Last year, February 14th was a ultra-über-crazy-busy day at the flower shop where I work, but February 15th was definitely super-busy, which my tired feet and I were not expecting. Most of the customers said they'd made a conscious decision to celebrate one day late, as they were determined to actually enjoy Valentine's Day..
By waiting just one day, they were able to get reservations at their favorite restaurants, the flowers were fresh, the flower shop girl had more attention and time to devote to them, and the whole thing just felt more low-key. Some customers mentioned taking advantage of sales on candy and theme gifts. Others were in the service industry and had worked extra-long shifts on Valentine's Day, leaving no energy for festivities. Others had simply been busy on the 14th, but saw no reason to miss out on the fun.
I've also noticed that by shifting the day of celebration, some of the pressure seems to be off. It's no longer VALENTINE'S DAY OF RECKONING, but a chance to have fun with heart-shaped pancakes, cheesy declarations of love, and risqué conversation hearts. Perhaps even on-sale risqué conversation hearts!
If you celebrate Valentine's Day, have you ever celebrated it a day or week before or after? What were your reasons? Did making your own Valentine's Day make it feel more special and less "greeting card company holiday", or did you feel left out on the 14th?
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From here on out, I will only celebrate late.
My anniversary is the following week, so my husband and I have always celebrated V-day with homemade dinner. Some years we've gone all out with the cooking and other years we've made a simple take-home-and-heat dinner. We get to be romantic and still have a fancy dinner somewhere fabulous for our anniversary. (And this year Toy Fair is interfering so I'm glad it's not a big deal to us.)
In my younger years, I was SO excited to eat at "the most romantic" restaurant in LA and we got a mediocre prix fixe, sardined in elbow-to-elbow, and were rushed through the meal. Never again. People do seem to be sick of the hype. My good friends celebrate Valentine's on Aug 14 (the half-year away).
We always celebrate Valentine's over President's Day weekend. In the beginning, we did this because we lived on different coasts and the long weekend made the most sense for travel. We've kept the tradition alive to avoid the chaos and pressure of Valentine's Day. I prefer Valentine's Day get-togethers with friends for the 14th itself. Leslie Knope has the right idea with Galentine's Day!
Interesting - I thought my sweetie and I were the only ones who avoid the big day and schedule otherwise. I really want a picnic and even in the South, ya gotta wait.
I think we've only ever celebrated Valentine's Day on the day the first year we were together, (also the only year we made it kind of a big deal). In all our subsequent years its usually a few days before/after and pretty low key...dinner out (usually nothing too fancy), maybe a movie, and usually a silly or some what practical gift (this year it was a french press for him and and a waffle iron for me...yay breakfast!). At first it was due to scheduling (night classes, being long distance for a time etc), but now we actually enjoy not having to put up with all the craziness since we'd rather treat it as a guaranteed date night in Feb, rather than a high pressure, crowd fighting type of day.
Years ago I read that George H. and Barbara Bush never celebrated "Hallmark holidays," basically any holiday that is consumer-driven. Instead, they made up their own holidays and celebrated at different times throughout the year. This struck me as so great and much more meaningful. My husband and I agreed to skip Valentine's Day and we've never looked back.
I've never cared for Valentine's day. I've always been very independent and often single and happy. I'm not a hater on the day, but I think that showing your love on on one day where everyone shows their love for each other is a little silly. Also, I buy Trader Joe's flowers for myself every week, and for some reason I can't find them the week of Valentine's day. So, my love and I celebrate by showing our love everyday. He's a cook and I work retail, last year he made me a fancy duck dinner, cleaned the house and had an old fashioned waiting for me when I got home, it wasn't on V day, and he does these things all the time. This year he took the day off (requested it off on Christmas day when I was crying because he had to work, because Christmas is more important then V day.) He has been cooking and prepping the meal since last Sat. It's special and fancy and just for us. Maybe we will go to a movie during the day or something, I took Thurs off too.
I've been married 30+ years.
We never celebrate Valentine's Day. We have romance and hearts every day, why encapsulate it to one special day?
I would so click that link if I were not at work.
We avoid all hallmark holiday hype. Mostly because we refuse to be manipulated by the mass marketing media. I'm not, however, opposed to buying chocolate at half price after the hype has come & gone :) As for flowers, dh knows anything he buys me darn well better have roots attached so I can plant it. 'Course, after 30+ yrs, he also knows I'd much rather have a single bloom picked from our yard on a day OTHER than v-day when it doesn't smell so much like obligation. He's my valentine every day.
Fresh pot of coffee and clean kitchen waiting for me every morning.
Car all packed for skiing every weekend.
Clean laundry.
Best. Valentine. Ever.
We're going to New Orleans the week after, so we decided to splurge on a fancy meal there instead of going out on the actual day. Now there's an extra trip element to look forward to, and the combination of champagne and grilled cheese at home was oddly romantic.