Most of us do our best to show the ones we love our care every day. But on February 14th, we collectively remember what those casual “Love You’s!” to pals or quick pecks on the cheek before dashing out truly mean. Relationships, after all—whether with our friends, kids, partners or pets—are how we refill our cups. Each of them deserves to be celebrated in full color. For those who want to show their loved ones how much they mean—but feel stumped about how to celebrate Valentine's Day this year—consider these three festive ideas as your source of inspiration.
01) With Pals: Celebrate Friendship
Friendship could be one of the most unsung types of love in history, but true friends are the bedrock of a rich, resilient life—and they deserve to be celebrated! Depending on who’s in your inner circle, make new memories with your closest companions by day or by night (or both). If you’re planning on giving them a present, there are plenty of ideas you can get from our Valentine’s Day gift guide for her.
Host a Galentine’s Day Tea Party
For an elegant daytime V-Day celebration, break out your tea-time finery and invite your girls over for a vintage-inspired salon at home. Update the classic tea aesthetic with an elegant, modern tea set and whip up some classic tea-time eats. Think cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches, mini pink velvet cupcakes and some tiny fruit tarts to nosh on. Pinkies up, ladies!
Connect over DIY Craft Cocktails
Bring back the millennium at home with a Sex and The City-esque evening of mix-them-yourself craft cocktails. Clear off the kitchen counter (or roll out the bar cart, if you have one) and assemble every bartender’s essentials for these 90s-inspired craft cocktails:
- The Hanky Panky, a twist on the classic martini
- Strawberry Cachaça Shake, to spice up the night with Brazilians’ favorite liquor
- Cosmopolitans, a must for long debates deciding who’s the Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha of the group
02) With Partners: Lean Into Your Romantic Side
Whether you’re seeing someone special or are on your umpteenth Valentine’s Day as a couple with your loved one, celebrating with your favorite cuddle buddy is all about the classics: wining, dining and remembering all the reasons why you two chose each other.
Set the Ambiance
Planning to celebrate Valentine’s Day at home? Even if February 14th falls on a weekday, you sat through an hour of extra traffic to get home and couldn’t prep a full meal, setting the mood could transform a pancakes-for-dinner kind of night into a memorable occasion:
- Light accent candles around the dining or living area for a warm, scattered lighting effect. Or, choose one surface—like an empty fireplace, a hearth or an end table—to place multiple candles for a “clustered” effect.
- Set the table with your favorite dinnerware and place two standing candlesticks or a candelabra at the dinner table to seal in the expectation of a delectable dining experience.
Start with Champagne
Heartthrob Frank Sinatra crooned it best: You go to my head…like bubbles in a glass of champagne.
Whether you’re partial to prosecco or another fizzy libation, show your devotion by greeting your loved one at the door with pair of flutes designed for two. Keep the bottle chilled in an ice bucket by the kitchen and nosh on a charcuterie board with cheese, grapes and prosciutto while prepping the rest of your meal.
Indulge in a Special Meal
Whether you choose to recreate the meal you shared on your first date or the same staple you’ve been cooking since you first moved in together, make it special by:
- Breaking out the good china – This could be the dinnerware set and wine glass sets you were gifted in your bridal registry, or perhaps one that breaks winter’s spell by looking ahead to those first whispers of spring.
- Setting out some fresh flowers – Choose your favorite porcelain and crystal flower vases and fill them with rose stems or lilies of the valley and enjoy a cozy evening in together to please all your senses.
- Sweetening the deal with dessert – Whether it’s a lush, ruby rhubarb tart or a sweet and dense, velvety chocolate loaf, close out your romantic dinner on a sugary note before you call it a night. Bonus points if you bake the dessert yourself!
03) With Family: Make New Memories Together
If the home had a heart, it would be in the kitchen. Gather the family for a crafty home cooking session this Valentine’s Day and whip up these classic kid-friendly treats with a rosy twist:
- Pink hot chocolate – Whether it’s snowy or sunny outside your kitchen window, few beverages warm the heart more than a mug of hot chocolate. Instead of the typical cocoa-colored indulgence, make yours pink by adding a few drops of red food coloring to a hot white chocolate recipe.
- Strawberry crumble cookies – Don’t put away the holiday cookie cutters just yet! Use your heart-shaped molds to make Strawberry Shortcake cookies. Use an extra crumbly recipe to make every bite delicious (and teach the kids a mini-lesson in “heartbreak” and resilience!). For an extra special scene, display with chocolates kisses on a tiered server!
If February 14th falls on a school night and you need to postpone for the weekend, here are two easy, meaningful ways to make weekday V-Days special:
- Instead of using those cookie molds for dessert, use them for pancakes (prep the batter the night before). Make it extra special with added blueberries or bananas!
- Tuck some “Roses are red, violets are blue…”-style poems into your little ones’ backpacks or lunch boxes. If you weren’t blessed with a bard’s talents, a simple note saying how special they are to you is more than enough.
Commemorate This and Every Valentine’s Day with Lenox
There are endless creative and classic ways to share more love with the ones you cherish most on your Valentine’s Day celebration. From framing your favorite photo of your romantic love story to making a mess trying to make a souffle together, Lenox’s sophisticated home goods collection gives you the space and tools you need to make your memories.
Whatever relationships you’re grateful for this year, celebrate them to the fullest with Lenox.
