Every year in the lead up to Valentine's Day we help to tell your love stories, using your words and pictures to show your loved ones how you feel, on Valentine's Day and always. From keepsakes capturing the first photos taken together in a new relationship to gifts holding secret messages inside which remind someone how much they mean, even after all this time.
We've told hundreds of love stories over the years with our personalised Valentine's Day gifts, and with the big day approaching in a few weeks time we wanted to share some of our Valentines know-how, because we've picked up a thing or two about the love language of gift giving (beyond the basics of cards and flowers).
In this blog post we will be covering when Valentine’s Day is celebrated, the origin of giving gifts on Valentine’s Day and some of our best Valentine’s gift ideas for him and for her from our collection of personalised keepsake gifts at Create Gift Love.
When is Valentine's Day 2024?
Every year Valentine's Day is celebrated on 14th February, which this year falls on a Wednesday: Wednesday 14th February 2024.
What's interesting about Valentine's Day 2024 is that it falls the day after Shrove Tuesday (AKA pancake day!) and on the first day of Lent, so it's a big week for sweet treats if you're heading from a pancake party into Valentine's Day chocolate boxes.
Lent is recognised exactly 40 days before Easter, and as Easter moves around from year to year it's not always aligned with Valentine's Day celebrations, and actually has no connection to Valentine's at all (although interestingly it is connected to when Mother's Day falls in the UK). However, it's worth mentioning since the two are so closely celebrated this year.
Valentine's Day has its origins in ancient Rome and has been annually recognised on 14th February since the Middle Ages. We will delve into the historical origins of Valentine's Day a little further in our next section...
What is the origin of Valentine's Day gifts?
As mentioned, Valentine's Day actually has its roots in ancient Rome and it was a long time before it became the celebration of love as we know it today.
Marriages were banned under Emperor Claudius II, who wanted young men to join the military instead of marrying and starting families, so he made weddings illegal. However, one priest, Valentine, defied these laws and continued to marry young couples in secret, which led to his brutal execution. After his death he was named a saint by the Catholic church and became the patron saint of lovers.
In time, St. Valentine's Day began to be associated with romantic love, and was celebrated by the writing of love notes and poems, but it wasn't until the Victorian era that Valentine's cards, and eventually presents, became popular. Now of course, the giving of Valentines gifts and cards is hugely commonplace, here in the UK and around the world, but it hasn't always been that way.
Valentine’s Day Gifts at Create Gift Love
All of the personalised gifts and keepsakes we make at Create Gift Love are designed to tell stories of love and connection, to celebrate the relationship between the person giving the gift and the person receiving it: their memories, shared experiences and most meaningful moments. And what occasion represents the celebration of relationships more than Valentine’s Day?
With over a decade of experience making personalised Valentines presents for our customers, we have plenty of gift ideas that are a little more personal than your standard supermarket chocolates, all of which are handmade here in the UK, personalised and made to order, and available with super quick delivery. So, if you’re still on the lookout for the perfect Valentine’s Day present, let’s get into some of our best gift ideas.
Best Romantic Gifts for Valentine’s Day
The best romantic gifts are the ones that have been chosen with thoughtfulness, consideration and care; gifts that represent the connection between the two of you or hold a significance that only you and your partner would understand. We think our personalised photo keepsakes are the perfect way to do that, because what is romance if not personal?
Take our photo keyrings for example: they are small and subtle but made to be deeply personal. The outer leather case can be embossed with you and your partner’s initials, and inside holds a photo charm capturing your favourite shared memory. You can also engrave a heartfelt message or date of the back of the photo for your partner's eyes only. These romantic gifts are the perfect way to capture your thoughtfulness on Valentine’s Day. After all, our keyrings have told many stories, but none quite like yours.
Photo gifts ideas they'll love on Valentine's Day
As mentioned above, photo gifts are a great way to show the one you love how much your shared memories mean to you. We take so many photos each week which often never see the light of day, so taking the time to scroll through your camera roll and pick out the photos that are special to you and your partner is a lovely exercise in the run up to Valentine’s Day. Our favourite Valentines photo gift to tell your love story is our Personalised Wooden Hexagon Wall Art Set.
The set includes five wooden hexagon tiles printed with your photographs, which you can easily fix to the wall to display in your home. The great thing about them is that you can add to the set with more tiles over time, creating a whole gallery wall of memories and shared moments. Why not use this Valentine’s Day as an opportunity to start a new tradition, adding five more hexagon photos to the collection every year on February 14th?
What to give on Valentine's Day when you are engaged
Engaged couples know what it means to be in the midst of romance, so naturally Valentine’s Day is another opportunity to celebrate love. Whether you’re newly engaged, about to propose or counting down the days to your wedding, one idea for Valentine’s Day is to reminisce about your love story so far and look back at how it started.
Our location keyrings are a great way to do just that. Personalised with either engraved coordinates or a What3Words address, these leather keepsake keyrings act as a conversation starter and reminder of a significant place for the two of you: where you met, where you had your first date or where you got engaged. You can also add an engraved message on the back of the personalised keyring to make it extra special.
Best Valentine's gifts for a long distance couple
Occasions like Valentine’s Day can be hard if you’re in a long distance relationship, especially if you’re spending the day apart. Sending (or receiving!) a surprise gift in the post is one way of making you feel closer together, and personalised gifts are the perfect way to remind your partner that you are thinking of them.
Our best Valentine’s gift idea for a long distance relationship are our matching couples’ two-piece gifts. With these two part matching sets (including personalised keyring and coasters) you can each have a piece of the keepsake with you and know that the other half is out there waiting for you, wherever you are in the world. Our Ampersand Luggage Tag set is particularly relevant to long distance couples who often travel to meet one another; the two parts of the sign finally connecting when you are next reunited.
Best gift ideas for first Valentine's Day
In a new relationship there are lots of firsts, each exciting (and potentially nerve wracking) in their own ways, and the first Valentine’s Day together is no different. Some new couples like to go all out on their first Valentine’s Day while others may feel like it’s a little early for grand declarations, depending on the timing of when they started dating in relation to February 14th!
If you’re celebrating Valentine’s Day in a new relationship, a small personalised gesture like our handcrafted keepsakes is a great way to strike the balance between thoughtfulness and extravagance. Meaningful gifts like our personalised photo coasters will show your new partner that you care and value the time you have spent together so far, and they’re a great way to display some of the first photos you took as a couple.
Best gifts for newlyweds on Valentine's Day
There’s a lot of cause for celebration on Valentine’s Day if you’re newly married, with so much more of your love story to tell since the same day last year. Your first Valentine’s Day as a married couple is a chance to reflect on the last few months, reminisce about the magical day shared with family and friends, and look back at your favourite moments.
A lovely token keepsake gift for newlyweds on Valentine’s Day is our personalised ‘Never Forget’ keyrings. These wooden keyring gifts can be engraved with a calendar marking the date of your wedding and engraved underneath with ‘the day you became my husband’ or ‘the day you became my wife’. This heartfelt memento can be carried with them everyday (and doubles as a reminder of your anniversary date too!).
Best Valentine's experience gift ideas
Whether you’re looking for something brand new to try with your partner or just the opportunity to dedicate some time to something the two of you already love, choosing an experience gift can help to strengthen your connection and form new shared memories. Cookery classes, craft workshops, spa trips or outdoor adventure days all make great Valentine's Day activity ideas or future date nights for the coming weeks.
And to make it even more meaningful when you present the experience voucher on Valentine’s Day, pair with our Personalised Wooden Gift Card Holder. This handmade wooden sliding box holds the voucher or note inside, with a personalised message and photograph printed on the outer. It adds an extra level of thoughtfulness to the experience gift and doubles as a photo keepsake for your partner to display.
Best small business Valentine’s gifts
Shopping with Create Gift Love on Valentine’s Day supports our small business and keeps our team doing what they love, designing and making personalised gifts for you. So, if you’ve got this far into the article and are thinking of placing your first order with us then thank you, we really appreciate it. But if Create Gift Love isn’t quite ticking your boxes, may we introduce you to our two sister brands, Man & Bear and Sbri, where we’re sure you’ll find a personalised Valentine’s Day gift to fall in love with.
Both Man & Bear and Sbri products are designed and made by the CGL team here in our workshop, and you can expect the same luxury quality and excellent service. At Man & Bear we make men’s leather and suit accessories like these personalised cufflinks, perfect for your husband on Valentine’s Day, and at Sbri we make colourful women’s leather accessories like these personalised coin purses which we know your Valentine or Galentine will adore.
You can also find out more about 7 Valentine’s gifts ideas from Hampshire and Dorset small businesses in this blog which we wrote for Valentine’s Day last year.
Personalised message ideas for Valentine's Day
Once you’ve chosen the perfect personalised Valentine's gift for your partner, all you need to do is decide how to customise it. At Create Gift Love we give you the option to add your own messages and engravings on your personalised gifts, and the requests we receive each day range from the funny to the thoughtful to the completely bizarre (some private jokes are best left unquestioned, especially on Valentine’s Day!).
If you’re stuck for words and struggling to come up with a personalised message for your Valentine’s Day gift then don’t worry, we’ve put together a list of some of the more popular ideas used by our customers to inspire you.
- You’re my happily ever after
- Loved you then, love you still, always have, always will - this works with a date engraved
- When we have each other, we have everything
- Together is a wonderful place to be
- Lyrics from your shared song or first wedding dance
You could also look to famous Valentine's Day quotes for inspiration; we've put together a list of the best romantic Valentine's quotes here.