15 Valentine’s Day Gifts for Every Type of Relationship

We are married (17yrs) with tweens (13 year old boy, 11 year old girl) and our kiddos are a part of our valentine celebrations. We decorate –hang a banner and some hearts etc., we decorate the kids doors with hearts about a few things we love about them and give the kids some local made chocolates treats. We include our children in our valentine dinner. This year we’re ordering heart shaped pizzas and a heart shaped pizza bouquet. We also talk about the actual Saint Valentine . We love including them because we know soon our house will be very different and quiet without them. These two that fill our hearts and and home and our every thought are our best investment and the single most important aspect of our Valentine celebrations.

My partner of seven years and I somehow fell into a tradition of alternating treating each other to Valentine’s gifts each year – he gets the even years, I get odd ones. It’s nice because we each get a year off from having to source a gift for the other, it takes away the somewhat sexist pressure on my male partner to be the one going all out on Valentine’s stuff, and it gets us reminiscing about what we got the year before.

Last year my partner did amazingly and got us both an Iranian cooking class with a cooking school that has chefs/teachers who are asylum-seekers. I can never live up to that one since we are backpacking in South America this year and trying to stretch our budget. He’s been yearning for a maté cup every time he sees an Argentinian with one (aka constantly), so I’m going to let him pick out his own cup, straw and some maté. It’s not quite the usual surprise, but I’m sure it’ll be something we enjoy remembering next year!

I laughed at loud and immediately had to show this post to my boyfriend of three years. Two years ago on Valentine’s Day we found ourselves not wanting to celebrate in a big way. I think we went to a concert we forgot we had tickets to, had some quick indian food on the way, and I bought him a card, but he didn’t do anything for me. I told him that yeah, valentine’s day isn’t really a big deal for me, but it would be nice if you at least got me a card or something. Just a simple gesture. The next evening as I was brushing my teeth before bed I noticed something shiny peeping out from the top of my shower curtain. He had sneakily replaced my broken shower head with a fancy new one. I laughed so hard I cried. I called him and he said “Happy Valentine’s Day”. It was perfect.

In more than 10 years together we’ve only celebrated Valentine’s Day once, and that was by mistake. A friend was supposed to get married on feb 14th in another country, but his fiancée called off the wedding a week before. Pretty much everyone went anyway because the notice was so short. On the 14th, my husband and I ended up being unwitting tour guides to some of our more annoying friends so they wouldn’t bother the friend of ours whose wedding day it was supposed to be. More and more people contacted us over the day about what was being organised, so we directed all of them to the most annoying friend’s hotel lobby, switched off our phones and went to the beach, for drinks and then out for dinner. It was great!

This year we are doing a long haul overnight flight with a one and a two year old. Possibly one of the least romantic things you can do in the world

I love the expression on the toddler’s face in the ‘married with young kids’ illustration. It so captures my 3-year-old’s face if I’ve had to physically remove him from a situation; he is resigned to the fact that he’s smaller and can’t fight it but that doesn’t mean he has to like being carried, either. Keep fighting the power, kiddo.

Go to an art museum (or any other beautiful, public space), treat yourself to any kind of yummy treat you want (on solo dates I love to get myself a coffee and pastry from a new bakery or coffee shop), browse a record store, buy yourself a bath bomb and face mask and then take a long, relaxing bath…you can also try cooking a new recipe (that one always makes me feel great)! Some of my favorite evenings have been when I made shrimp scampi for one, poured myself a glass of wine, and then watched my favorite shows all night. :-)

My fiance and I started dating 4 days after Valentines, and I love every holiday ever created, so I LOVE this time of year. We had been going on dates before Valentines but weren’t “official” so our first VDay together I was so unsure of what to do. I ended up getting him a vinyl of a band we talked about on our first date and he got me the most beautiful flowers. Now we’ve made it a tradition that instead of doing two gifts back to back, we do gifts for Valentines and an experience for our anniversary. I always get him a record, and he always gets me a plant. I like the sentimentality of getting to look back at the plants we have and listen to the records and know which stage of our relationship they came from.

One of the best Valentine’s gifts I received was after my boyfriend and I had been dating for a year, and I had to make the six-hour drive from the Bay Area to Palm Springs for a long work trip. He made me six CDs, so I wouldn’t have to listen to the same song twice on the long drive. They were a combination of his favorite songs, songs he knew I liked, and songs we had listened to together– every CD had a theme. The last CD had no title, but I realized halfway through that the theme was ME: every single one had been picked for a special moment. Alicia Keys’ Girl on Fire came on and I started sobbing while driving through the desert and realizing how much he believed in me. Needless to say, it’s been six years and we’re married now. Never underestimate the power of a classic mixtape :)

My favorite valentine from my husband was on our first Valentine’s Day, when we were briefly long-distance: he mailed me five pounds of almonds in a grocery store bulk bag with a little note saying “I’m nuts about you!” It was so weird and sweet and practical.

I’m taking the car to shop and the kids to my mother’s for Valentine’s Day. It’s definitely the present my husband needs!

He may even like it better than the 8 page, fully-illustrated “Limericks of Love” card that I made for him 20 years ago — which was definitely the nadir of my Valentine’s Day efforts. :-)

Every year for Valentine’s Day, I buy my husband 4 or 5 nice tiny portions of cheese. I go to Central Market’s cheese area and ask for recommendations and tell them I want 3.00 worth of each – BONUS I get to sample.
He buys me a rose bush every year! I currently have 4 different kinds of roses that bloom around our house – a different type for every year of our marriage!

my boyfriend and I usually just go out to dinner — we both prefer splurging a little on experiences rather than giving object-gifts to celebrate each other

My son was born last Valentine’s so now I’m not sure if we get to celebrate it anymore haha even though we did used to get each other gifts :)

How about married 24 years, empty nesters? Valentine’s falls right after my birthday, so it’s hard for my dear husband to think of something else. And February is not that far from Christmas either. I’ve got 3/4s of a birthday cake and THREE of my favorite chocolate bars already mocking my resolution to somehow eat less sugar.

I bought my dogs and very old cat an electric heated blanket for the animal couch today, happy early Valentine’s to them. It’s a huge hit as it’s been below zero since Sunday.

We no longer eat meat, but I would still second Olympia Provisions as a treat! We tried to stick to local food and wine for our backyard wedding reception and when I stopped by their stand at the farmer’s market to pick up a few items, I told them what it was for as we chatted. They were so incredibly nice and gave me a few items completely unexpectedly for free. It warmed my heart and our guests loved it!

Next week we’ll see how this gift goes over… my husband and I have 2 young kids and have been together for 15 years. Our first Valentine’s we were in a long-distance relationship and broke, and I mailed him a stocking cap in his favorite color. He still wears it almost daily in the winter. On a whim, I just bought him a replacement of that stocking cap, because after 15 years it is looking a bit raggedy. Same cap, same color.

linking $65 fern that you can get for about $5 in Home Depot made me roll my eyes.
I like your blog, but seriously?

Love this!! Any recommendations for “1 year in, want to have the conversation about moving in together, and I love you to bits” gifts would be much appreciated!