charity. Tickets cost £7 for adults and £5 for children.

Fontwell Racecourse, Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire

The folks at Fontwell Racecourse are attempting to break the world record for the number of ‘guys’ burnt on a bonfire this Saturday, so they’re asking everyone to bring a ‘guy’ for the bonfire and donate £3 (or more) for Midhurst based charity Dreams Come True which raises money for terminally or seriously ill children. Gates open at 4pm, the bonfire will be lit at 7pm and the fireworks start at 7.30pm. Tickets for adults and children over the age of five are £6.

Fireworks at Leeds Castle, Maidstone, Kent

The highly recommended fireworks event at Leeds Castle takes place on Saturday and Sunday, and this year it’s a pyrotechnic spectacular, set to music with a traditional circus theme. And you can make a day of it by arriving early to catch the entertainment taking place throughout the afternoon and all the usual attractions of the castle’s gardens and grounds. Tickets cost £16 each and are available by calling 01622 765400.

Catch someone's eye with one of our Halloween gifts!

Victorian Ghost Stories at Richmond Castle, North Yorkshire

Take your date to Richmond Castle for a ghost walk and some spine chilling tales! Tours cost £9 per person and take place at 5.30pm, 7pm, 8.30pm and 10pm. Booking is essential so telephone 01748 822493.

Ghost Walk in Brixham, South Devon

Join Deadly David, Matilda Balm, Madame Noir and Treacherous Tracy whatever the weather for a journey into Brixham’s darker side. Meet at the William of Orange statue on the harbour front at 7.30pm.

Haworth’s ‘Hawortheen’ Weekend, Keighley, West Yorkshire

Haworth are turning it into a weekend of the celebrations with graveyard walks on Friday, Dragon Day on Saturday and the Sunday ‘Hawortheen’ parade along Main Street at 3pm. They certainly know how to party!

Find A Haunted Pub

There are hundreds of pubs in the UK with a resident apparition or a spook that goes bang in the night. Find one near you at Mysterious Britain