Ready for Valentine's Day? Here Are Some Fun Facts and Ways to Celebrate

Love it or hate it, people have strong associations with Valentine’s Day. Often considered a Hallmark holiday for consisting of remarkably high-pressured gift purchases for everything from cards and boxed chocolates to gemstone tokens of love, the tradition of this holiday has quite a history.

Valentine’s Day for Americans is believed to have started in the early 1700s, with handmade gestures, though transitioned to mass-produced declarations of love in the 1840s. The title of “Mother of Valentine’s Day” is given to Esther Howland, who began these sales with her elaborate cards decorated with lace and ribbons.

Contrary to what the retailers have us believing, Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be expensive or over the top. Get romantic and creative at home instead of shelling out a few Benjamin’s this year. Here are some great tips and cost-saving ideas to celebrate the holiday on a budget.

• Unlike most retailers, Costco flowers remain within budget and offer more than your standard red rose option. Great bouquets under $20.
• Redbox.com is offering up free movie rentals through Facebook. Need a few titles to keep you cuddling? Depending on your relationship, consider Sleepless in Seattle for a classic throw-back to finding love, The Notebook for a heart-jerking tear-fest, Crazy Stupid Love for a funny, entertaining and cool take on falling in love (not to mention some great moments featuring Ryan Gosling’s abs) or Friends with Benefits for hip, modern laughs with a killer soundtrack and JT at his finest.
• Think outside the box for this high-stakes date and surprise your love with one of these ideas from CoolestDates.com. It’s not cheesy if you make a solid attempt at spending time together. Ideas include filling the bedroom with helium balloons and eating fruit while playing a board game in bed (if you get that far) or a candlelight dinner on your living room floor.
• For the fellas: need more ideas? Check out AskMen.com’s 2012 Valentine’s Day Guide which offers up gift ideas, things to do and even how to spend the day solo.

Fun facts and superstitions to quiz your Valentine with:

• Be careful of what your roses say. Each color of rose is thought to have emotional significance. Red symbolizes love, respect and romance. Pink speaks happiness, perfection and sweetness. White communicates secrecy, innocence and purity. Coral implied desire which peach means sympathy and appreciation. And yellow is for friendship, joy and jealousy. (Courtesy of Tillie’s Flower Shop)
• Although men spend nearly twice as much on Valentine’s Day as women do, more than 33 percent of men would prefer not to receive a gift. (www.wisebread.com)
• Valentine’s Day gets “busy”—more at-home pregnancy tests are sold in March than any other month of the year. (www.wisebread.com)
• It is considered lucky to be woken with a kiss on Valentine’s Day. (www.stvalentinesday.org)