Oh no not flowers! - Alternative Other Valentine's Day Gift Ideas

Now it may be that Valentines Day is the one day of the year when you give/receive flowers and your partner would be disappointed with anything less. But for most people, flowers will just show a lack of thought or imagination. Is buying a dozen red roses for a hugely over-inflated price on Valentines Day really a romantic thing to do? I decided to come up with some alternative Valentines Day ideas, things to buy for your loved one, or things to do for them.

1. Make your own truffles – it really is quite easy – there are plenty of recipes on the internet you can use (here's one), and it smacks of the personal touch far more than shop bought chocolates.
2. Cook a romantic meal at home for your loved one, or maybe you could cook the meal together before sitting down to enjoy your shared creation. You don’t even need to do much cooking, if you pick some nice bits up from the local deli, you can make a nice romantic meal without too much effort.
3. ‘First Date’ meal out – If you are going to go for a meal out, try this for a bit of added romance. Even if (especially if actually) you live together, go out separately and arrange to meet up at a certain time at the restaurant. It will feel like you’ve just started dating again, for a few minutes anyway!
4. Buy a Plant – A plant will last much longer than flowers, it’s more environmentally friendly as you aren’t killing the plant, and it is likely to be a lot cheaper than the over inflated price you will pay for a big bouquet of flowers around Valentines Day.
5. Name a Star after them. A bit cheesy perhaps, but a sweet idea.
6. Plant a Tree, it will remain a symbol of your love long after you are both gone.
7. Buy your partner something handmade. Hand crafted items will come across as so much nicer and more thoughtful than mass produced products, despite the fact you haven’t made it yourself. Etsy is a great place to buy hand crafted items, and many items are surprisingly cheap.
8. Buy something that will last all year. If your partner likes chocolates buy them membership to the Chocolate Tasting club. Your partner will get sent a new selection of their latest chocolate creations each month. There are other such subscription clubs for different types of products.
9. Pay for your partner to have a massage / spa day. You can often go together, and there are treatments specifically designed for couples (such as a mud bath).
10. Love cheques – these are IOU promises to do something for them at a later date, whenever they ‘cash in’ a cheque. You can buy these quite cheaply, or even more romantic, you could write your own love cheques. You could write a cheque for anything, a massage, a romantic meal out, a night away, looking after the children while they go out to a game. If you are feeling really generous, write them a blank cheque for them to use on whatever they like.
11. Write a romantic poem for them, or get one written for you.
12. Scatter some wild flowers with them in a favourite spot, and watch them grow throughout the year.
13. Get a portrait or caricature painted of them, or of the two of you.
14. Do something unexpected, surprise them. Perhaps do something they've been wanting you to do for a while but you keep not getting around to.
15. Tell them you love them (hopefully you'll do this anyway, but just in case...)

Feel free to offer share your own valentines day ideas in the comments section below.