Things are starting to drag. What started as a simple movie date has evolved into a six-hour marathon of driving and sometimes running, around the city. He still seems super excited, but she is doing anything she can to come up with an excuse to get back home.

While wanting to spend time with a date is important, when is the right time to call it a day? Is it OK to plan all-day dates, or would it be better to limit things to just a few hours?

“Unless a time frame is super consensually planned and agreed to before embarking on the date, it should definitely not be longer than an hour,” said former BYU student Kristen Blair. “Or, I guess if it’s going insanely well and you talk about it and both say ‘wow let’s keep chilling,’ it’s OK to go over, but otherwise it’s just rude. People have lives.”

Still, this doesn’t mean that every date needs to be on the shorter side. As relationships progress, it is natural for dates to grow a bit longer.

“I think the first date should usually be around an hour or so, but second and third dates and so on could be longer,” said political science major Nathan McQuarrie. “I’d say around two to three hours when you’re serious.”

While it varies for every couple, finding the right time, place, and length for each date makes them more meaningful. However, it is generally safer to skip the longer dates at the beginning of a relationship and try to plan shorter activities until things get more serious.

    -Eric Baker

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