Valentine’s Day is the day that many couples look forward to, to show each other how much they love one another. While dining out can be a wonderful treat, it can also be expensive. So why not do something special at home instead? You will certainly have the place to yourselves, be able to indulge in your favourite foods, and take your time over your meal. Valentine’s Day at home doesn’t have to be boring or drab. With the right table décor and music, you can create a magical night.
SET THE SCENE
For any special meal at home your table décor is important, this includes any cutlery and crockery that you use. As it will most likely just be two of you on the night, you can always go out and buy special tableware, and keep it to use again next Valentine’s Day or for your anniversary meal. There are a number of retailers that sell loose plates, bowls and cutlery, or you can splurge on a dining set and ensure you have spares if something breaks.
Luminarc Trianon dinner plate (28cm), side plate (20cm), and bowl (12cm) £2.99 each at Tesco
Home Hearts 12 piece porcelain dinner set £22.99 at Argos
12 piece Cross Stitch heart dinner set £15.00 at Asda
16 piece heart cutlery set £8.00 at Asda
FINISHING TOUCHES
Once you have all your crockery and cutlery sorted, it’s time to create the right atmosphere with candles, flowers, and any other special mementos that mean something to you and your Valentine. The soft glow of candle light will help enhance the romantic atmosphere that you are trying to create.
Scented love heart candles £3.00 at Primark
Flickering tealight candles (4 pack) £1.00 at Poundland
Sainsbury’s Home large candle (Wild cotton & Ylang) £6.50 at Argos
George Home taper candles (10 pack) £2.00 at Asda
Tesco Basic tealights (100 pack) £2.00 at Tesco
The final touch to any table is napkins. No one wants to be left stranded when they accidentally mess something at the table. And with so many great designs available, you can find something to match your colour scheme for the evening.
Tesco Red Napkins 33cm (50 Pack) £1.50 at Tesco
Bird Napkin 33cm (20 Pack) £1.50 at Tesco
Sainsbury’s Home Heart Repeat Lunch Napkin (20 Pack) £2.00 at Sainsbury’s
On the day, getting some fresh flowers to add to the table could be a nice touch. Roses can be pricey, so if your budget won’t stretch to roses, you can always get your Valentine’s favourite flowers. It will be more personal and mean so much more to them.
You can also have your favourite songs playing in the background, as well as having your favourite movie on stand-by if you want to cuddle up on the couch after your romantic meal.
A LOVE LETTER
With all the effort you’ve put into planning your Valentine’s Day meal, you might not need to get a gift for your Valentine, but a special card would not go amiss. Head into Card Factory to find a wonderful selection of cards, with messages targeted to husbands, wives, fiancées, boyfriends and girlfriends.
