«A Year of Parties» Series - Valentine's party for two
Welcome to the second installment of the series «A Year of Parties», Valentine’s day edition. In a previous post here I mentioned that you can celebrate Valentine’s day three ways:
With your partner/spouse,
With your friends/girlfriends at a “singly party” or
Alone with a Me-party.
Within this post I’d like to explore all the ways you can throw a Valentine’s day party for two. People in a “fresh” relationship won’t celebrate the same way as a married couple of 20 years. Also, when throwing your loved one a party for two you have to take into consideration what would she or he like, and not necessarily what’s trending or is cool to be doing, seeing, experiencing. An adventurous couple might want to take a hot-air balloon ride whereas a “foody” couple will want nothing less than a “tasting” party at an upscale restaurant.
Men and women of 50 and up are impressed by other things than couples at the age of 20-25. If you’d like to impress your girl- or boyfriend, your newlywed wife/husband or spouse of many years, you only have to look at your history together, your likes (and dislikes so you can avoid them) and you’ll come to the perfect thing to do to celebrate.
A celebratory meal, whether it’s a surprise breakfast in bed or a festive dinner at home (or in a restaurant), is definitely a good way to start or end your day!
I surprised my hubby of 24 years with a simple and intimate, stylish but not over the top setting for dinner to celebrate the best decision we made oh so long ago - to choose each other, every day.
I used a helium filled balloon to serve as the main decor and to it’s “tails” I attached double hearts (as weight) to keep it closer to the table. Also, candles galore made the atmosphere romantic while providing sufficient lighting. I designed a place setting where the phrase «I LOVE YOU» was translated into many (mainly European) languages. The simple table setting was complemented by little touches of details, like the tealights’ bases wrapped in washi tape and punched out heart shaped confetti and rose petals scattered around the table and a nice paper napkin folded into shape.
The centerpiece is the epitome of this day: «the ampersand»
Ampersand file from SVGCuts
Not perfect by any means (not the ampersand, nor we) but the result is harmonious, a little cute, a lot strong and definitely established on a solid base (the tiny “musical” flowers are reference to the fact that music and its people brought us together).
We had all our favorite dishes and wines, listened to relaxing music and had a selection of sweet bites for dessert. All in all, the night was a success because we were together and it was all about us. The decorations, the food and wines, the music and the overall style of it spoke to us and about us.
Thank you for spending some of your free time with me. I hope this post gave you an idea for a simple but elegant way to celebrate this day with your significant other.
Happy Valentine’s day!
Your very own fairy,
Tünde - Nefeli
* If you’d like to know more about the ampersand you’ll find its dedicated page under the «SHOWCASE» tab here.
The first obstacle to overcome in throwing a surprise party of any kind is to make sure the person(s)-to-be-surprised will be there to enjoy all the hard work you’re going to put into organizing this party.
My suggestion off the bat is: don’t do it alone! More people invested in this party’s success means less stress, more brainstorming, and more time efficiently managing and implementing all the tasks a party entails.