Are you ready for love? OK, so Valentine’s Day may still seem ages away, but if you’re keen to show your Valentine how you feel, then some forward planning is essential. If you have a budget to bear in mind, planning your Valentine’s festivities ahead of time can help you make it extra special without giving your bank balance a coronary! Here are 5 of our top tips for sharing the love between your special someone and your budget:
Share a romantic dinner
A candle-lit dinner for two is a Valentine’s Day staple. Every time we think of it, we come back to the scene in Lady and the Tramp, with the spaghetti. The most budget friendly option is to whip up a gourmet feast at home for your significant other, and follow it up with a feel good movie on Netflix. Or, if you have some outside space nearby and the weather doesn’t get in the way, why not prepare a romantic picnic to share under the stars, snuggled up in blankets? So romantic!
If you’re treating yourself and heading out for a dinner, be prepared for it to cost more than a normal meal out. However, with some advance planning you can bag some great deals online. Check out websites like lastminute.com – in previous years they’ve run offers to dine out for as little as £10 – or VoucherCodes.co.uk. It’s worth doing some research as a lot of high street restaurants will offer their own deals. But, make sure you don’t get caught out. Check any offers are valid on the 14th February and remember to book a table, as restaurants fill up fast!
Go personal for the perfect Valentine’s gift
There’s a lot of pressure on Valentine’s Day to get the perfect gift. In the run up to the ‘big day’, traditional gifts like teddy bears, roses, and even flowers more generally all spike in price because of the demand. Traditional gifts aren’t for everyone, though, and it’s quite likely your significant other would actually prefer something more personal that reflects your relationship! Gifts don’t have to be pricey to be perfect. What better way to give a personal reflection of your relationship than a homemade gift?
We suggest collecting some photos of you and your valentine to create a collage or scrapbook. You can pick up cheap frames and blank paged books for as little as £5 on Amazon. If you don’t have any printed photos already and don’t want to pay to have them professionally done, you can always have a flick through social media and print at home. Another romantic idea is to include any tickets or special mementos from your favourite places or particular dates in amongst the pictures – guaranteed to make your beau beam!
The way to a person’s heart is through the stomach…
Another option for a homemade gift is to rustle something up in the kitchen. A really wallet friendly but delicious option is to bake your sweetheart some shortbread. Ingredient-wise all you need is:
- 125g/4oz butter
- 55g/2oz caster sugar, plus extra to finish
- 180g/6oz plain flour
The full recipe method can be found here. To make your biscuits a bit more special you could cut them into the shape of ladybirds or ‘love bugs’, ice with red and white hearts and tie them up into stacks of 4 with ribbons. Bingo – the humble shortbread becomes a thoughtful gift!
Breakfast in bed
Valentine’s Day often falls on a weekday, so with work and other life commitments to contend with, giving your special someone a special day may not be as easy as it seems! Set the mood in the morning by preparing your valentine’s favourite breakfast and bringing it to them in bed. You can go as big or as small as you like with this one. Include pastries, bacon and eggs, pancakes or why not keep it simple and cut some warm buttery toast into heart shapes and serve with a lovely cup of tea? If you pair a special breakfast with a romantic dinner, your other half will wake up and go to sleep feeling extra loved – what more could you want from Valentine’s Day?
And if you forget…
It happens to us all from time to time, especially when there’s lots of other life stuff going on. If you forget to plan anything until it’s too late and your budget just can’t stretch to last minute prices, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered! Even if you’ve left it so late to do anything you don’t even have a card, you can look online for printable ones. Often designed by artists and illustrators, you can buy a PDF of one of their cards for as little as £1. They’ll email it to you, you print it out and hey presto, no night spent in the dog house for you! It’s worth checking out sites like Etsy for printable Valentine’s cards as they have a wide variety available.
How will you be celebrating Valentine’s day? Let us know in the comments or leave your suggestions!
