Whether you’re on a first date or celebrating five years, Valentine’s Day is the perfect excuse to go all out on your wildest romantic dreams – but flying out to Paris in this economy sadly just isn’t plausible for some of us.
So, here are some extra-fun, extra-budget-friendly date ideas that will bring the beauty and romance of Paris, Athens and Florence to even Grimsby and Goole.
1. Movie Night
Movie nights are the ultimate classic when it comes to dates. Tradition would dictate a cinema, but I would argue that home is where the heart is.
In a cinema, you can’t string up fairy lights, wrap up in cosy blankets, or leave to go to the loo whenever you need to. Even a few handmade paper ornaments and little electric candles can make the most mundane of spaces feel homely and romantic.
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Plus, a cinema doesn’t have your fridge in the next room. Why not check out our Cocktail Recipes to add to your evening?
2. Board Game Night – With a Twist
Everyone loves Cards Against Humanity and UNO, but on Valentine’s Day, a more personal touch is nice.
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Why not take inspiration from games like Gartic Phone, ever-increasing in popularity, and make your own questions and answers? It could be general knowledge, personal trivia, or quizzes about a shared topic, and you can make it as silly or serious as you like.
Bonding over shared experiences and interests is a great way to spend Valentine’s Day. Plus, if you make your own cards, you can include your favourite obscure inside jokes that only you will understand.
Ah, the mark of true love: hysterical laughter because somebody said “fork”.
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3. Baking Together
Somebody once said that the way to the heart is through the stomach, and while anatomically incorrect, it remains a fun and true sentiment.
Sweets, pastries and biscuits are a favourite on Valentine’s Day, and if you’ve got heart-shaped baking tins, you’re golden.
My favourite recipe for a versatile, not-too-sweet-but-you-can-layer-it-with-icing-if-you-so-wish Valentine’s Day treat is really easy, and can be sprinkled with heart sweets to your heart’s content:
Valentine’s Day Traybake
Ingredients:
- 1 egg
- 200 grams sugar (plus extra for dusting)
- 240 grams of flour
- 1 tsp vanilla essence (or orange or lemon extract, for an extra fruity flavour)
- 200 grams of butter
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 200°C.
- Mix butter, egg and sugar together until smooth.
- Add flour and vanilla (or other!) extract and mix until sticking together in clumps.
- Press the mixture into the baking tray and dust with raw sugar. Bake for 12–15 minutes, until golden brown.
- Optional: Add icing and decorations, or eat on its own.
No matter what recipe you go with, you’re sure to ignite your romance. Just try not to ignite the kitchen, too.
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4. Flower Walks
Around the beginning of February, snowdrops are just starting to come into bloom, and plants are beginning to flower once more after a long winter.
Why not go out and look for some? You could take photos and arrange them into a collage — a sort of modern take on the traditional bouquet — or press them into an arrangement for a frame.
You could even look up the meanings of different flowers, and find out which ones best befit such a romantic holiday. Use a bouquet as a secret message. It probably won’t be anything James Bond-worthy, but you can give it a shot.
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5. Picnics
Everyone has a spot that they love: a place where memories that will stay with you forever have been made.
You could go somewhere significant to your relationship, somewhere with the best view of the sunset and the stars, or even the back of your garden. Wherever you go, with the right person, it will feel special.
Plus, if you go in the evening, you could go stargazing too – how many billions of lovers have looked up at the stars together over the millennia?
Day or night, it’s another classic but simple date idea. Why not take some of the treats you baked?
6. Arts and Crafts
You know what the problem with flowers is? The ones in vases die.
However, with a few scraps of fabric, you could make your own romantic bouquet that will never wilt.
There’s an old Irish superstition that you leave a part of your soul in everything you create. Therefore, not only does it not matter if you make a mistake (it means your soul can escape!), but I like to see it as meaning that everything you create is unique.
You could give a meaning to every stitch, if you wanted to, and by the end, you and your partner will have a beautiful display of flowers to decorate the house with.
Or, alternatively, if you’re both good with words, you could try your hand at poetry. Read over some of Sappho’s fragments and try to imagine the full poem. Maybe you’ll find some hidden wisdom from the gays of thousands of years ago.
Jenny (They/Them) is a freelance journalist and writer based in Sheffield, England. Their work focuses on themes of choice and identity, which have absolutely nothing to do with the five-year-long gender crisis that was their secondary school years, and they spend most of their time writing stories about gay little aliens.
