This year is our first Valentine’s as a married couple! Everything this past year has been a first and here is yet another one. Last year for Valentine’s my grandpa was in the hospital, so Mikey came over my house, brought me flowers and then went with my family to visit him. I made him a Shutterfly book of our entire first year together up until that Valentine’s. It was a sweet time despite the circumstances.
This year, as we were thinking about what to get each other, one of us threw out, “what if we don’t buy each other gifts?” We have some busy, gift giving months between December-April. There is Christmas, Valentine’s, our anniversary and my birthday. That’s a lot of gift ideas to come up with and buy. We thought something different might be a neat idea.
Besides, I’ve always thought Valentine’s gifts can be really cheesy. I actually don’t even like the idea of Valentine’s day. Why have only one day of the year to celebrate love?! no…after seeing this sweet year of love, I want to give and receive it all year long! Although definitely appreciated and lovely, it doesn’t always have to be chocolates, flowers and gifts. Which brings me to my point…
We decided instead of gifts, we’re going to choose an experience to do together every year. This way it is something we can both enjoy together and memories we can build at the same time. It does not have to be something big and expensive…some of the funnest experiences we’ve had have been when we stay home and making our living room our bed and watch a movie together. For this year, we are going to Andrea Boccelli’s concert the night before Valentine’s. It has been a dream of mine to see him live for a long time and Mikey surprised me with tickets, so that is our plan. :) (A Shutterfly album of our last year together is also in the works, though!)
Here are ten ideas I would totally love to try in the future:
- Cooking class – If you both enjoy cooking (or at least want to learn!)
- Painting/pottery class– Mikey and I enjoyed painting pottery once, so I want to try canvas painting!
- Ice Cream Bar Date– set up an ice cream station with your favorite toppings. Almost like Cold Stone at home!
- At Home Pizza and a Movie– netflix and homemade pizza sounds like a great combination to me!
- Breakfast in bed…at night! – Enjoy breakfast food in bed at night while maybe watching a movie or your favorite show. Or unplug and chat instead!
- Fancy evening – Have a classic fancy dinner
- Theatre – This is one of our favorites! instead of going to see a movie, try finding a live production. (It’s not even so expensive if you prepare for this. Instead of watching a movie every 2 weeks or once a month, save that money and after 3 months or so, you have enough for a Broadway show!)
- Hotel Night– book a room and have a staycation! Be tourists in your own town.
- Stargazing- prepare a picnic and eat under the stars!
- Couple’s massage– learn to give each other massages, or purchase a couple’s massage.
Hopefully in the future, we can get to this list and come up with even more experiences for our Valentine’s days to come.
What are your Valentine’s traditions? Have you tried any of the ideas on this list or do you have any other ideas? I’d love to hear about what you do!
What an romantic, practical and creative idea. I love it. I might just suggest that to Don.