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AH Valentines Day help
suicidexcuse
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Ok Valentines day is in a week and I've planned nothing for me and my girlfriend. This is my first girlfriend so i'm completely new to this kinda stuff. First off a couple things. I'm 20, she's 25 and we're quite serious. I'm trying to save my money so i don't want to spend too much but enough to make her happy. She knows i haven't planned anything yet so it would nice to surprise her with a few things. She has hinted at that she wants flowers. I have no clue what kind. Do i go to flourist and buy them? Or do i get them delivered and if so where to? Kinda stupid to get them delivered to her house when I'm there with her isn't it?
I might but her some jewelry. All she wears is earrings and her only pair of studs broke so i could get some of those. What's a reasonable price for stud earrings?
As for dinner, is too late to get a reservation? If i can't get a reservation at a nice enough place would it be ok for me just to cook dinner for her? Or does that look really cheap?
As for after dinner, I have no clue what to do. She said she wanted to see a movie that opened on that day. So i suppose we could do that. She has also been dying to find a certain romantic movie for us to watch together. So we could either watch that at home or go out to the movie theatre. Which would be best? And any other suggestion of what to do after dinner would help.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I am completely lost when it comes to stuff like this. Thanks in advance.
I might but her some jewelry. All she wears is earrings and her only pair of studs broke so i could get some of those. What's a reasonable price for stud earrings?
As for dinner, is too late to get a reservation? If i can't get a reservation at a nice enough place would it be ok for me just to cook dinner for her? Or does that look really cheap?
As for after dinner, I have no clue what to do. She said she wanted to see a movie that opened on that day. So i suppose we could do that. She has also been dying to find a certain romantic movie for us to watch together. So we could either watch that at home or go out to the movie theatre. Which would be best? And any other suggestion of what to do after dinner would help.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I am completely lost when it comes to stuff like this. Thanks in advance.
suicidexcuse on
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My advice:
Turn up to her house with flowers (from the freaking florist, not the gas station. Go and reserve a bouquet now to make sure you'll have some. I like orchids personally), chocolates and a bottle of her favourite wine. Cook a candle-lit dinner for her. Something nice, and light. Get a recipe book, or something off the net. Go to Blockbuster and rent her favourite movies, and give her a selection.
The thing with Valentine's Day is that, unlike birthdays or Christmas, it really is the thought that counts. Show you put thought into it, make it personal to you two. I think going out for a dinner/movie (which I'm sure you do already) isn't really the best you can do here.
For dinner, not knowing where you are, or what kind of restuarant you want to go to, I can't tell you if it's too late for a reservation. If it's not, and you want to eat out, make them now. It's also not really bad to cook at home, especially if you dress it up with a nice table cloth, candles, and special food. The bonus of eating at home is that you guys can kick back and enjoy yourselves, watching the romantic movie at home at your leisure. It's more about showing the effort that you put into it and setting the appropriate "Valentines" mood.
For the earrings, it depends on what kind of studs you want to get. If you're talking just normal non-precious metal/stone studs, $8.00 should be your max. If you want to get gold or silver, you'll most likely be looking at $25.00 - $50.00. For precious stones (like maybe her birthstone if she likes that one), add a little on depending on the stone.
Edward Scissorhands
Eternal Sunshine
Listen to Lewisham's advice. Though I suggest not buying the wine, as that would be illegal since you're twenty. Cook the dinner, get the flowers and bring them with you to her place, and watch that movie at home.
As for a present, you don't have to spend alot of money. A nice collage of photo's of you (possibly framed) is just as good as jewellry if you put the time into it.
I made a life poster one year. That went down really well.
Pun intended?
Cooking pasta is a joke, but needless to say it was a good evening.
Simple is good, just make sure you're not LAZY simple.
Find an easy and awesome recipe, and end it with this:
1 cup whipping creme (not whipped creme)
Chocolate syrup
Blend with a whipping blade, and voila! Chocolate Mousse. Put in a plastic pink champagne glass and refridgerate for a suprise
Ok you are 20 and new at this so here is some pointers.
First It is probably not to late to get reservations for dinner at a nice place. Most men are procrastinators and it is still a week away. So if you try you could probably find a really classy place with some room. BUT that is going to cost you. A bottle of wine, an appetizer, 2 meals, and a desert is like 150 with a tip, if not more at a fancy place. But you like this girl and its your first vday so you are gonna do this shit up proper and not mess around with that.
First a couple things. If you live together or are planning it at her residence you have to get her out of the house for a few hours. Second you are going to need a kitchen and some supplies, And lastly you need to keep it kind of simple. The more elaborate you go the better it is but there is a point of diminishing returns where it gets too complicated and hard and you dont want that.
Now on with the plan.
STEP 1. You go the day prior or the morning of to a decent florist. (not a grocery store) and get a serious bouquet of flowers. Mainly red roses (at least a dozen) with some other stuff thrown in for good measure. Any decent florist will have valentines day specials. Get a vase and make it look nice. Ask the florist if she likes it (most florists are women) Ok you got your flowers covered and that shouldn't run more than 50$ and that is the high end of what we are doing here.
Step 2. Supplies. You are gonna hit up a grocery store. You are going to buy some stocks. Im talking a really nice chicken breast, Steak, or if you guys like seafood, salmon/lobster. Now you need some side dishes. Keep it simple Potatoe and a veggie. Pick what ever veggie she likes. I recommend asparagus or mixed vegies that stuff pairs with just about everything. You are also going to buy about a half dozen candles Long red ones. they are cheap. And candle holders if you dont already have them. After that find some chocolate covered strawberries they will have those at any decent food store around v-day. Next get someone to go to a liquor store for you and buy a bottle of MOET -White star champagne. That is important.
Step 3 the gift. Get her something. Something she likes. It can be anything. A card with a heartfelt sentiment, to some stud earrings. It doesnt have to be expensive. THe real gift is the dinner we are about to work up but you want to have something to give her when she shows up.
Step 4 the setup. Ok now the hard part. This is going to take the better part of an hour. So you need her not around when you are doing it. You are going to set up the table with the flowers as the center piece and the candles as the lighting. You are going to grill the meat / sautee the veggies and i recomend baked potatoes because its easy and everyone likes them. (if you are helpless in the kitchen Don't worry. Grilling a piece of meat and warming veggies is freaking easy. If you need me to I can descirbe in excrutiating detail how to do this.) Now all that should take about 30 minutes to prepare if you work fast. So you have a candle lit dinner with an awesome meal, flowers and some sort of gift. She arrives
Step 5 the presentation. This part is where you really have to shine if you do it right you blow her away. Now before she comes over you told her that you are taking her out to dinner so she should dress nice. YOu are also dressed nice. She walks in the door and you hand her the gift and she is like oh neat and then she is like so where are we going to dinner??? (you told her its a surprise) Show her to the table. (if you want to get really fancy make two separate dishes and make her an actual menu and give it to her now) Then bring in the food and the champagne. Open the bottle and play like a waiter here offering her everything and what not. If you pull this off right you cant lose.
The first time i did this it was very similar to how its described here. Over the years with new girls I have gone on to add other bits and really get over the top. I have yet to have a girl not go completely doe eyed and get all emotional at how awesome it is. It takes about a days preparation but in the end its worth it. Plus its kind of fun. Also if you date this girl for more than a year next year you have to come up with something new but for now this will work fine. Good luck.
:roll:
I fifth the cooking notion. Especially if you don't cook often, you don't really need to go all out here. Check out foodnetwork.com, and look for some easy receipes that look good. Buy quality ingredients for it (from a good grocery store) and it'll taste fine, even if you suck at cooking. Candles are nice, but only if she goes in for highly romantic stuff.
I've always found Valentine gifts to be really optional. If you go all out to make the day special, you don't really need to get something incredibly expensive as a present.
I recommend Love Actually, if she hasn't already seen it. It's not quite as painfully chicky as some of romantic movies out there, while still maintaining the requisite sappiness. You might also consider checking your local entertainment guide for Valentine's Day specific shows. I scored big last year going to a Valentine's Day improv comedy show.
The real key to V-Day is to make certain you've prepared everything ahead of time to keep it stress free and the romance flowing.
As for specifics -
1) Make sure to get flowers. You don't sound like this, but guys who think flowers are a waste of money often end up with unhappy girlfriends.
2) Make dinner at home (eating out is soooo expensive on V-Day) but make sure to have it done before she shows up. Also, if you want to make the night more fun, try having the two of you dip your own strawberries.
3) Get her earrings. Every time she wears them she'll think about how awesome you are.
Good luck! Sounds like you're on the right track.
To the OP: Flowers and you cooking dinner is a nice touch. Don't forget to use candlelights! Also a good romantic movie after the dinner is good. Put on some nice, relaxing music (soft music, not loud at all... Just ambient) while eating.
Dude. I've been struggling with what to do for my wife for Valentines Day. I'm making a freaking life poster. The looks easy and we take TONS of pictures. She'll love it. I'm gonna get a nice frame for it too.
I asked her last night what she wanted for Valentines Day, even though I knew the answer: "It doesn't have to cost anything, you know I just like things from the heart."
That's got to be on the list of things men hate to hear.
Oh man, that's killer. Good luck on your life poster. It takes a little longer than you might expect (took me about two hours in a coffee shop, it could maybe take one if you're focused) but the results are well worth it. If you're cheap (like me) you can take the resulting file down to Fedex Kinko's (in the highest res you can fit it on a USB stick) and print it out there than the iPhoto store.
I dont really think it matters what you do (ala cash monies) as long as it shows time, thought, remembrance and effort.
It would be great to make a grand and extravagant dinner, but don't pressure yourself too much. If you mess something up, the fact that you tried goes over really well. With some girls, the fact that you tried and failed goes over even better. It's a really strange thing.
But yeah, don't do the cliche' "flowers/dinner/gift" thing that you've seen done a thousand times.
EDIT: Thought I'd share this after some google searchin'
For valentine's day, my dinner was reheated day old pizza. Why on Earth would I do that? Because we were both from the Chicago-land area, and we just moved to Texas. One day, we went on a major trip to get some Giordano's that turned into a huge adventure. Either way, we moved without ever going back. I had to leave Houston to be back in Chicago for a conference, and I got one of the heart shaped Giordano's Pizzas, as it was right by my hotel. I babied that thing until I got back to Houston. We had that for Valentine's Dinner, all while I decorated the table with stuff I took from the restaurant. The whole thing cost me about $20, but it was the thought.
Now, it was an original idea, but it wouldn't probably work for anyone else. The best thing to do is something that is going to be personalized.
Once I had a girlfriend who I made cookies with for Christmas. It was the first time I ever made cookies. She knew this and it was a big deal. We always talked about making more, but didn't. So, for Valentines Day, I made the largest single cookie that would fit in the stove and it said in chocolate "Without you [name], I'd crumble."
Again, something personalized.