Valentine's Day: A waste of money or a showcase of love?

In theory Valentine's Day can seem like a wonderful idea; a day specifically designed to appreciate your other half and show them how much you love them. In reality though, the day can turn out to be not so sweet.

If you’ve been brainwashed into celebrating Valentine’s Day with a romantic candle-lit dinner followed by a moonlit stroll on the beach after being showered with a bouquet of roses and a bottle of champagne in your hotel room where you’ve gone for a getaway romantic weekend then I’m guessing you won’t agree with what I’m about to say in this blog so maybe you should stop reading…

But maybe you’re a cynical anti-Valentine critic like me and you dismiss the notion of buying presents for your loved one on a random made up holiday. If so, keep reading. You might like what I have to say.

Now don’t get me wrong, I like to be appreciated and pampered as much as the next girl but I don’t need Valentine’s Day for that. Without any of us even realising it Valentine’s Day has turned into an exhibition of us proving our love for each other with over-the-top presents and cards that cost more than my right arm, rather than actually celebrating it. Like many cynics I cling to the notion that this inane, made-up holiday is sponsored by profit-seeking, commercial card companies and overpriced florists who will market anything remotely romantic in order to make some money and then laugh all the way to the bank with your hard earned dolla bills.

I’m not wrong in what I’m saying. Figures released last year from Visa Europe found that in the Irish market, holders of their cards spent almost €10 million in florist shops alone. They also found that 40% of Irish people bought flowers to mark the so-called special occasion on February 14^th. 

And it’s not just the florists who hit the jackpot in the run-up to Valentines. Renowned card company Hallmark, who first sold Valentine's cards in 1913, now offer a choice of over 1,400 different cards for the special occasion and An Post is expected to handle approximately 100,000 Valentine's Day cards this year! That’s a lot of cards, a lot of stamps and a lot of money.

So why do we feel such a need to splurge money a lot of us don’t have on a commercialised holiday that’s forgotten about soon after the clock strikes midnight? Are we worried about keeping up with what everyone else is doing and letting them know you’re in a happy relationship? Cue cutesy Facebook statuses from girls of ‘The boy did well’ when their boyfriends ‘surprised’ them with Michael Kors watches or Mi Moneda chains after dropping not so subtle hints. Chances are they’ll be broken up in a few weeks.

Ok so maybe that’s a bit harsh but you see where I’m going. There’s no need to tell the whole world or the virtual world you’ve created on Instagram or Twitter about what you got, or didn’t get, on Valentine’s Day. It’s annoying, it’s cheesy and most of us really don’t care.

Don’t get me wrong, a surprise bouquet of flowers or an expensive gift is undoubtedly flattering and I’d be the first to accept without hesitation. But is one day of the year really necessary to showcase how much your significant other means to you? Maybe, just maybe, we should be highlighting it all year round without the flashy presents and extravagant gifts.

Pictures courtesy of: http://happyvalentinesday2015z.com/anti-valentines-day-2015-cards/ and Pinterest.