A Complete Guide: Valentine’s Ideas for Every Budget

Looking for Valentine’s Day ideas and have no clue how to start? Save yourself hours of trawling TikTok and figuring out how many loans you’d need to afford something from the goop Valentine’s gift guide: our team of deal experts and money aficionados has compiled the very best of the internet’s favourite sustainable, thoughtful and high-quality gift ideas for Valentine’s Day.

Following the de-influencing trend, we want to help you make the day special while saving your money, staying on budget, and purchasing mindfully (that means no falling for fad items!). Use our Valentine’s guide for gifts with longevity and better value for money, all while not having to resort to recreating the "sock bunny" from Friends.

Once you’ve narrowed it down to an item or activity based using the suggestions below, visit our Valentine’s 2024 gift guide and pick up a voucher code, or have a read of last year’s Valentine’s gift guide based on the five love languages for more inspiration.

We’ve split the best Valentine’s ideas into three budgets so matter what your money situation is this February, these unique ideas are sure to be a win on Saint Valentine’s day of love.

1. Skip to budget one (£20 and under)
2. Skip to budget two (£25-£75)
3. Skip to budget three (£75+)

Note: These suggestions are gender-free, working well as Valentine’s gifts for him, her or them.

Gifting Budget One: £20 and under

1. Plant

Valentine’s Day flowers are one of the most Google-searched romantic gifts, but with an average shelf life of around one week, flowers are not the most sustainable or lasting choice. The Savoo solution? Buy them a plant. Plants look lovely, improve the air quality of your space, and are natural mood boosters (according to the Royal Horticultural Society).

Things to consider before buying:

• How much light your partner’s home space gets
• The size of their space
• Do they have plants already?

Equipped with this information, any good florist or garden centre should be able to point you in the right direction.

Tip: If your other half can’t keep plants alive, shop the super-viral LEGO flowers. Constructing these will make a great date-night activity, and your loved one can cherish the beautiful blooms for decades rather than days.

LEGO Roses set

2. Cards

Valentine’s Day cards are a staple of the occasion. Whether you’re looking for sweet and sentimental or a funny Valentine’s card is more your speed, a hand-written love note makes a fabulous keepsake… especially for your “words of affirmation" partner.

If the card alone doesn’t feel like much, consider hand-making some vouchers to put inside the card for favours your partner will love. Non-expensive ideas include:

• Bringing them a cup of tea
• A night off (you cook dinner and wash the dishes after)
• Massage
• Movie night (they pick the film)
• Breakfast in bed
• Some ‘me’ time (take the dog/kids out for the day)

Greeting cards for Valentine’s Day can be found at pretty much any bookstore, novelty gift store, and of course, card shops. If you need a hand getting going, have a look at happy Valentine’s Day messages online for inspiration.

@romyvanderlindenn love coupons DIY ❤️

3. The £10 Gifting challenge

Take on the £10 gifting challenge in your local charity shop, Poundland, TK Maxx or a similar bargain shop. This unusual date idea is cheap, fun and works no matter which day of the week Valentine’s Day falls on.

Give each other a ten-pound budget and spend thirty minutes looking for the best gift you can find in the store. Not only does this make a great competitive Valentine’s Day date, but you can also set a challenge to find gifts within a category (useful, funny, meaningful).

4. Boots Photo Shop

The great thing about Boots Photo shop is that you can send any photo from your phone, meaning you don’t need to do a special photo shoot. Take your phone to a Boots store and pay with your bank card to have your favourite photo printed instantly for as little as twenty pence. Use the link to find which of the 934 photo stores is nearest to you and get your prints same-day.

Once you’ve got your photo printed, why not pick up a frame in a charity shop, or write a love note on the back? Get inspired by having a read of some Valentine’s Day poems, then either write your own or adapt an existing one if creativity isn’t your strong suit.

Gift Budget Two: £25-£75

1. Picnic at home

Champagne flutes

Designer cocktail glasses like the Signature Glass With a Twist by Helle Mardahl make gorgeous gifts but can set you back around four hundred euros apiece, so we’re guiding you in a more pocket-friendly direction. Habitat, Urban Outfitters, and Not On The High Street are great places to start for funky, colourful Champagne coupes and tumblers. A bottle or two of bubbly and a punnet of berries for decoration and you’re good to go!

Once Valentine’s night is over these can remain part of your partner’s permanent glassware collection for many nights to come.

Champagne coupes by Helle Mardahl (left) and Urban Outfitters (right)

Fondue

Baking together, making pizzas, you can’t go wrong when it comes to getting your hands messy and cooking something you can both enjoy. One idea we’re particularly “fond" of is planning an at-home fondue night. Shopping for affordable dipping food whether it’s a loaf of bread, veggies, or cured meat will balance out the slightly more pricey fondue pot. Affordable-ish fondue pots can be found at Klarstein, Argos and Wayfair among others.

2. Spa night in

Our first recommended port of call would be a does-it-all brand like Cult Beauty, Beauty Bay or allbeauty. When purchasing all your spa night items in one place, your order is more likely to qualify for the free shipping threshold. Not only that, but you can collect all your membership points in a singular place, making those loyalty rewards easier and quicker to reach.

We’ve made a list of suggestions that should make it into your shopping cart as well as things to consider when buying:

Consider…

• Does your partner have allergies?
• What is their skin type? (You can find this out by checking the products they currently use)
• What are their favourite smells? (Search for their favourite perfume or cologne and use a site like Fragrantica for a breakdown of the notes)
• What do they usually use on their face, body and hair?

To buy:

• Body scrub
• Massage oil
• Face mask (a tub will get you more for your money than individual sheet masks)
• A candle

Enhance the experience by using mood lighting, putting together a relaxing playlist, and using aromatherapy to set the tone. Many of these big beauty retailers also now stock sexual wellbeing products, so consider throwing a toy and some lubricant into the mix for your spa evening’s grand finale.

Gift Budget Three: £75+

2023 Valentine's Limited Edition by Nike

1. Valentine’s Limited editions

Limited edition items are one-offs that make a great unique Valentine’s gift. Often featuring the brand’s best-loved products and designs in the season’s red and pink, this is a great way to get your partner something from a brand you know they adore, in a style you know they don’t already have!

Not only that, but is it relatively rare that limited editions make a return to the shelves after February, meaning that this gift is time-stamped to the year it was gifted and makes a lovely keepsake for years to follow.

Examples of brands known to offer popular Valentine’s limited editions include Nike, Diptyque, and Radley.

The Love Knit: 2024 Valentine's Limited Edition by Pleasing

2. Jewellery

While they might see this one coming, what is a better keepsake than a piece of Valentine’s jewellery? We recommended steering clear of something as cliche as heart motifs and instead choose classic, elegant designs that can be worn daily. With longevity in mind, Valentine’s jewellery gifts fall into our highest price band: look for sterling silver, solid gold or gold vermeil pieces that won’t tarnish.

Try the new and trending Monica Vinader or Missoma if you want a place to start, and for engagement rings you can’t go wrong with the timeless favourites for proposals up and down the country: have a look at Pandora’s offering as well as rings from Fraser Hart.

3. Romantic getaways

A stay within the UK can be an easy alternative to going abroad. No passports, no boarding passes, no need to book time off work. By catching the coach or train on Friday evening and returning on Sunday night, you can grab two nights and two days of alone time with your partner in some of the UK’s most picturesque spots.

A breakdown of the most romantic UK locations by Conde Nast Traveller (and ones that frequently occurred in other guides we checked) are:

Your chosen location will provide the foundation for date ideas for Valentine’s Day, so consider things like the proximity of good walks, the beach, and restaurants for a start. Check out our previous guide to the best value UK hotels by the sea for more inspiration.

For romantic UK getaways under £100, use the on-site price filters or a comparison site, but be sure to book direct to get the best available rate on your stay (check out our article for more tips on how to save on your hotel booking). Don’t dismiss independent and small hotel groups right off the bat, and check out the hotel’s package deals, particularly if they have a spa or restaurant on-site. You might find that booking a hotel spa package is more affordable than booking a hotel and spa separately.