Romantic Gifts

Origin of the Valentine

Whereas with Christmas and Easter and their clear links to the history of the occasion, the religious figure and the way the holiday is celebrated today – the history of Valentine’s Day is somewhat sketchy.

It doesn’t always appear that the historical origin of Saint Valentine had anything to do with romance.  Some stories state that he was a martyr and February 14th was the day on which he died – there’s certainly nothing romantic about that!   One legend paints Valentine as someone who stood against the Roman Emperor Claudius ?whose desire that all young men in his realm should remain single, affirming his belief that they made better soldiers.  Valentine married them to their sweethearts in secret but his noble intentions landed him in jail.

Most religious holidays in modern Britain now have an increasingly commercial aspect to them and the Americans go even further than us!  Have a meal in a restaurant on the other 364 days in the year and you will pay a defined amount – but the same meal on Valentine’s Day can see the price rocket.  And because we feel duty bound to show our loved one that they mean the world to us, we pay it.  Surely any day is good to tell someone how you feel about them?

If it’s a leap year, Valentine’s Day spurs impatient women to propose to their men.  Although it reinforces how far we’ve come with women’s lib and equality and all, if your fella is frightened of marriage, he’ll be scared to death when you ask him to marry you in a packed eaterie!  There’s not many things nowadays that get left to the bloke and personally, I think proposing should be one of them.  If they can convince themselves they’re ready to be wed, it doesn’t usually take much to convince their partner.

For Valentine's gifts to buy your loved one, I think, depends on their personality.  If they have a practical nature, then presents such as boxer shorts or chocolates can be romantic, sexy gifts.  Hearts and the sexy shade of red are hard to avoid on any Valentine’s gift but there are plenty of presents around that have these things in moderation - which means the boxers can be worn all year round, though the chocolates may not last that long at all.

Women appreciate jewellery on any occasion, but on Valentine’s Day it carries more significance and seems come laden with more romance than if given for a birthday, for example.  So take note guys, jewellery’s bound to be a winner on February 14th.

So what if you’re not ‘attached’ on Valentine’s Day – you can still join in some of the fun.  Why not surprise one of your male pals in the office and buy him a novelty gift?  Anonymity is normal on February 14th so he won’t have a clue it’s from you – but once he opens it and finds fake dog poo or other childish joke, it may knock down the suspect list slightly!

Flowers are very popular, especially red roses as these tend to be already associated with ‘love’.  The eighties commercial slogans capitalised on this and made it seem obligatory to buy twelve of the prickly stemmed things – because twelve red roses means ‘I love you’ (according to those marketing men).

Once, a long, long time ago and when I was unattached, I received twelve red roses from a mystery gift-giver.  To this day, I don’t know who sent them.  I don’t really understand this sentiment, if you are going to pay Valentine’s Day florist prices (which again are escalated from the rest of the year), wouldn’t you want the person to know that you have gone to so much effort and expense?  If after, ahem, a fair few years the recipient still doesn’t know that you were their admirer, what was the point in sending them?!

Where fore art thou, Valentine?

Valentine cardsof today have changed drastically from the romantic notes given between lovers throughout the last few centuries.  Our language has evolved greatly since the words Shakespeare would have used; the cards we send now would have caused many of them to blush profusely!

I can remember as a child that it was unforgivable to be single on Valentine’s Day.  I would purposely choose a boy of timid nature and bulldoze him into being my boyfriend.  This of course, meant he had (or at least his mother had) to buy me a card.  I’m not suggesting that women, even when grown up, schedule a date in order to not be ‘alone’ at this particular time of year, but various chick-lit books and romantic comedy films have used this premise.

A Valentine’s card can actually be a tool – telling the object of your affection how you feel.  If you haven’t got the courage to tell them to their face, the card can do it for you.  Though this could only work if they were aware of your existence in the first place.  If you have worshipped them from afar, and they have no idea you exist, it may be hard for them to work out the card is from you – and even worse, someone else could get the credit.

Most people put some effort into Valentine’s Day, whether newly attached or long-time couples which means if you are single, it can be hard to escape all the schmaltz.  And also, for those that have recently come out of a relationship, it isn’t that comfortable to see couples gazing at each other over dinner, or a huge bunch of flowers being delivered to the person sitting at the next desk.  So why not have an alternative Valentine’s Day?  Gather up your friends and make sure you have a night where you celebrate all the great things about being single!  You know, being able to please yourself, not having to share the duvet and being able to sing badly in the shower with no one giving you a Simon Cowell judgement when you step out.

For many people though, who are bogged down with the stresses and strains of daily life, Valentine’s Day is one of the few in the year that they remind their other halves how much they mean to them.  It’s not that they think less of them the rest of the year, it’s just very easy for romance to slip down the list.  Because Valentine’s Day is always the same date and with all the commercial hype beforehand, it is difficult to miss!  For one day a year, you can be transported back to those first heady months of love and lust.

Because everyone can celebrate Valentine’s Day, it can be hard to find a gift that is a little bit different.  Flowers and chocolates are easy gifts to give, but something like perfume or jewellery that takes into account the recipient’s taste is a little more challenging.  Another good idea is to give your loved one a personalised gift.  You can put anything on there, a declaration of love, marriage proposal or even a private joke or nickname that doesn’t mean anything to anybody, but you two.

A very romantic gift is to name something after the person you love.  A very personal present, imagine the look on your girlfriend’s face if you say that she is a star – literally.  Or you can even name a variety of rose after her – a fantastically romantic, yet practical gift if she is a keen gardener.  Most women love pampering gifts too, so you could buy something as simple as bath oils and a bath sponge – but only if you promise to give her a relaxing, hot massage one night!