The Best Way to Celebrate Valentine's Day? We Asked, You Answered

What's your favorite way to celebrate (or not celebrate) Valentine's Day? (Photo: Thinkstock)
What's your favorite way to celebrate (or not celebrate) Valentine's Day? (Photo: Thinkstock)

Valentine's Day falls on a Tuesday this year, and some surveys show that the more romantically inclined among us are planning to drop big bucks on fancy dinners and lavish presents. But is that really what most happy couples want? We asked Yahoo! Shine readers about their favorite ways to celebrate Valentine's Day, and over-the-top spending didn't count for much. Here's what did:

  • "Dinner at home, music, and a LOT of one on one. The Best!" ("Correct," another reader quipped about this and several other comments.)

  • "When my husband and I were dating we had limited funds so we spent our first Valentine's Day eating chili dogs and ice cream sundaes at Sonic. We've done that every year since. This is year 10!!!"

  • "I'll probably make a nice dinner for my wife and then, well, the sky's the limit!"

  • "We always try to celebrate by doing something different; this year my hubby and I will probably leave the kiddos with someone and take a fun ride on our ATVs at Ocotillo Wells ... anything is good for us as long as we get to do it together ... then again it doesn't have to be Valentine's Day to celebrate our Love!"

  • "I don't need flowers, I don't need chocolate, I don't need jewelry, I don't need lingerie, I just need one thing: that's my hubby by my side toasting with red wine to another year of being able to celebrate Valentines day being more in love than the year before... that and the kids asleep :) We will celebrate with the kiddos in the evening because we like to show them Valentines is about celebrating those we love."

  • "Being with the ones I love My Husband and my Son and spending the whole day together."

  • "Years ago when having a date for VD was important, and some of us were without, we girls would run around and visit clubs or galleries - there was usually electricity in the air and amazing stuff tended to happen. Some of my favorite valentines days were when I was unattached."

  • "A nice wine, flowers and the best cheese cake ever made!"

  • "I must be the strangest girl. I asked my boyfriend to take me to see Star Wars Episode 1 in 3D for Valentines Day lol that's all I want, maybe throw in a Mexican dinner."

  • "After several bad relationships, I think sitting at home, ALONE, sounds pretty darn good…"

  • "We go out to one of or favorite restaurants after Valentines day is over and we each write a letter to each other to express our love. Cheap and way better than a sparkly gift :-)"

  • "As soon as Valentine cards are put out at the store I buy so many of them. I then send them sporadically before Valentine's day. Just to let my hubby know that every day is Valentine's day!"

  • "expressing love should be an everyday act- no need to designate a superficial day to say "i love you" - just saying"


Don't have someone special with whom to spend the day? Here's something positive you can do instead: Send a kind word to a military veteran through Generation Opportunity's free Valentines for Vets initiative. It's easy -- and it could make someone else's day a lot brighter.

Copyright © 2012 Yahoo Inc.




Also on Shine:

78 years and counting: The longest married couple
Valentine's: The anti-holiday?
What are your Valentine's Day dealbreakers?