Gifts for Valentines – the perfect date night

Whether you’ve been together a few months or most your life, it can be tricky to find the perfect gift to show your love on Valentine’s Day.

But you don’t need to spend a fortune on a fancy meal or expensive gifts to show your significant other just how much you care. Instead, often the best gift you can give is time.

This year, why not focus on what makes your relationship so special? This could be trying a new experience together or eating takeout on the couch.
Keep reading to explore our inexpensive gift ideas for Valentine’s Day that you’ll both cherish for years to come.

• Turn your home into a love nest
• Creating more memories
• Celebrating the story of you

Turn your home into a love nest

You don’t need to leave the house to have a date night with your other half. Instead, ditch the fancy clothes and create the perfect Valentine’s Day date night from the comfort of your home.

Whether you’re planning a pjs and popcorn movie night or romantic candlelit dinner, there are countless fun and intimate activities you can do at home to make your date night extra special, such as:

• Movie night – gather all your pillows and blankets together on the sofa to create a snug den made for two. Then grab the popcorn and find their favorite movie for a cozy night in.
• Romantic picnic – clear some space on your living room floor and spread out a picnic blanket. Then put together a romantic picnic basket in the kitchen, with fruit, cheese and wine.
• Baking together – order in dinner, then set yourselves the challenge of making the dessert. Buy all the ingredients in advance and have fun in the kitchen creating (and eating) your masterpiece.
• Wine tasting – for a fancy evening at home, organize a cheese and wine tasting night. Grab a few different pairings and have fun feeding each other delicious cheese washed down with wine.

Transforming your home for romance

Instead of just showing up at the restaurant, you’ll need a little preparation to get your romantic evening all set up. Here are our top tips for turning your home into the perfect Valentine’s Day setting:

• Remove all distractions – put your phones on silent and switch off the TV to help create an intimate setting. If you have kids, send them off to their grandparents or a close relative for a night.
• Light some candles – nothing says romantic like a candlelit dinner. Dim the lights and spread some candles around the room for a romantic evening.
• Order in their favorite food – cooking them a meal is romantic, but you end up spending half the evening in the kitchen away from your loved one. Instead, ordering food in gives you more time to focus on each other.
• Play romantic music – having some music playing softly in the background can help set the mood and turn your home into a romantic atmosphere.
• Create a cozy spot – once you’ve both had your fill of delicious foods, you’ll need somewhere comfy to veg. Create a cozy space on the sofa ready with a glass of wine and a blanket.

All that’s left to do is choose their gifts for Valentines and watch their face light up when they see the amazing evening you’ve got planned.

Creating more memories

Life can easily get in the way, and before you know it all the plans you made together have been put to the side. Valentine’s Day gives you the perfect opportunity to finally try that class together or plan a trip somewhere new.

Rather than just sharing gifts, doing an activity together can help create new memories you will both cherish and strengthen your relationship. Here are just some of the benefits of experiences over material gifts:

• Longer lasting – because experiences create memories, they tend to have a bigger and longer lasting effect on us than a material gift. Can you remember what you got for Christmas five years ago? Maybe not – but you’re sure to remember a fun trip or concert you attended.
• Better connection – most physical gifts are for the individual to enjoy on their own, whereas an experience is usually done in a group. This can help you build a stronger relationship with your significant other.
• Less pressure – sometimes, gift giving can become a competition of who spent the most or gave the most gifts. But with an experience, you’ll be giving them something you can both enjoy, it’s a win-win situation.

Throw them a curveball

Memories are the gift that keeps on giving. But it doesn’t need to be an extravagant event or luxury setting to make them smile. There are plenty of ways you can give your partner unforgettable memories this Valentines without spending a fortune. Some of our favorite experience gift ideas for Valentine’s Day include:

• Start a new hobby – is there something your other half has always wanted to do but life kept getting in the way? Whether it’s painting along to Bob Ross or upcycling your old furniture, there are plenty of ways you can start a new hobby at home without breaking the bank.
• Visit somewhere new – you don’t need to fly to Paris to have a romantic weekend together. Sometimes just visiting a new café or neighborhood can create a happy memory you’ll look back on in years to come.
• Cook a meal – cooking evokes all the senses and is a great way to work together to create something wonderful. Pick a meal neither of you have cooked before and have fun working out the recipe and tasting the results.
• Take a class – learning something new together is a great way to strengthen your relationship. Places like Groupon have a wide range of virtual classes you can take from the comfort of the sofa, from bartending to pottery.
• Create a new tradition – why not make your own tradition this Valentine’s Day. From doing the New York Times crossword puzzle on a Saturday morning to turning the last Sunday of every month into a games night, there are plenty of new experiences to have at home.

The lead up to Valentine’s is the perfect time to listen in to your partner’s wishes and see if you can turn their dreams into reality. If you’re struggling for ideas, a Groupon gift card gives them an unlimited choice of activities and experiences in your area.

Celebrate the story of you

Instead of creating new memories this Valentine’s Day, it can be a great idea to relive past memories you’ve shared together. Often, we focus our time and energy on the next steps to reaching our goals. So taking a step back and reflecting on your relationship’s journey so far can be a great way to recreate that spark.

Set yourselves some structure for the evening so you don’t accidently end up remembering unhappier times or bad memories. Planning some questions in advance can help with this, such as:

• What is your favorite memory of us?
• What was your first impression of me?
• When did you realize you loved me?
• Where is your favorite place to be with me?
• What song/movie/book reminds you of us?

A Valentine’s to remember

Planning a Valentine’s date night around your relationship can be a great way to show your significant other how much you appreciate them without breaking the bank with gifts. Here’s some inspirational ideas for the perfect evening together:

• Recreate your first date – the start of a relationship is always so exciting and new. Think back to your first date together and recreate the specific moments from it, from where you went for food or drinks, to even what you wore or the type of music playing.
• Make a playlist – we often link music to personal memories, so creating a playlist of all your favorite songs you’ve shared together over the years can be a great way to reminisce. Clear some space in the living room and dance along to the tracks.
• Look through your photographs – photographs are the perfect keepsakes to store a moment forever, but we rarely take the time to properly appreciate them. Create your own slideshow of photos from throughout your relationship to watch together.
• Organize a relationship quiz – think you know your partner better than they know you? Put your relationship to the test and maybe even learn something new about each other by creating a quiz on your relationship.
• Write each other letters – if you’re still in the early stages of your relationship, you could write each other a letter to open in one, three or even five years’ time. This way you can note down all the things you love about your relationship and see what’s changed, if anything, in the years to come.

If you want a gift for their Valentine’s surprise, buy their favorite foods for your trip down memory lane and prove just how well you know them.

Send gift cards for Valentine’s

There are countless ways you can treat the love of your life to something amazing this Valentine’s without blowing your budget. From enjoying their favorite foods from the sofa with Grubhub, to a photo album of memories created at Shutterfly, Valentine’s should be all about what makes your relationship so special.

Browse more than 200 gift cards at Kroger and create memories that’ll last a lifetime.