I love celebrating Valentine’s Day! What better way to appreciate your other half than to do something mindful, unique, and different for this annual celebration of your love and appreciation for one another.
Did you know that Valentine’s Day was celebrated to honor St. Valentine back in Roman times?
According to www.history.com and their article about the legendary St. Valentine, this curious legendary man was thought by many to be one of a few men who was put to death unfortunately.
Killed for their faith in ancient Rome, these men were believed to be the actual St. Valentine at one point or another and seemed to be the talk of the town those days before they were persecuted.
The article goes on to explain that a letter signed, “from your Valentine”, before St. Valentine’s death is thought to have carried on through the years and still remains today as a widely used expression of love and devotion.
To get your 2025 Valentine’s Day date plans churning in your mind, I’ve listed 11 exciting suggestions for celebrating with your loved one below. Choose one or choose a few and make your Valentine’s Day one to remember for years to come!
1. Go on a Romantic Picnic
Grab that vintage picnic basket you love so much but never have the occasion to use, fill it with your favorite snacks, beverages, utensils, and napkins and choose a location that has meaning to you!
Choose a time of day you are available to plan this wonderful outing together. It could be at sunset on a beach to watch the beauty of the colorful sky surround the setting sun.
How about after dark under twinkling stars beneath the heavens above. A favorite park, picnic area, campsite, or nature preserve that allows food and beverages on the property would work perfectly as well.
You may have somewhere else that’s special to you. Pick that location if that’s the case and go for it!
Helpful Tip 1: When bringing snacks like fruit, cheese, and charcuterie items, remember to bring something sturdy enough to place your cups or glasses on so you’re not balancing them trying to prevent spills that could spoil your special time together.
Helpful Tip 2: For a chillier outing, try bringing a battery-powered electric blanket to place under your picnic blanket to keep you warm as you nibble on those cheese and crackers!
Make some handmade sandwiches or swing by that special cafe with those avocado and turkey paninis you love so much and grab a couple of other snacks and some beverages while you’re there as well.
They’ll be made already and all you’ll have to focus on at that point is enjoying your date! Either way, your romantic picnic will be a huge hit!
2. Plan a Valentine’s Day Scavenger Hunt
How fun to plan a scavenger hunt!! If you want it to be something you both enjoy, ask a close friend or relative to plan it for you. Someone who knows you both and knows the things that have meaning to you.
Choose where to have it. Maybe outdoors? Maybe indoors? It could also be a themed scavenger hunt! The skies the limit!
Have a friend be your clue planner that knows the two of you well to plan a list of clues and objects to find so you can take part in the fun without knowing all of the secrets.
That friend can go to your chosen location, place the objects there for you and your mate to find, then a prize for the winner could be in store for whichever of you find more of the items on the list.
I think a great prize would be a reservation for you and your other half to dine at a favorite cafe or restaurant!
The idea is to follow the clues on the scavenger hunt directions and locate items that have been hidden, buried, or even something you have to ask a stranger for!
Whoever finds more items on the list wins the prize. In this case, it would be dinner for two that you can both enjoy later in the evening!
3. Leave Love Notes Around the House
This is such a fun idea! Grab the prettiest pink, red, and other Valentine’s Day colored paper and go to town cutting out hearts to your own heart’s content! You can really have fun with this!
Leave handwritten notes to your special someone all around the house, in your spouse’s briefcase before he leaves for work, in his wallet, in his lunch container if he takes one, tape them on his bathroom mirror the night before after he falls asleep and post them on the front door for your special someone to see before they leave the house the next day.
You can also put them in the car, in their sock drawer, in their jewelry box, by the coffee maker, on their pillow with a piece of chocolate before going to bed, on the refrigerator, inside a kitchen drawer that you know they open a lot, or even inside their shoes to surprise them!
These love note hearts can be as intricate as you want them to be. They can be on pink, white, red, or any other color paper, but you can take it up a notch by gluing lace around the edges of the paper hearts or bedazzle them with sequins! Have any glitter in that craft room? Ribbon or bows? Get creative! Put your…well…heart into it!
4. Schedule a Chef-Prepared Dinner for Two at Home
All dressed up and nowhere to go? Not so true this time! Because you have a private chef in your kitchen cooking up a beautiful dinner to impress!
There’s nothing better than hiring a personal private chef to create a beautiful romantic dinner for you and your other half. You don’t need reservations. You don’t have to leave the house. You only have to enjoy an amazing meal and enjoy one another’s company.
Call your favorite local restaurant and inquire if their chef is for hire for special occasions or try the iHireChefs.com website for an alternative. Another option is to call a catering company local to your area and schedule a private chef for your special night that way. You might just want to also hire a server as well!
5. Take a BYOB Pottery or Art Class Together
Grab a favorite bottle of wine or Champagne from your cellar (or kitchen wine rack), a couple of wineglasses and throw them into your wine carrier on the way to that pottery class! Lots of one-night classes are doing this a lot more these days.
I’ve done this with cooking classes and painting classes, but there are several additional opportunities for other classes too such as beading and sewing, scrapbooking, creative book clubs, and even common interest groups centered around artistic activities. The list goes on and on!
The idea is to do something creative with your one and only and have a good time with some wine or Champagne while you’re doing it. It’s a romantic date! You may just paint that next Picasso or mold that next vase for your foyer table while you’re there!
6. Visit a Local Animal Shelter
Please tell me how this can be a bad idea! You’re visiting an animal shelter. They need a home. You’re offering your home. And you’re looking for a fur baby to add to your loving family! Yes, it’s hard to not take them all home. I know. I’ve been there more than a handful of times.
But this is a win-win situation because they are getting a new loving forever home, and you and your loved one are getting a new furry family member who will have nothing but unconditional love to share.
For helpful forever fur baby locations, try searching for your closets shelters at PetFinder.com, the ASPCA, and PawBoost.com.
You might just wind up naming your new fur baby “Valentine“!
7. Volunteer Together
Offering support to community individuals together as a couple is a tribute to your love for one another as well as those less fortunate.
Giving doesn’t just have to be in the form of expensive gifts, trips, or fancy meals. It can also be in the form of giving to others together.
What a special day to offer love and appreciation for our fellow man who may not always be as fortunate as you are. Plus, you’ll be reminded to be humble, grateful, and mindful at the same time. Talk about acts of kindness, right?!
Some great websites you can visit to see where you can volunteer in your local area are UnitedWay.org, JustServe.com, VolunteerMatch.org, DOSomething.org, and HabitatFor Humanity.
8. Exchange Homemade Gifts
Celebrating Valentine’s day doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg! Make some fun and colorful Valentines for one another with the craft supplies you have in your home.
It can be as simple as paper and glue and ribbon, or craftier if your husband has a woodworking or metal sculpting garage, or if you have a sewing room or art nook at home.
The point is to express your love to your favorite person by showing them with something special that you made.
This doesn’t have to be perfect. It’s not going to be judged in an art show. So, stop worrying about it being perfect! Just do it from the heart, have fun with it, and that will come out through what you create!
9. Handwrite a Letter Expressing How You Feel About Them
This can be something that your special someone treasures forever. They may even frame it and place it somewhere special in your home. It’s meaningful, it’s real raw emotion, it’s a great way to communicate better as well.
It goes without saying that this idea is certainly heartfelt. This can be a huge deal for some people. Especially if the letter writer is the type of person that doesn’t often share or show their feelings that regularly.
But putting those feelings in letter form, holding that in your hands and reading those words can be an amazing feeling. You get to see the reaction of the other person while they read your letter and share it in words if you’re not so talky-talky about your emotions.
10. Take Care of That Honey-Do List Without Being Asked
This one is not a really huge surprise. But if you or your loved one usually has a continual “honey-do” or “fix-it” list for around the house, this could be a perfect opportunity to impress them and show your love and appreciation by handling those tasks that don’t ever seem to get done.
I have found this works wonders for relationships. Especially when those listed items have been on that list for a while.
Getting those things handled once and for all can leave you with a renewed sense of accomplishment and a know that you now can move forward without all of those things hanging over your heads still.
Plus, it shows you truly care and love that significant other because you took the initiative, cared about how it will make them feel, and you made the effort to get those tasks done!
Go ahead and pat yourself on the back!
11. Sprinkle Rose Petals Out to A Candlelit Patio Dinner
I have always enjoyed a romantic environment where fresh rose petals are involved. Whether at home or out at a beautiful venue or restaurants, wherever beautiful fresh flower petals exist, I am happy to be there.
They could be strategically placed on the table where I am dining, sprinkled on the ground leading from one place to another, floating on top of bubbles or a warm tub filled with therapeutic sea salt.
How about rose petals leading from the front door when your other half comes home from work guiding them to the dining area or outdoor patio poolside where you have arranged candles, wine and appetizers while dinner cooks as a wonderful unexpected, beautiful welcome home gesture?
Fresh rose petals are not expensive. In the past, I have visited my local grocer, florist, or gardening shop for discarded rose petals. The florist pulls a few of those outer petals off anyway when creating floral arrangements. They will just discard them anyway, so why not sell them for a few dollars and let someone else enjoy them!
A Heartfelt Wrap-Up
I’ve offered some fun, creative, and definitely romantic ideas to make your Valentine’s Day even more romantic and memorable. Try these, pass them on to friends and loved ones, and share the love and offerings these ideas give you. You might just start a new Valentine’s Day tradition with your loved one!
MY MINDFUL REQUEST
Take this Valentine’s Day to express your love and appreciation for the one you adore, your friends and anyone else you care for. Love doesn’t have to mean spending a fortune to be meaningful. Remember to love yourself also, because without mindful self-care, we cannot properly care for others.