Valentine´s Day .... make it yours

Like with other holidays often we are expected to make Valentine´s Day perfect in a conventional way. Big bunch of red roses, dinner at a posh nosh restaurant, the works. But for some of us this just doesn´t do it for us. To me Valentine´s Day is about the unique love we have with our partner and expressing it in our own unique way. The first Valentine´s Day I spent with my husband after about six months of being together was testament to this idea of ´perfection´ and, bless him for all his efforts, it just didn´t quite work out.  

It goes like this: I had been shooting a TV ad in the depths of South London outdoors in the freezing getting battered by the elements. It was the third day in a row I had been up and out the door by 5am having only got home the previous night at 11pm. To say I was tired was an understatement. While I was working, my lovely husband-to-be had been busying himself kicking out his flatmates for the evening and decorating the house. He spent a fortune on red roses (which neither he or I are actually that fond of!) covering the living room and scattering them in a hot bath ready for my return. Dinner reservations were made at a posh restaurant and he was nervous and excited to be sharing our first Valentine´s together. I eventually came home late, frozen and bedraggled and totally not in the mood for a night out but this is what couples do I thought to myself and I assumed he would be disappointed. Cue the bath in which I fell asleep and nearly drowned myself choking on a petal. I kid you not. After being rescued by loving man we decided that a takeaway at home was a better option. We sat on cushions at a little table on the living room floor (the ´boy´s´ place didn´t possess a proper table) surrounded by mismatching candles his mum had given him ´in case the electricity goes out´ and it was perfect. 14 years on we still celebrate in pretty much the same way although we sit at a nice table, surround ourselves with gorgeous candles and my favourite flowers - orange tiger lillies - adorn our house. The point I am making is that Valentine´s is about you as a couple and not what some glossy magazines tells you it should be like. 

(Photo sources : etsy.com, aminamichele.com, theclassywoman.com, marthastewart.com, luxuryhomeideas.com, familyfreshcooking.com, homedesigndecorator.com)