13th Jan 10
Valentines Day… For Under £15
by David Davies
Everyone’s tempted to make extravagant gestures on Valentine’s Day. We’re all a little prone to take one another for granted for most of the other 364 days of the year, maybe excluding birthdays and other major anniversaries. The annual day of romance gives everyone a chance to compensate for the previous twelve months of unintentional neglect. The trouble is, getting the gesture right is more difficult than it first appears; we’re tempted to overcompensate rather than merely compensate, overspend rather than symbolise enduring love, and outdo one another rather than exchange a couple of simple gifts.
The good news is that we can step back from these tendencies if we’re level-headed enough, and opt instead for a modest but tasteful gift which simply says ‘Love You!’ Thoughtful gestures are more important than price tags on Valentine’s day; you should be able to find a romantic gift for no more than £15. Here are a few suggestions.
There’s no need to go overboard.
Provided you throw in a nice bunch of fresh cut flowers, too, a favourite rom-com movie on DVD should go down a treat (you can pick from a good raft of titles very cheaply in most supermarkets these days). Watch it after the candle-lit evening meal whilst savouring a tiny box of good quality chocolates from Thornton’s or M&S.
On the subject of chocolates, Valentine’s Day is a day for the suspension of joyless diets and calorie-controlled drinks. If your loved one is a conformed chocoholic, or just likes to indulge once in a while, this is one of the few days in the year when he or she is allowed to let rip. A mouthwatering heart-shaped slab of chocolate weighing in at 225g will cost you £10 from buyagift.co.uk. Available in either dark or milk chocolate, the Chococo Heart on Heart is handmade with luxurious Venezuelan Carenero Superior bean chocolate and has a lovely white chocolate heart in the centre, encrusted with dried strawberries. Wrapped in clear cellophane with a satin ribbon, anyone looking at it will want to frame it as well as sinking their teeth into it.
Valentine’s: chocoholic’s paradise.
Gifts don’t have to be functional (in fact, if they are, they can badly backfire on a romantic occasion – no one wants a new toaster or ironing board on Valentine’s Day). For all of us who are not especially demonstrative in verbal displays of undying love, a simple but rather touching gift is a gleaming slab of clear glass with the words ‘Have I Told You Lately …’ engraved in bold lettering on the front. Turn the slab on its side, and along the lower edge the words “…That I Love You?” are etched. Made by Trend-Setters, Spaceform of London, you can pick it up online from pressies4princesses.co.uk for £6.79.
If you think that buying jewellery from a supermarket is a bit tacky, think again. Marks and Spencer has an incredibly versatile range of chic jewellery for amazingly modest prices. An extremely elegant and gracefully simple sterling silver heart or teardrop pendant necklace will cost £15, as will an equally tasteful silver plated heart cluster necklace. You might want to check out Next, too, although I personally think the M&S range is better (you get more choice for one thing and I think the designs have more panache).
Cheating slightly, but for another 99p, you can have an incandescent bouquet of flowers sent on a free delivery basis from bunches.co.uk. The Sweet Celebration bunch is the one to go for – a glorious assortment of soft-pink spray chrysanthemums mixed with deeper, cerise pink Germini and little bursts of purple Statice, it also comes with free chocolates.
The classics are the best.
And if you want to pick up a nice fragrance without forking out a small fortune, try the Davidoff Echo Woman Gift Set, available from fragrancedirect.co.uk for just £14.99. The set contains a 30ml glass bottle of Eau de Parfum spray and 75ml of light body lotion.
There are dozens of things you can pick up for £15 and under, all of which have that delightful touch of frivolity which says ‘I bought it to make you feel special.’ At the end of the day, you have to be guided by your own and your partner’s tastes and preferences. Buying your girlfriend a subscription to Top Gear magazine when she’s into Hugh Grant movies won’t go down very well, and neither will a new casserole dish. The romance comes out of the lack of practicality of the gift not its usefulness – she’s not meant to do anything with it apart from enjoy it.
The important thing is to try to give yourself enough time to think about what would convey affection and appreciation, and you need to be on guard against buying something because you like it. Sometimes this will work but often it doesn’t. And some gestures aren’t necessary gifts as such but are genuinely romantic and pleasurable even so – like preparing and cooking a romantic candle-lit meal for two followed by a delightfully naughty adult game like ‘Nookii.’
You don’t need to be either ostentatious or bizarre (one man allegedly bought his girlfriend a two-seater toilet – just don’t go there).If you give yourself enough time to browse, either in the shopping mall or online, you should easily be able to come up with some excellent and tasteful gifts for under £15. These are just a few pointers. Browse, meditate and buy, but don’t hit the overdraft limit.
P.S. Need additional gift ideas? Check out the Discount Vouchers homepage.
"Good info. Where can I get more information about this. keep it coming. ta"
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