1. Parties let you remember that life isn’t just one long to-do list.
When you’re in a long-term relationship, you eventually settle into a routine of sorts and your everyday lives are inevitably defined by a certain amount of domestic drudgery and copious logistical headaches. It’s important to let loose once in a while so you can remember that life isn’t just a series of doctors appointments, trips to the grocery store, alarm clocks, and other necessary frustrations. If you can make sure to punctuate all the boring stuff with a few carefree, joyful moments, you’ll be much better positioned to stay together.
2. Getting drunk together is so much better than drinking alone.
There’s a reason why booze is an integral part of almost every party. Drinking generally leads to fun when you’re surrounded by friends and the person you love. It’s liberating to get too tipsy and engage in ridiculous conversations, play stupid games, and act like a fool once in awhile. Unless you’re one of those angry or weepy drunks, inebriation can be the root of lasting memories you can rely on when things get too serious and you need a good laugh.
3. Joint intoxication also leads to dirty sex.
There’s no doubt that alcohol strips of us inhibitions, and that’s generally a good thing for long-term lovers. Getting freaky in bed together and experimenting sexually can be incredibly intimate, and if a little booze helps you get there, so be it! Drink up, get naked, and have naughty sex already.
4. Being hungover together is surprisingly awesome.
Compulsory laziness is an opportunity to bond. Sometimes it’s nice to lay in bed together all day and watch movies in between binging on pizza, slugging water, and complaining about just how bad your heads hurt. Hangovers might suck, but sharing any experience is rewarding on some level, even if it’s a painful one.
5. Partying forces you to exit the relationship cocoon.
One of the perks of dating someone seriously is that you have a permanent on-demand hangout partner. It’s easy to get comfortable staying in almost every night watching Netflix and eating takeout with someone you really like who’s not going to reject your sexual advances. But you can’t live in your relationship cocoon forever without getting bored of each other. Going out together forces you to socialize, and to rely on others for intellectual stimulation for a change. Even if the main takeaway is that you love your significant other so much more than every other person in the world, it’s a worthwhile endeavor.
6. Going out together reinforces the feeling that you’re on the same team.
A certain amount of planning goes into executing a successful evening out. As you get dressed, you probably seek advice about what to wear, or how you look. En route to your destination, you probably touch base about what to expect—where you’re you’re going, who your host is, what you’re supposed to know about certain guests you’ll encounter. If you’re smart, you also concoct a potential “out”—a story you can both lean on to extract yourselves from any potentially annoying situation. Partying as a couple enhances the feeling that you’re in it together. Even if you have a shitty time and you end up pinching your partner on the sly to say “get me the fuck out of here already,” you can laugh about that together on your way home.
7. It’s sexy to watch your partner work a crowd.
The longer you date, the more enlightening it can be to watch your partner work a room. At a certain point, when your interactions become so familiar and automatic that you forget how your lover engages with others, it becomes a treat to witness them wield their A-game outside the relationship. Observing your significant other tell a story or deliver a punch line to a group is a good way to remember just how attractive they are—inside and outside the relationship—and how lucky you are to call them yours.
8. Compliments about your better half will make you beam.
Maybe you know in your heart that you’re with the right person, and you don’t need any relationship reassurance. Still, positive reinforcement is always welcome. When you earn people’s approval as a couple, you’re bound to hear about it—if not directly from the source, then through the grapevine. When you do, you’ll feel prouder than ever about your togetherness. It’s lovely to field compliments about how wonderful your significant other is and how well suited you are to each other, even if you already know it deep down.
9. Debriefing what went down is always fascinating.
There’s only so much you can tell your significant other in whispers and covert texts as an evening unfolds. As soon as you’re out of earshot from all the other guests, however, you get to exchange notes about everyone you talked to and the impressions you formed—all the important stuff, like who made a weird confession, who acted like an asshole, who was way too obliterated, and who asked a borderline offensive question. Trading tidbits gleaned from your individual experiences of the same party is often the best part about a wild night out.
10. Couples that play together stay together.
Being able to set aside your troubles and have a good time in spite of everything else is an underrated life skill, and it’s just as important to personal happiness as it is to relationship fulfillment. If you can shelve your worries and take a timeout to celebrate life, you’ll end up more satisfied than otherwise. Happy people know how to have fun, and so do happy couples. 
