Much like every major event that has happened since March 2020, Valentine’s Day is going to look different this year because of COVID-19. However, that doesn’t mean that you and your significant other can’t have a great Valentine’s Day at home. Here are some ideas of how to celebrate Valentine’s Day while staying safe this year.
Get Take Out From Your Favorite Restaurant
Although indoor dining isn’t allowed in many places and isn’t completely safe in others, getting take out is the safest option right now (aside from cooking at home). If you have a restaurant that both of you love, plan on getting a nice meal from them on Valentine’s Day. Because the holiday will mean larger demand, some restaurants will require you to order ahead of time — make sure that you take that into account and plan ahead.
If you’re married, you can also consider getting take out from the restaurant that catered for your wedding. Caterers service an average of 71 weddings every year, and although not all catering services are also full-service restaurants, it’s a romantic option to consider. You can even order a small cake from the same bakery where you got your wedding cake to really make it feel like your wedding day all over again.
Learn About Your Love Languages
Valentine’s Day can be a great opportunity for you and your partner to learn more about each other and how to love each other better. The five love languages help determine the way that you usually express your love and how you prefer to receive love. The five types are words of affirmation, acts of service, quality time, receiving gifts, and physical touch. Learning what your love language is and what your partner’s love language is can really help the two of you communicate and show love more effectively.
Knowing your love languages can also help you work through disagreements since you will be able to determine if your partner was hurt by something you did because they viewed it as a rejection of an act that they made out of love that was miscommunicated. For example, if you hate PDA, but your partner’s love language is physical touch, they may be hurt when you won’t hold their hand in public because they see it as a rejection of them as opposed to rejection of PDA.
Go For a Scenic Drive
One great way to maintain your social distance but still feel like you’re getting out of the house is to go for a scenic drive. Whether that’s through a pretty neighborhood in your city or town or through more natural landscapes, what matters is that you’re spending quality time with your partner. It doesn’t matter if you’re in a car you bought in 2017, contributing to the $1 trillion in total new car sales, or if you’re in a 1999 used car that has had four owners — spending time in the car with your partner can foster great conversations and sing along.
Before you get in the car, you can prep a playlist (or good old fashioned mix tape if your car can’t hook up to your phone) to play while you drive. Put on you and your partner’s favorite songs, the songs that remind you of each other, and any other music that you want to sing in the car to.
Make a Nice Meal
If you and your partner enjoy cooking, making a nice, multi-course meal together is a great way to have a gourmet experience you won’t forget. You can look online for interesting recipes that you haven’t tried before or stick to your old favorites. Plan out your menu beforehand to make sure you have all of the ingredients you need. You can even add in some fun mixed drinks since there are tons of online tutorials for interesting drinks out there. And, of course, don’t forget about dessert!
Give Each Other a Meaningful Gift
Before Valentine’s Day, talk to your partner about exchanging gifts. This may be a given in some relationships, but if you know neither your or your partner’s love language is receiving gifts, it may not be an obvious action. Once you’ve decided to give each other gifts, you can also set a spending limit and start thinking of gift ideas.
If stores in your area are open, consider shopping at one of the 30.7 million small businesses that are open in the U.S. Shopping small not only means that you can get your significant other a more unique gift — it also means you’re supporting your local economy and helping out a business that may be struggling during the pandemic. It’s really the best of both worlds.
Craft Together
Having a craft night is a great way to have fun and make something that you can display afterward. you can choose any form of crafting that you think you and your partner will enjoy. You can follow a painting tutorial online and make some happy trees, you can make a scrapbook of your favorite memories from your relationship, you can even make macaroni art and friendship bracelets if that’s what you enjoy. Once you’ve finished, you can display your masterpieces somewhere that you’ll see them every day to always have a reminder of your partner and how much fun you had crafting things.
Have a Cozy Movie Marathon
One thing that many of us have perfected during quarantine is the art of binge-watching a TV show or movie series. However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t have an extra special movie marathon session to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Getting matching pajama sets, making your favorite snacks, and picking a particularly good set of movies can make your Valentine’s Day movie marathon stand out from the average movie marathon.
Although you may not be able to go on a fun weekend trip or out to an extravagant dinner this year due to the pandemic, that doesn’t mean you don’t have options to make sure that you have a special Valentine’s Day with your partner.
What are your Valentine’s Day plans this year? Let us know in the comments!
