Valentine’s Day can be a rough holiday to navigate. People’s feelings on the “commercial-ness” of the occasion can leave couples – especially new ones – at a loss as to how to acknowledge it (or whether to acknowledge it at all). So if you’re not sure how to proceed, I would say that you should err on the side of caution.
Which is to say, you’d better have a card and at least some kind of gift ready and waiting on the big day.
If you’re stumped as far as ideas that you can pull off last minute, don’t worry – we’ve got you covered!
#15. White Castle
“Last year I was sick/injured and couldn’t really do too much but the girl I was with suggested we go to White Castle and I was like “you’re awesome! Hell yeah I’ll go.” And I was just gonna go through drive through but she said she called and made reservations like 2 weeks before and I was like “for white castle?” And I shit you not, there was balloons and numbers on the table and stuff and it was actually really cool. Plus who doesn’t love those little delectable burgers?”
#14. Fail proof.
“The Ice Cream Rose in bucket
get a plastic flower pot, line it with foil or plastic wrap, fill it with cookies and cream ice cream, get a pack of Oreos and crumble it, cover the ice cream with it, acting as dirt, and stick a long stem rose in the middle.
its a rose, and ice cream, and you did it yourself. Its fail proof.”
#13. Things you appreciate.
“Buy some string and some index cards. Make a long trail in your apartment/home/hovel so that it’s a long trail in the air. At semi-regular intervals, tie a card with a nice note on it about a memory you have with her in that spot. At the couch, you remember the time you were sick and she made you lie there and nursed you. In the kitchen, the time you tried to make her a nice dinner and almost burned the place down. Make sure the notes have little tidbits about things that you appreciate/love about her. Have some chocolate or a nice wine or whatever cliche gift is easiest at the end of the trail.”
#12. A romantic mad lib.
“One year I got my now wife a little book that was basically a romantic mad lib. It had things like “I love when we _________ together”. It was about 40-50 pages, so it took some time to think of different things about our relationship. I made some funny, some romantic and some sexy ones. That, plus her favorite flowers and her favorite movie at the time and she was as happy as I’ve seen her. She still has the book in her nightstand.”
#11. A great memory.
“I got my girlfriend everything needed to have the best bath from lush. I also have some clay and I’m going to make her a little imprint of our house key. This is the first place with both our names on the lease, and then even if we move, she has a great memory of this place. I’m gonna get her flowers too and make her dinner :’)”
#10. It’s nice to have.
“Serious Answer: print out some nice pictures of the two of you (throw them in some nice frames or a book for bonus points.) People so rarely have physical pictures nowadays and its nice to have something you can keep on your desk or something.
Also you can hide shit in the background of the pictures and wait to see how long it takes them to notice.”
#9. Know what they’re into.
“A girl I have a crush on is really into marine life and the ocean in general. I wanted to take her to a Sea Turtle Museum.”
#8. No, really.
“Doing nothing…….. no really.
Well perhaps not ‘nothing’, but the problem with Valentines day is everything suddenly doubles in price and/or is fully booked weeks in advance and I’m not just talking about restaurants. One of the greatest things you can do is go grab some food from the store and produce a home cooked meal for your SO and watch a film of questionable quality. Then throw on some Phil Collins and smoosh booties.”
#7. From the heart.
“The girl I’m talking to, I got her 2 small gifts which are personal to her. To anyone else they wouldn’t mean much if anything. But to her they should mean a lot. They weren’t expensive, under $40 total so don’t think that cost matters. Gifts from the heart always mean more than gifts which are expensive.”
#6. Don’t forget flowers.
“I got a photo frame that has room for 5 photos. I chose 5 of my favorite photos of us together and assembled them in the frame. Walmart usually has big teddy bears and chocolate, and don’t forget flowers. Also if there is a lush nearby go there, the staff are excellent at helping you score brownie points.”
#5. Better than forgetting.
“Anything you come up with last minute is better than forgetting.
Trust me.”
#4. Somewhere sentimental.
“The best gifts are gonna be something personal to the person and not something generic. Maybe some of their favorite snack food, or make their favorite meal. Take them to their favorite restaurant or just somewhere sentimental to you both.”
#3. Cheesy can be cute.
“Buy a bunch of Hershey Kisses, count the days you’ve been together and put that many in a gift box or something (or eyeball, who’s honestly gonna count every single one, giving or receiving?) and attach a card with something cheesy like “a kiss for every day I’ve known you/loved you/been with you.” You get it. Cheesy can be cute and candy is always a good choice.”
#2. Show that they make you happy.
“Make a nice dinner (or get take out) and nice dinner space in your home. Make a little nook with candles for cozy coupley eating.
Buy some of their favorite candy/sweets/snacks/drinks, a fuzzy blanket and have a movie in mind (AND how you’re watching it) to cuddle. Bonus points for putting a festive bow on the treats, I recommend the Dollar Tree in the us for cute boxes/bows/balloons or whatnot on the cheap.
Bring their favorite warm drink and a cupcake (or other tasty luxury they wouldn’t just get for themselves) from a nice bake shop, go for a walk together somewhere pretty. Ask to take some pictures together (outdoor light is best) because they look lovely and you want to have photos to look back on of these days together.
Lots of little things are wonderful. The important thing is that you pay attention to your partner and their specific interests. They mentioned they love XYZ food, you noticed they always get X hot drink. You’re showing you notice them and give a damn what they like and are making a special effort to spend time together and show that they make you happy and you want to make them happy.”
#1. Don’t get seen!
“My wife and I choose a department store like Target (though we’re thinking of using a mall this year), go there together, and then spend a set amount of time (about 30 min) sneaking around trying not to see/be seen by the other as we buy gifts for them within our agreed-upon budget. Then we check out (again, don’t get seen!) and meet up near the entrance to exchange gifts.
This works best when there is a coffee shop or food court in the location you choose to make the exchange more comfortable. It’s fun because the limited supply of the store you are in makes it both harder and easier to choose what to get. The gifts are definitely secondary to the fun of playing around like a couple kids, and anyone at the store who asks what the heck we are doing is always really positive about it.
This has been our tradition for about ten years now and we look forward to it all year. It’s like a hide and seek/Die Hard Valentine event.”
Happy Heart Day, my friends!
