photo credit: Pink Sherbet Photography via photopin cc
Valentine’s Day is the second most celebrated holiday around the world, second to New Year’s Day. The day was first associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished. By the 15th century, it had evolved into an occasion in which lovers expressed their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as “valentines”).
The day is intended to express love and sentiment to your significant other. For me, when I was younger and single, it could also be a nail-biting, “Will I be asked out?” kind of holiday. Even after I was married or had a boyfriend, there was the “will he remember”, “what if I spend more money than he does”, “what if everyone else gets flowers and I don’t” kind of worries. Whoo, thank goodness I don’t worry about those kind of things anymore!
According to a 2011 BIGresearch survey there was:
- $1.1 billion spent on cards
- $1.7 billion on flowers
- $3.4 billion on dinner out
- $3.5 billion on jewelry…..
That’s a lot of money (especially coming a couple of months after Christmas).
These days, my husband and I like to celebrate Valentine’s by cooking a more expensive meal than we typically do and splurging on a good bottle of wine. I’ll have the table set in a festive way and the food prepped for when he gets home. Then he’ll open the wine and we’ll cook an appetizer or snack on bread and cheese while cooking together (he keeps his suit on from work and I do get “dolled” up.) The candles are lit and we sit down to a fabulous meal that even though we may have splurged on, still costs a lot less than if we went out. And here’s why that works for us….that’s what I want to do. If I said I wanted to go out, he would immediately make reservations for some place fabulous, but I like the “fun” of cooking, tasting, and doing something together at home. Of course we don’t have children in the house anymore so that makes it easy.
I do think that Valentine’s Day, like a lot of other holidays, has become more commercialized and more about how much you spend than about anything else. You don’t have to spend a ton of money to “show your love’. Even cards are expensive! My favorite card I gave my husband was one I made out of pink poster board with candy hearts glued all over it….he’d never got anything like that before!
Anyway, here’s my question to you…
What do you think makes for a romantic Valentine’s Day? And is it even a holiday you celebrate? What kind of presents do you give or like to get? Do you set a limit on how much you spend? Is it a romantic holiday or a stress-inducing day for you? We’d love to hear from you and perhaps someone will get a great idea from something you share.