15 Valentine’s Day Gifts for Every Type of Relationship

I decided that to try to feel a little better he would do a kindness for someone else, which inspired him to bring those gifts to his friend. Bearing witness to his gesture, and their friendship, permanently re-framed Valentine’s Day for me. Now instead of cynically seeing it as a day driven by commercial interests and marketing, focused on couples and romance, I see it as a day driven by appreciation,

I don’t believe in valentines and now I want a cheese tower… ?
Better get one for the husband just to eat myself. True valentine love ♥️

Umm, what about long-term partners, unmarried, no kids? Pragmatic romantics in fact. We’re not going to be sweeping each other off for dinner in Paris but we love and understand each other very deeply. Apart from over Valentines Day – I never get this right!

Last year right before Valentine’s day I found a cute state shaped cutting board at a thrift store. I refinished it, bought goodies for a cheese board, cheeses, chocolates, fancy jam, crackers, berries, etc. We had fancy cheese board for dinner. My husband loved it and we’ve made it a tradition. This year he’s getting the cheese board goodies and I’m making the dessert. Fun, inexpensive, low key and I love that we don’t have to think too hard to come up with something from now on.

a funny gift would be the whimsical, vintage, Taylor and Ng mugs that, if you look closely, are of animals being, ahem, “frisky”! you can find them on etsy.

My husband & I make each other Valentine’s Day Playlists on Spotify. We limit it to 15 songs & not all the songs are sappy – sometimes we just want to introduce them to someone new we’ve been listening to. We swap our playlists on Valentine’s Day, along with a card & a favorite snack item or something small. I get SO MUCH joy out of listening to the playlist my husband made me while I’m at work, throughout the rest of the year. It makes me think of him & reminds me of when you first start dating someone & you swap musical tastes :)

I was in a long distance relationship with a dude who sent me a box of “famous cookies” and a handwritten note saying he’d met a stripper and wanted to date her instead. So……. had to laugh when I read that suggestion!

I love these gift lists. Also love the heart/vegetable shaped Valentine pillows in this web site, they would be good for all types of relationships. https://www.rosegreenberg.com/

You need a married with teens who will be starting college soon…and it needs to be free because you are broke and all your money is going to tuition, SAT prep class, winter dance flowers….

My husband and I don’t exchange gifts or cards for Valentine’s Day, we usually cook a big steak dinner with creamed spinach and baked potatoes, open a bottle of red wine so full-bodied you could chew it, and watch a silly movie for one of our podcasts (usually How Did This Get Made?).

BUT, one year I did surprise him with perhaps the dumbest gift I could imagine. I donated money to a zoo here in the U.S., which gave me the right to adopt and name a Madagascar hissing cockroach. I named it Maverick, since Top Gun is my husband’s favorite movie. He received an emailed certificate that day notifying him of his new friend and he laughed his head off. Nora Ephron couldn’t write romance this pure. :p

Thank you for always being so inclusive of all types of relationships. As someone in a same-sex relationship, I can’t tell you how much it means to me to see us represented in your posts. <3

Love that the gifts mostly work for all genders <3

My boyfriend is going to be in Japan on Valentines this year, and I’ll be spending the weekend at home with my mum and my cute 1 year old nephew while my brother and sister-in-law go for a fancy Valentines date. I’m going to buy some posh chocolates for my mum and I to share after we put my nephew to bed. Yay!

Last year, my (now!) boyfriend and I been out on maybe three dates, and he text to say “happy valentine’s from your not-so-secret admirer” and I just about collapsed into a puddle. I showed my affection by sending back a picture of a rose a coworker had bought me and said “you’ve got competition, buddy!”. I quickly clarified that the coworker had bought them for EVERYONE and that I was also his not-so-secret admirer. We’re celebrating the anniversary of our first date today!

Restaurants are such a NIGHTMARE on Valentine’s day- the crowds, the pre-fix menus, the feeling that you are just another couple being churned in and out!
I’m a big fan of just cooking a nice meal at home- spaghetti and meatballs, steak and mashed potatoes, homemade pizza- and settling down with some wine or bubbly. Or order some takeout and watch a good movie while working your way through a box of chocolates!

Thank you for this sweet, uplifting post. It reminds me of one day at work a few years back when a man walked through the front door of our office loaded down with flowers, candy, chocolate, a stuffed animal- every Valentine’s type gift you can think of. He was delivering them to one of my colleagues, who told me later that they had been friends for a long time. On the day he showed up at our office his father was in hospice and the end of his life was imminent. It was a difficult day for the family, and they were having to make some hard decisions. This man decided that to try to feel a little better he would do a kindness for someone else, which inspired him to bring those gifts to his friend. Bearing witness to his gesture, and their friendship, permanently re-framed Valentine’s Day for me. Now instead of cynically seeing it as a day driven by commercial interests and marketing, focused on couples and romance, I see it as a day driven by appreciation, kindness, and thoughtfulness- not just for my husband, but my son, the neighbors, the clerk in the grocery store, my sisters, my parents, my dear friends. Spread the love around. We need it, right? and it does make me feel happy. (Epilogue: within the following year these two friends were married.)

I am in favor of spending at least one holiday without material gifts, forgetting about consumerism and instead giving loved one a kind word, a phone call or just simple more attention. So the hand-holding walk around town would be just the kind of gift I would prefer….

My partner has never been big on Valentine’s Day. We’ve done the typical go out for dinner, one year we went to a concert. I will usually buy him a funny card and maybe a little gift but nothing major. One year he noticed that I was a little bummed about his lack of enthusiasm surrounding the day and surprised me by replacing my shower head. Mine was broken and hanging by a thread (literally). When I noticed it the next day I about peed my pants laughing so hard. From then on he has kept on the tradition of surprising me with very practical, home improvement type gifts that always makes me laugh. Last year he spent the whole day hanging bistro lights in our backyard and we sat outside and had cocktails admiring the view. It may not be traditional or even overtly romantic, but it’s our thing and I love it. Happy Valentine’s Day!

I am in the ‘married with young children’ category and I bought my husband socks with my face on it as a pattern. He has a white collar job and always wears funny socks under his suits and though random, I am so pleased with my gift…

And the children and me are going to make love letters and some decoration tomorrow. My parents did not enjoy holidays (only Chirstmas ‘light’ with just a tree) but now I have children myself I have a newfound love for it!

A tradition we did while my two were still at home, was an annual family taste test on Valentine’s day. We’ve tried various chocolate & mint combos, salsas, bbq sauce, milk vs dark choc, hot chocolate, etc. We would score silently then announce our favorites at the end. You could do this with cheeses, apples, etc. Our chocolate mint combos were: Junior MInts, See’s Mint Krispys, Ande’s mints, Peppermint Patties.

I bake a chocolate layer cake in a heart shaped pan with raspberry filling and chocolate ganache icing every year for my husband on Valentine’s Day. I like it because it’s not buying into the commercial part of the holiday. It takes a while to make and while I’m making it I like to think of all the things I like about him. The best part is eating it together at home. We’ve been married for 31 years. When we were younger I always thought we should be escaping for a romantic weekend or going out for a lavish dinner. Now I’ll take tea and cake thank you.

Perfect list!

I work at a flower shop and my husband works at a wine shop, so although we don’t get to celebrate Valentine’s Day – the busiest day of the year – together, I kind of love that we are helping others celebrate theirs :)

Valentine’s Day is my favorite holiday, and I’m proud to say I’ve convinced a few naysayers to look at it with new eyes! I’m get so excited for it every year! These are very sweet ideas. <3 <3 <3

Just a note that the phrase “his or her” can be replaced with “their”, which is much more inclusive since not everyone identifies as a “his or her” :)

My tradition (going on eleven years, now) has always been a nice bottle of wine, a big bowl of spaghetti and meatballs, and a classic Michael Douglas double feature: Fatal Attraction and Basic Instinct.