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Valentine’s Day is meant to be celebrated in the way that best suits the couple, and going out might just not be what you like to do. Not a problem! With some brainstorming and a little prep work, you can enjoy a perfect, personalized holiday night.
Note: these ideas are written to include relationships of all kinds at all stages of the game, so you’re sure to find something to suit your love story.
Baking Decadent Desserts
Cookies and muffins are great, and so is cake…but why not take it up a notch? Whatever your baking skills combined, there are recipes of decadent desserts that you can create together. Use special ingredients, take some extra time for decoration, or just use all the sprinkles. The real challenge will be trying not to eat it before it’s all put together.
Best of the Bad, Best of the Best
This is a choose-your-own adventure of the best kind. Pick a streaming service (or a movie channel if you have cable), and then figure out whether you want to groan at the worst or cheer on the best. I’m not going to say anything about what counts for either list, because that’s entirely up to you, so just make sure that you’re ready with snacks, drinks, and whatever else you want for a TV and/or movie marathon. Pro tip—make a list before Valentine’s Day for each option, that way any fight is over with.
Beverage Tasting
Look, it’s Valentine’s Day, you want to do something special, so why not find your new favourite beverage? Grab a variety of options, take out your fanciest glasses, and try some new things. And this doesn’t have to be alcohol—if you’ve been wanting to try a new kind of juice, sparkling water, pop…even types of milk substitutes if you’re looking to eliminate dairy. Make it fun, make it special, and have water on hand for rinsing your mouth so you can enjoy each flavour fully.
Blanket Forts
Blanket forts are a timeless tradition for people who love each other, and there is no age limit (stick your tongue out at anyone who tells you otherwise). Transform your living room with a cozy palace with lighter blankets strung over chairs and tables, while you use thicker blankets and pillows for the fort’s “floor”. Bring in your snacks, something for watching shows, and if you’re feeling super creative decorate the inside. You can add just about any other idea on this list to your blanket fort—after all, building the fort is only half the fun. Enjoying it is even better.
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Candlelight Evening
Another idea that can be combined with others, candlelight makes the evening’s shadows softer and the room more romantic. Get some pretty candle holders and some awesome candles (pick out your favourite scents or let your meal provide the scents), and place them around strategically (AND SAFELY). It means you’re ready even if the power goes out, and if you have a fear of fire (like me), you can still pull this off. Just buy some electric candles and bring them into your blanket fort!
Cooking Together
Making a meal together that you will then eat together is a way to spice up the culinary experience. Plan the meal a few days beforehand and go shopping together (if you can), and make sure that at least 80% of the ideas are things within your cooking capabilities. You can experiment a bit (or a lot), but my advice is to stick to what you know in order to avoid irritating disasters. Start early, have extra supplies for snacking as you go, and turn on your favourite playlist.
Decorating Together
Now, you could do this in the lead up to Valentine’s Day, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But you should save some for the day of! Valentine’s Day decorations are great because there’s nothing really specific outside of hearts and red…and there’s no real rules about that either. Come up with decorations that really highlight your own love story, and transform your space into a lovely love zone.
Digital Candy Shopping
Now, you can go candy shopping in person, both the day of and the day after Valentine’s. However, if you want to really exercise your sweet teeth, you should jump on your computer. With candy warehouses, online candy shops, and lots of Valentine’s Deals to be had, spend an evening filling up a shopping cart and teaching each other about your favourite candies…all without leaving the comfort of your home. Just make sure to have some sweet things on hand!
Dramatic Singing
You might both be accomplished singers; one of you might be a good singer; or you’re both terrible. It doesn’t matter because dramatic singing can be done at any level! Pick out some of your favourite dramatic songs (with a happy and/or romantic bent), and get ready to put your heart and soul into your performance! Get up to an 11 in energy and passion, don’t laugh at each other (too much), and if you really don’t want to sing, that’s what lip-syncing performances are for!
Game Night
A classic for many reasons, having a game night gives you a chance for some healthy competition and making some new memories. Pull out an old favourite, try something new, or just grab a deck of cards and play Cribbage. Make sure you’re well fed and hydrated as you play—this is supposed to be a fun night, after all, and fun can turn to cranky quickly if someone gets hangry. Pro tip: do not play Monopoly, not even the two-player version.
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Get to Know You Quizzes
This might be more fun for people in the earlier stages of their relationship, but do we ever really know everything about our partners? Pull up a quiz app or blog, look for suggestions online, and kick back with some honesty and hilarity. You can look for serious quizzes, silly quizzes, adult-oriented quizzes, or just explain what kind of vacation you would take if you had unlimited money but only a week. Personally, I’d head to Italy, what about you?
Making Valentines For Each Other
Was everyone forced to make class valentines as kids? That wasn’t always fun because there was no sense of variety. You didn’t have time to make things special and individual, and there was no real room for emotion. But guess what—now you are grownups, and you can make Valentines for each other using whatever kind of craft supplies you like. Grab some glitter glue and construction paper, or go digital with awesome effects. Crafting them together is great—just put up something between you so there’s no peeking!
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Order in a Feast
If cooking isn’t really your thing, especially on a special occasion, that’s totally cool—there’s delivery for a reason! Pick a favourite place or try out a new spot and make sure to order whatever food you want. That might be a three-course dinner, it might be an appetizers-only meal, or it might be big plates perfect for sharing. Whatever your price range, make sure that you get what makes you happiest, and settle in to enjoy food you didn’t have to clean up after.
Puzzles and Pretzels
Alright, it doesn’t have to be pretzels, but in keeping with alliteration you should try other ‘P’ snacks—popcorn, pomegranates, pistachios, pears, etc. Creating a puzzle together is a great chance to wind down as you snack and try to figure out whether the blue is part of the sky or part of a dress or part of the train. You can even go pick one out together so you can decide on how many pieces, the scene, and have veto power over your personal puzzle peeves—for me it’s too much of the same colour, or puzzles that have oddly shaped pieces (if you can’t tell what the end pieces are, how are you supposed to begin?!) Go in knowing that it’s okay if you don’t finish it in one night, and keep napkins on hand. No one likes sticky puzzle pieces.
Reading To Each Other
If you’re both big readers, this one is a perfect way to revisit your favourite stories. You can take turns reading novels, poetry (love poems, anyone?) or anything else you like to share together. The best part is that since it’s a two-person activity, that means there will be opportunities for dramatic readings, guessing about what happens next, headcanon fights, and laughing about ridiculous prose. You might be book nerds, but you can be nerds together.
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Read Bad Relationship Advice
This is related to the above, of course, but it’s a specific kind of reading. There are thousands of relationship advice books out there, and some are…not great. Others are just downright stupid. And that’s not even counting all the social media contributions! Do some prep work together and figure out what aspects of relationships you want to laugh at, and which ones you just don’t find interesting. You can celebrate the strengths of your relationship, boo all the nonsense, and who knows? You might end up finding one or two good ideas amidst all the garbage.
Home Spa Day
Yes, this applies to all genders, because pampering yourself should be a treat for everyone! There’s lots of spa activities you can do at home (and even with homemade supplies), so you’ll be able to find something you each enjoy. You don’t have to do the same things, because you might find different spa things relaxing (for example, I know lots of people like pedicures but I hate them deeply), but you should spend time together, whether you’re doing bathroom treatments or relaxing with face masks in bed. Keep a good stock of facecloths on hand, and you should be good to go!
Talent Show
Another good idea for the getting-to-know-you phase, a talent show gives you a chance to show off your best aspects. Anything that you can do inside goes, so get creative! Can you make amazing baked goods despite being furious while doing so? Are you a great musician? Can you do magic tricks? Whatever your talent might be, tonight’s the night to show off to each other and enjoy the glow of admiration!
Valentine’s Fashion Show
There are two ways to do a Valentine’s Day fashion show. The first is to stick to the colour scheme of red and pink—raid your closets and go all out. You can even try to put on every piece of red clothing you own (but if you’re like me that will create a ridiculous image). The second is to pick out your favourite clothing for a romantic evening, maybe clothes you only wear for super-duper special occasions (maybe even your wedding attire if that’s already happened?), and show it off to each other. And if you’re comfortable in those clothes, why not wear them as you enjoy other ideas on this list?
Video Games Marathon
Now video games can be a…shall we say challenge, to relationship harmony? But it doesn’t have to be. Pull out a cooperative game, something low-stakes, and grab some gamer snacks. Exploring a video game world together and building a virtual life is a great way to escape the confines of your living space without ever going outside. And if you do enjoy a little bit of chaos…there’s always Mario Kart.
