31 Unique Valentine’s Day Ideas They’ll Love

That time of year’s coming again; the time where guys and girls across the UK are madly searching all over the internet for Valentine’s day ideas. Each year we’re expected to go that extra mile for our partners and eventually you’ll get to the point where you just don’t know how to make their little hearts flutter anymore. You’ve done the box of chocolates, you’ve done the bouquet of flowers, you’ve even cooked a 3 course meal and taken the time to handmake them a card in the past. What now?

I’ve come up with a list of valentine’s day ideas to get your creative juices flowing; with tips to help you think of the perfect, individual and unique gifts and things to do for your partner. Because hey, everyone’s different! And if there’s just not enough ideas here, take a look at our 33 Romantic Valentine’s Day Ideas And Gifts, or our Valentine’s Gift Guide For Him or Valentine’s Gift Guide For Her for over 70 extra ideas!

31 Unique Valentine’s Day Ideas They’ll Love

1/ Valentines Ideas For The Lovey Dovey Couple

1. His & Hers Pillow Cases from Not On The Highstreet – £25
2. Big Spoon & Little Spoon Pillow Cases from Not On The Highstreet – £25
3. Morning Gorgeous / Morning Handsome Mug Set from Amazon – was £14.99, NOW £7.99

It’s ok to put up your hand and admit you’re totally and completely in love, whether you’re a guy or a girl. Sure, the rest of us throw up in our mouths a little bit when you both walk by, but that’s no reason to tone down your Valentine’s day ideas! The point is you love each other, and you love to show it with cutesy things, and that’s just fine as long as you both appreciate it.

The ‘His & Hers’ pillow cases shot to fame in 2014 after a series of bloggers adopted them, and they’re still just as good as presents in 2015. Since you’ll be keeping these, or the big spoon & little spoon pillow cases, to the bedroom they should be a present that you can enjoy a little more subtly between you both. Because although you might both be sickly sweet in private, you’re not the type of couple that like to make a public display of your affections (and trust me, we’re all thanking you for that).

The ‘Morning Gorgeous / Morning Handsome’ are a very sweet idea – I first stumbled across them when a relative bought them for her husband and son. They work perfectly well as a couples present, but are just as nice a surprise in that scenario too. Again, no shoving your love in strangers faces, just a nice tip of the hat to each other every morning  when you decide to have a cup of tea or coffee together. Because just telling each other you look good isn’t enough – you now need an inanimate object to help you really make a statement.

1. The Smitten from Firebox – £24.99
2. Personalised Love Badgers Art Print from Bouf.com – £9.80 (for an A4 Print)
3. Jewow Jewellery 2 Piece Stainless Steel Interlocking Double Ring Necklaces for Couples from Amazon – was £59.99, NOW £15.90
4. Personalised Venn Diagram Print from Firebox – from £19.99

Now we get to the gross, and frankly a little bit ridiculous, stuff. Ah, the smitten. The most practical present on this list, especially since it’s usually still chilly enough in the UK for gloves in February. Now you can finally hold hands with your loved one without the awful material barrier of a glove, and it even comes with a pair of gloves for both of your other, free, hands. Ignore the disgusted stares from the obviously jealous people as you pass them on the street; you’re warm and in love, what could be better?

Matching necklaces, keychains, bracelets etc are all Valentine’s staples of old, so you can’t really go wrong with something like that. Even if your partner doesn’t like it, they’ll have to grin painfully and wear whatever you’ve got them with false pride because of the ‘thought’ you put into the present.

Maybe put that money into a personalised picture instead? These are honestly quite sweet, and if you don’t want guests seeing it you can always display it in your bedroom or a spare room. They’re nice enough that you could easily put one on the wall in a living room though, and not feel too much like you’re shoving your love in guests faces.

In all seriousness, use this list for inspiration. A theme you’ll be noticing throughout this post is that no two people, or couples, are the same in my opinion. Find out what your partner loves and adapt these Valentine ideas to what would work for them. Do they love homely things? Then personalised cushion covers could be a hit. Can they not get through the day without their morning coffee or tea? Then the mug set would go down a storm.

2/ Valentines Ideas For Foodies

1. I Love Tea And Coffee Mug Set Of Two from Bouf.com – £15.00
2. Luk Oil Superman Couple Aprons Funny Creative Aprons For Couples from Amazon – £13.99
3. 4 x 50ml Coffee Lovers Shots Gift Box from Amazon – £8.69
4. Hugging Couple Lovers Salt & Pepper Shakers Cruet Set from Amazon –  £5.19
5. Oriental Tea Hamper from Twinings – was £74.50, NOW £36.50

Food, or cooking related gear, are usually my favourite ideas for Valentine’s day because my partner loves cooking so much. If yours does too, or you’re just a couple that loves cooking together, start thinking outside of the box. It’s not all too romantic to open up a box of new pans on Valentine’s day, so keep that idea in the back of your head for the next Birthday.

If your partner loves cute coupley things and has at least a little bit of a sense of humour, the funny apron set should be a clear winner. And for two aprons it’s a pretty good price too. The cuddling salt and pepper shaker is a safer option, but you’d have to supplement it with something else because no one wants to get a gift that only cost a fiver…

The tea and coffee mug set are perfect if you’re the kind of couple constantly at war over what’s better; tea or coffee? This isn’t the only mug set like this out there, but I thought the hearts on both the mugs made them good Valentine’s day gifts . And then to add to that, you could always get them a special tea or coffee set.

For coffee lovers think syrups, special coffee beans (if they make their coffee with ground beans), coffee pods for coffee machines, special mugs or espresso cups etc. If they’re a tea lover, think different types of tea (Teapigs are great for different flavours), or if they only really like the standard morning tea then think of mugs, biscuits to go with their tea, or even handmade vouchers promising them you’ll be the one to make their cups of tea for the next month!

3/ Subscription Ideas For Valentine’s Day

1. Netflix £5.99 a month or Amazon Prime for £5.99 a month
2. Spotify Premium – £9.99 a month
3. Lootcrate – $19.37 a month (comes to about £15)
4. Magazine Subscriptions – Price Varies
5. Glossybox – £10 a month
6. FlavrBox – £25 a month

A staple of any date night, and key if you want a Valentine’s day on a budget, is a good movie. You could go out to the cinema of course, but if you want a cost effective date night each week then you really need a good subscription service so you can watch your favourite movies from the sofa. Each subscription movie and TV service has a different selection of shows you can watch, with two of the biggest being Netflix and Amazon Prime. You can’t go too far wrong with either, just make sure you check out their selection in advance so you know it’s the one you want. And if you want this in time for Valentine’s day 2015 you might even be able to get it for free with their 30 day trials! Just remember to cancel your card after.

You can’t set the mood without some classic music. You could put on their favourite CD, or you could make them a special playlist on Spotify. Those adverts in between each song are so annoying though, so maybe treat them to Spotify Premium for a few months. This is an awesome idea if you know they’re trying to get fit too – anything explicitly fitness related could be taken the wrong way and spark the age-old ‘are you trying to say I need to lose weight?’ argument. They’ll appreciate being able to listen to their music advert-free, and it’ll be useful every time they go to the gym.

As with all the other gifts, make sure you actually know a little bit about the person you’re with. Instead of getting something generic, tailor it to their interests. Do you know they read Cosmo magazine religiously? Get them a subscription to it. Or maybe they’re really into PC games but they don’t read magazines; get them a PC gamer magazine subscription for them to try out.

Subscription boxes are incredible gifts – if they love what they get for the month you can boast and say you knew it’d be perfect. And if they don’t, well, you can’t be blamed because you didn’t know what they’d send! There are subscription boxes for pretty much every taste and interest; above I’ve promoted the Lootcrate for geeky items, the Glossybox for makeup and beauty products, and the Flavrbox for foodies. You can normally get a discount on these boxes if you pay for a certain number of months upfront too.

Just make sure you pick the right box. I listed the most popular Subscription boxes here (point 5). I can’t give you anymore help though, I’m hoping that since you’re with the person you’re buying something for this Valentine’s day you know their basic loves and hates. And no, ‘I think she loves flowers’ and ‘I think he probably likes football’ aren’t good enough answers, they’re not a walking talking stereotype of their gender…

4/ Unusual Ideas For Valentine’s Day

1. Marshmallow Vodka from Firebox – £24.99 (+ up to 8% cashback)
2. Sleepphones from Firebox – £34.99 (+ up to 8% cashback)
3. Minibru French Press Coffee Mug from Firebox – £24.99 (+ up to 8% cashback)
4. Customisable Cookie Cutter from suckUK – £10.00
5. Joe & Seph’s Gourmet Popcorn from Firebox – £5.99 a pack (+ up to 8% cashback)
6. Freeze Chilling Wine Glasses from Firebox – £24.99 (+ up to 8% cashback)
7. Coast & Country 2 Person Hamper Set from Amazon – £23.99
8. Bear Skin Picnic Blanket from suckUK – £25

Now we’re on to all the unusual Valentine’s ideas to make their day one to remember (and tell their friends about – the real reason for Valentine’s!).

You could start the day off with a warm mug of coffee, one they can make in their new Minibru mug. Once they’ve finished it, whip out the batch of freshly made cookies you’ve prepared with your own words thanks to the incredible cookie cutter you can customise with any text! Watch them marvel at how exactly you spelt out their name so perfectly and let them know the plans for the day.

What are those plans? Oh, nothing special, just a picnic with the new hamper you bought on top of a beautiful bear shaped blanket! They’re not wowed yet? Pull out the weird and wonderful freeze chilling wine glasses you’ve gotten specially for the occasion, and stun them with the crazy marshmallow flavoured vodka. Honestly, they’ll be shaking from excitement (if they’re not a little confused about why you think they’re so alcohol obsessed).

After a day of relaxing and pampering, sit them down in front of the TV to watch a movie together (with your new Netflix subscription of course), and pop a bowl of gourmet popcorn in front of them. Caramel and peanut butter, caramel macchiato and whiskey, goat’s cheese and black pepper; you’ve got them sorted with unusual flavours.

And if those Valentine’s ideas weren’t good enough for him or her, when they’re tucking themselves in for a good night’s sleep you can confuse them with the sleepphones. Did you buy them a headband for bed? Oh no, they can finally listen to their music while they go to sleep without the use of annoying earphones.

5/ The Best Of The Traditional Valentines Ideas

1. Sweet Words Sweet Boxes – I Love You from GettingPersonal.co.uk – £22.99
2. Extra Large Hand-Tied True Love Bouquet from Interflora – £59.99
3. Indulgence Celebration Wicker Hamper from Thorntons – £45.00
4. Jellycat Baby Bashful Bee with Heart from John Lewis – £8.00
5. Simply Thoughtful Monthly Flower Gift from Bunches.co.uk – from £16.99 a month for a minimum of 3 months (with free chocolates and delivery)

 Ok so you’ve failed my imaginary test. You don’t know what they like, and you’re panicking. It’s really quite difficult to talk to one another and learn new things isn’t it? Don’t worry though, here are some of the best Valentine’s day ideas for those of you who really just… can’t be bothered. They’re the best of the best, and whoever you give them to won’t be let down. Much.

You can’t go wrong with sweets and chocolates, and if you know they won’t appreciate a few bags of Pic’A’Mix then the sweet boxes above are perfect. They’re much more unique than you’re usual box of chocolates too. But if you are after a good box, Thorntons have some gift boxes and hampers just in time for the big day with all the popular favourites they’ll love.

Flowers are always a safe bet. I even read an article the other day suggesting they shouldn’t be classed as a gift – they’re just expected now. So make sure your flowers are on point with a beautiful bouquet from Interflora, or go that one step further with a monthly flower delivery for your sweetheart from Bunches. To top all that off, you could get them the sickly sweet baby bee toy from John Lewis…

And that’s it for these ideas. Got any of your own? Let me know in the comments below or over on Facebook or Twitter and I’ll add it to the list with a nice little credit to you.

SEE MORE: 33 Romantic Valentine’s Day Ideas And Gifts