Neutral valentines day inspiration for down to earth, romantic couples
•Posted on January 21 2025
Let's chat about how you can celebrate valentine's day in a way that actually resonates with you. Instead of getting caught up in what we think it should look like, I'm here to change the narrative for those of you that are looking for something different to mark this occasion, as personally when I'm looking for inspiration, I feel it's so heavy saturated with ideas I don't like.
I'm particularly talking about the colour scheme shown to us in the masses. You only have to type in 'valentines day ideas' in your Pinterest search box to know what I'm talking about. You've got it! The pink and red colour scheme. It's everywhere! Now if this is you all over, you won't have a problem finding ideas that suit you, but if you are anything like me you'll feel so un-inspired with this event when you're looking. The other issue I find, is that everything looks so girly when it's pink, again not me at all. I am more of an outdoorsy type, and I would rather my hubby brought me a plant if he is going to treat me, that will last forever, than to spend his money on a bunch of flowers that will only last 2 weeks at a stretch!!
After celebrating many valentine's days now, I have decided to take matters into my own hands and create the ideas that would make me happier celebrating valentine's with my husband. After all, being a wedding stylist means I love celebrating 'LOVE'
So this is what today's blog post is going to be all about. I am going to being sharing ideas with you that you hopefully do connect with, so you can celebrate in style, the way you really want to.
Sending the love
The first thing I tend to think about when I think about getting ready for the day is getting my husband a card. Again I used to struggle with the selection as the ones in the shops weren't really connecting with me. So seeing as I design cards for my wedding stationery shop, this year I decided to create what I would like to give and what I'd like to receive myself. As I said before I tend to be fond of nature and plants more than flowers so I created some fun card designs that were more inline with my own tastes. You can check them out here.
I love you more than plants card
My love keeps growing for you card
Dinner at home
After I have this sorted, my mind tends to move onto what I am going to cook for dinner so that me and my husband can enjoy a romantic evening together. We have never been one of these couples to go out on valentines day for a meal. One, I think it's far too pricey to eat out on this day and two, I would much prefer cooking something extra special for my husband that is made from scratch from the heart. Plus if you want to enjoy a little drink with the meal if you fancy it, you can because you're not driving. Why not go the whole hog and put something nice on to wear, just because you're at home doesn't mean you should eat in your joggers! If you're not much of a cook, you could of course get a take away and still plate everything up nice. Making any effort will make all the difference, trust me.
Cream and gold valentines menu with wax seal
Setting the scene
The other thing that I really enjoy doing is styling our table for dinner, this takes the effort up a notch and elevates the experience immediately. It makes you feel like you're out for dinner, because it's not what you normally do. So, I like to dress the table with something different. I am really fortunate to have a wedding prop collection to dive into that I have built up over time. But you could absolutely start to do the same thing with your own decor and invest in items you can pull out just for special occasions.
Top Table Styling Tips
Top tips for valentine's table styling are to, add lots of candles to light, to create that romantic atmosphere. Choose a colour scheme that could be used for other special occasions, such as easter which will be just around the corner, mother's day or a birthday. Style with decor pieces you can keep for best such as table cloths, napkins, cutlery and crockery. Level up with coloured glassware to make things more interesting. Add stationery pieces such as name cards to personalise each place. You could also add a menu to your place setting to let your partner know what you have in store for them. These simple touches will make everything feel extra special and the effort won't go un-noticied. If you need some help with decorating your table I have a fantastic digital tablescape guide you can download. It's full of table decor ideas, table styling tips and I share my exact method that I use to design my dreamy tablescapes for wedding and home events.
The great thing about the tablescape guide is that you can use it to plan any special occasion. It might be that you're a diy couple needing some inspiration on how to decorate your wedding tables like a pro. You might be a keen host and you want to take your special dinner parties up a notch and impress your guests with your creative skills. Whatever it may be, you'll have it to refer back to time and time again, as you won't want to throw all the ideas in the guide at one event.
Now for something extra fun, I have a video for you. I am styling a valentine's tablescape to help inspire you. I will be sharing how I put all my chosen decor pieces together and if you would love to re-create the look, you will find a list of all the product links of where I got the pieces below. If they become un-available as this blog post ages, my advice is to look for similar items to help you create the look. I hope you enjoy watching it and do let me know in the comments what you think to it.
Vases, bunny tails, tealight holder are from my own prop hire collection but can find these online quite easily.
If you prefer green tones and a more rustic look over elegance, you can pair my brown and white menu cards and name tags with plants instead such as cute succulents and use natural decor elements such as wooden cutlery and natural linens. It provides a completely different vibe for your valentine's dinner, especially if you add some textured glassware for a luxe touch. Showing these stationery pieces will suit your style whatever it may be. Here's a list of where you can get these decor pieces to recreate the look at home.
Cutlery & succulents my own
Date Ideas
In the UK, February is usually quite cold still, so if you want to get out and about to go on date with your partner then here are some ideas to keep you warm. I am a huge fan of going to the cinema, it's actually where me and my husband first met, on a blind date! You could pick a film you both want to see, grab some popcorn to share and sit at the back and snuggle. If you don't want to venture out you could always replicate this at home and watch a new rom com or your all time favourite (I have many!) get your popcorn in and snuggle on the sofa together.
If you fancy getting out of the house and you don't want to spend any money you could wrap up and go for a nice long walk. It could be somewhere new so you can experience a new adventure together or re-visit somewhere to bring back a nice memory you had. Walking along together and talking, hand in hand is a nice way to slow life down, connect and appreciate each other when life can feel very busy at times. There are lots of magical woodlands near myself, so we love to wander around these exploring. We always see lots of wildlife such as squirrels, birds and deer, so it's worth taking some binoculars if you have them. If you're going for a long walk and it's not raining why not take a picnic with you. Grab a rucksack and gather some snacks and a hot flask, you can stop at a bench and take in the beautiful scenery. It really is the act of appreciating the simple things in life together that bring you closer together.
Other indoor things you could do is to light the fire and play a board game. Yes that's right put down your phone, switch it off if you have to and enjoy each others company without any distractions. Personally I actually miss the time when we were obsessed with board games. So me and my hubby have brought them back in my house, and are partial to a game of scrabble. But there are plenty of other games you can play with just two players. Again it may jog some memories and get you reminiscing about the past or you may find that it inspires you to get off your phone in the winter evenings and be more present with each other. Once you've done it once I bet you'll want to make it a new thing!
What I realised about some of these ideas I've shared is that they are not just for valentine's day. They can be used to inspire you for your relationship, whatever stage you are at. Whether its early dating days or if you've been married for years, you may just want some new ideas to spark your imagination so that your relationship can stay strong. I really hope you take away what you need to create your dream valentines day memorable.
Before you go
If you have really enjoyed this valentine's day inspiration and you are engaged or planning you're wedding ,why not join my free email list The Love Trail. It's for couples who are seeking inspiration and want to discover helpful tips along the way to help guide them on their next exciting adventure together. When you sign up, I will automatically send you a couple of free digital guides to make planning easier & stress free. You can receive them by signing up here. I'll look forward to welcoming you!
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