Will you be my Valentine? Great! Let's play Monopoly

Olivia Petter eases the pressure of the most romantic day of the year’ by proposing eight alternative things to do on a date

- Olivia Petter

In theory, a day dedicated entirely to love sounds like a wonderful idea. Think about it: just for one day, everyone is given licence to indulge their soppiest most saccharine selves, professing adoration to all those closest to them. And yet, Valentine’s Day often has the opposite effect, eliciting fear and dread in all of us, regardless of our relationship status.

For those who are single, the day itself, and all the advertising that generally accompanies it, is little more than a slap in the face. As for those who are in relationships, well, it’s just one giant pressure cooker. How can you have the most romantic day and evening possible? How much money do you have to spend on gifts? What if you’re both feeling a bit tired that day and don’t actually want to have dinner up The Shard?

It doesn’t help that our ideas of romance are often wildly misguided, informed predominantly by Nineties romcoms and kitsch marketing campaigns. All this might lead us to believe that the epitome of romantic love is a candlelit dinner in a Michelin-star restaurant with a string quartet serenading you throughout the meal. Anything less than that and you’ve fallen short: your partner will resent you because you’re officially a failure at love.

Obviously, this isn’t true. But it can be hard to remember that when we’re all sold such a singular view of romance. The thing is, there are actually plenty of things you can do to mark Valentine’s Day that don’t include resorting to cliche or parting with hundreds of pounds. Here are just a few ideas for some alternative date plans. Thank us later.

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