Valentine’s Day can be one of the most romantic holidays, but like all things romantic, it can sometimes require a bit of coordination and preplanning. Even if you’re on a budget, there’s no reason your Valentine’s Day can’t be as memorable and cute for you and your partner. After all, what really matters is spending the day with people you love and who love you back. A romantic dinner reservation is a classic for a reason, but if you’re looking for inspiration on how to create and plan the most romantic Valentine’s Day date ever, here are 22 stories from real women on how to make ~magic~ happen.

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1. “My boyfriend jokingly used to complain how men don’t get the same treatment as women on Valentine’s Day by receiving cards and chocolates, so I decided to surprise him by making an edible arrangement of bacon roses and I gave it to him in the morning before waking up so he could have breakfast in bed. I also gave him a card where I wrote down the biggest surprise of all: tickets to a helicopter tour of our city. Ten years later, we are still together, got married, and that is still one of the best Valentine’s Days we’ve ever had.” —Rachel, 29

2. “Several years ago, my boyfriend at the time (now husband) earned major points on Valentine’s Day. First, he dropped me off at a salon to get my hair and nails done. Then, he picked me up and brought me to his place and made me dinner. From there, we went to a comedy club and laughed the night away. It was such a thoughtful date that I will remember forever.” —Jacqui, 28

3. “The cutest Valentine’s Day idea that I had was making a time capsule for our first Valentine’s Day as a married couple. In three years, we get to open it up and we’ll get to relive so many great memories.” —Alyssa, 31

4. “My partner’s birthday is the day after Valentine’s, and our anniversary is just two weeks later, so for our first Valentine’s together, I wanted to do something special. I’m a firm believer in more is more, so I surprised her with a trip to New York. I booked an incredible dinner at this cute Japanese place in Brooklyn, we hit MoMA, had Sunday brunch, it was really fun. The only bad part was it was below 10 degrees the whole time, but the rest was a blast!” —Elizabeth, 29

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5. “This year for Valentine’s Day, my boyfriend and I are planning to celebrate a little differently than most. We are both individually very serious about getting out of student loan debt in one to two years, so we’ve discussed the possibility of adding an extra couple hundred dollars onto our February debt payments so we can get that much closer to becoming debt-free. To me, it’s so sweet because it’s so us!” —Joanna, 23

6. “In college, my boyfriend went out and bought a bottle of champagne, two glass champagne flutes, and chocolates and flowers for me. I got him cigars and chocolate cigars. We still lived in the dorms but his roommate had moved out, so we took both mattresses and put them side by side on the floor to make one giant, super bed. We drank champagne, ate lasagna, and watched A Walk to Remember from the floor on the super bed. All these years later, I still have the boyfriend, the champagne flutes, and the cork from the bottle that night. We use the flutes every Valentine’s Day.” —Rebecca, 26

7. “We’re broke and in our early 20s, and we do NOT spend a lot of money. But on Valentine’s Day, we like to go out to eat for dinner, wherever we want, and buy whatever TF we want. Our normal $30 to $40 bill is about $120 with multiple drinks, apps, main courses, and desserts. We just treat ourselves and I love every minute of it.” —Santina, 22

8. “The guy I was casually hooking up with—not even really dating—surprised me by making a reservation at a trendy restaurant in our city. The weather that day was extremely cold, but we layered on coats and went out anyway. When we got to the restaurant, they had lost our reservation and didn’t have anything available for a few hours. We ended up going to a dive bar around the corner, sharing some beers, and having a super laid-back dinner at a restaurant with a prix fixe menu and open seating. It was all super unexpected, and just being together—even if we were hungry and freezing—made me realize this was waaay more than a hookup thing.” —Caitlin, 25

9. “One of my favorite Valentine’s Day memories is when my boyfriend decided to make a home-cooked meal. He surprised me with a dozen roses, a giant fuzzy heart with chocolate inside, and a handmade card. We didn’t have much money back then and he still lived with his parents, so he brought up a bunch of chairs to his room and used his nightstand as our table. He also lit candles, put on Frank Sinatra, and opened a bottle of Moët. We spent the rest of the night watching the first movie we ever saw together and playing video games. It was the best.” —Riley, 20

10. “One year, my girlfriend surprised me with a super-romantic wine-tasting tour. It was such a shock because I never even thought about wineries being open during the colder months, but many are! We had such a fun time getting tipsy and drinking delicious wine together, then we took the train home, watched a movie on our laptop, and had a nice dinner together. And I got to be in bed early, which is honestly my favorite thing.” — Sarah, 27

11. “You really can’t go wrong with breakfast in bed, which also happens to be the best Valentine’s Day I ever had. My husband makes me chocolate chip pancakes with extra chocolate chips just the way I like them, and I don’t get up until noon. I look forward to this day literally all year!” —Tina, 30

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12. “The best Valentine’s Day I’ve had was the first one with my boyfriend. We knew it was supposed to snow later that day, so we had to alter the plans we’d previously made to go to an extravagant dinner at a fancy restaurant and instead chose to go out to brunch and spend the rest of the day at home. We exchanged gifts after brunch and spent the afternoon simply being together and enjoying our uninterrupted time. That night, we made a delicious dinner at home and watched many corny Valentine’s Day movies. It was perfect because it was simply us spending time together and enjoying the love between two people.” —Rachel, 21

13. “We started the evening by cooking a meal together and it was amazing. Getting to create something romantic together was beautiful. After we finished dinner, he brought us to the same place where we had our first date, Hyde Park, and we held hands while we walked around. At the end of the night, he surprised me by booking a hotel room. When we got there, he had my favorite kind of chocolates lying out on the bed. It was so simple yet so perfect. Best Valentine’s Day ever.” —Isabel, 20

14. “My long-distance boyfriend was too busy with his new job to visit me regularly, but on Valentine’s Day, he mailed me a plane ticket and told me to come and visit him. He even rented a hotel so we could be alone without his roommates. When we got there, he’d laid roses all over the bed and there was champagne and fluffy robes. We ended up ditching dinner reservations and stayed in all night with room service. It was like a movie.” —Amanda, 21

15. “My boyfriend at the time had left the cheesiest teddy bear in front of my dorm room on Valentine’s Day along with a note that said, ‘I’ll pick you up for dinner at 6. Dress warm!’ We ended up having a super-romantic peanut butter and jelly sandwich dinner with a bottle of wine on this giant hill that overlooks our campus. It was probably the sweetest date ever!” —Kelly, 20

16. “My high school boyfriend asked me to come over to his house on Valentine’s Day weekend to help him with chemistry homework, which I thought was really weird because he was taking chemistry classes and I was obviously not, but I didn’t hesitate to come by. I went to knock on his front door and there was a note saying ‘walk in’ on it. I walked into his house and heard my favorite sappy love song playing, and [there was] a huge trail of rose petals leading into his living room, where he was sitting with all my favorite things. There were candles and Disney stuffed animals and it was so romantic. Even though we’re not still together, it will definitely be my top Valentine’s Day memories!” —Jessica, 21

17. “I was out of town on business on Valentine’s Day and my boyfriend was really bummed about it because apparently he had this whole big thing planned. When I came home a week later, he ended up making a whole Valentine’s Day meal and celebration anyway. He cooked steak and even bought a super-sweet cake that said ‘Happy (kind of) Valentine’s Day.’ He also got me flowers and chocolate. It was so sweet, especially because he sucks at keeping secrets and I had no idea he was planning this.” —Sally, 23



18. “Last year was the first Valentine’s Day my long-distance boyfriend and I got to celebrate together in person. He came to visit me on Valentine’s Day and we went on an amazing hike. When we got to the top of the mountain, it had a beautiful view and we got to sit down and eat a late lunch together while watching the incredible sunset. Before we hiked back down, he grabbed my hand and told me he wanted to be together forever and gave me a promise ring. I was so surprised!” —Lauren, 21

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19. “My boyfriend and I had made plans to go out for dinner, but we waited too late to make reservations. He told me to leave it up to him and that he would find us a place. The morning of Valentine’s Day, he showed up to my house with roses, bags full of groceries, and told me that he was making me dinner instead of going out. I was a little hesitant at first about him cooking because he had never done it before, but it turned out pretty well. He made some really yummy enchiladas, and best of all, I didn’t even need to get dressed up. Afterward, we cuddled and watched a movie. It wasn’t the most extravagant date but it was the sweetest.” —Michelle, 22

20. “The most memorable Valentine’s Day was when I showed up at my boyfriend’s house and he led me downstairs to his basement, where he’d prepared an indoor picnic. He knew I was tired from my week and didn’t feel like going out, so we stayed in. He doesn’t really cook, so he went around buying all my favorite foods from different restaurants like chicken and beef skewers, Indian bread, and chicken Caesar salad. I was so surprised because I’d never actually told him my favorite foods, but he’d figured it out from the times we went out to eat. Then for dessert, he made chocolate-covered strawberries. We ended the date by watching the movie we watched on our first date. It brought back memories of when we first started dating and we were both so nervous that we didn’t hold hands until the very end. There were no dimly lit mood candles or expensive presents, but it made a lasting impression on my heart.” —Kim, 21

21. “My boyfriend’s birthday is only a couple of days before Valentine’s Day, so usually we skip celebrating V-Day. But a couple of years ago, we decided to go up to the Hudson Valley for the weekend and celebrate. There was a big snowstorm and we were trapped inside for a lot of it, but the house was beautiful and we got to snuggle and escape from the world. It was magical. I tried to surprise him by wearing some new lingerie too, but when I came out of the bathroom wearing it, he’d fallen asleep! It’s been an inside joke of ours since.” —Emily, 25



22. “I know it sounds so simple, borderline tacky, but the most wonderful Valentine’s date I ever had was spent in a dorm room. We picked a movie we both loved, and to surprise each other, we each ordered a Seamless delivery with food we thought the other would love most. It was lazy and comforting but still cute and romantic!” —Tara, 23

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