Valentine's Day Party Ideas You'll Fall In Love With

Valentine's Day is a divisive holiday, with some people loving the opportunity to celebrate love and others seeing it as yet another pointless, commercialized holiday — not to mention a holiday that really rubs it in if you're single. The history of Valentine's Day is also a little murky, but most sources agree that it originated back in the Middle Ages as a celebration of a Christian martyr, Saint Valentine.

The first mention of Valentine's Day as a romantic celebration was in Geoffrey Chaucer's 1375 poem "Parliament of Foules," in which he wrote, "For this was sent on Seynt Valentyne's day / Whan every foul cometh ther to choose his mate" (via History). And for the last millennia or so, we've been observing the love-centric holiday by spending time with and buying gifts for our loved ones.

Whether you love or hate the holiday, you may as well try to have as much fun as possible this February 14th. That's why we've rounded up some unique Valentine's Day party ideas you'll fall in love with.

There is really no better time to arrange yourself a beautiful bouquet of flowers than Valentine's Day. Whether you're single (Alexa, play "Flowers" by Miley Cyrus) or coupled up, taking the time to try flower arranging is the perfect on-theme activity to celebrate Galentine's day with your girls. And don't worry — you don't have to have a green thumb (or even be particularly creative) to have an amazing time trying your hand at a floral arrangement.

The first step is to round up your girlfriends and decide if you'd all prefer to go to a floral arranging workshop in person — there are usually plenty of these available in major cities around Valentine's Day (like Earl Grey Floral in Austin or FlowerSchool New York in New York City) – or if you'd rather make your bouquets at home. If you choose the latter option, you'll want to gather up your supplies beforehand, which include focal flowers, like roses, anemones, and peonies, and filler flowers, like eucalyptus and lavender (via HGTV). Don't be afraid to ask your local florist to help out when you're selecting your variety of flowers! You'll also need to pick up some vases, vessels, or twine for each guest to use for their finished bouquet.

If you do opt to have a floral arranging party at home, consider participating in a virtual floral arrangement class so you have some guidance.

Personally, we're fans of romcoms all year long, but if there's one day perfectly suited for binge-watching romcoms, it's Valentine's Day. Especially for those who aren't the biggest fans of Valentine's Day to begin with, spending the day watching movies is an easy, go-to choice.

When it comes to which romcoms to watch, your options are plenty. For lovers of Old Hollywood, there are the classic, old-fashioned romcoms, like "Roman Holiday" and "It Happened One Night"; those who appreciate the '80s and '90s nostalgia vibes could go for "Say Anything," "Groundhog Day," or "Moonstruck." To transport yourself back to the early aughts, why not watch "High Fidelity"?

More recent romcoms include "Obvious Child," a quirky movie starring Jenny Slate about learning to embrace being an independent woman, as well as "Appropriate Behavior," "Silver Linings Playbook," and "The Big Sick." Business Insider rated all of these among the best romantic comedies of all time.

Charcuterie, heart-shaped pastries of all sorts, and plenty of chocolate can make for a fun Valentine's Day feast. Many people agree that finger foods are the most fun to eat, and Valentine's Day offers the perfect excuse to assemble a beautiful snack tray or charcuterie board, whether you're hosting a get-together or chilling on your own.

If you want to step your charcuterie board up a notch, food development specialist Stephanie Miller recommends trying some new things. "It's a good opportunity to go outside your comfort zone and try that 'strange fruit' you have been eyeing, or splurge on the 'more expensive' cheddar," Miller told Food Network. Valentine's Day provides the perfect excuse to add pink and red fruits like dragon fruit, cherries, guava, and figs to a charcuterie board offer a fun twist. And for the cheese — a crucial part of any charcuterie board — food media entrepreneur Chadwick Boyd advises a rule of threes: "My baseline is always 'cheese in threes' — a hard cheese, like Parmesan, aged gouda or comet; a soft cheese, like a triple cream brie or goat cheese; and a mild cheese, like cheddar or Emmental."

Want to hang out with your friends and drink a little wine this Valentine's Day? We have the perfect idea for you: a wine swap. If you've never done a wine swap, the rules are simple: Invite all your gal pals and instruct them all to bring a wrapped bottle of wine. "Number one picks any bottle, number two can steal that bottle or pick a new one. Repeat until everyone has a bottle. Oh, and only two steals are allowed per bottle," according to the rules laid out by Cosmopolitan.

If you're not a big wine person, or if you're just unsure what kind of wine to bring to the swap, it's hard to go wrong with a rosé, especially on Valentine's Day, or a classic red blend. If you want to do something a little different, though, Riesling, an aromatic white wine, is a good option. Sommelier Alisha Blackwell-Calvert told Forbes that she recommends Willm's Reserve Riesling because "it features delicious tropical fruit flavors" and "has a long mineral finish that will quench your thirst."

If you want to be fancy for Valentine's Day, consider a high tea Valentine's party, complete with tiny sandwiches and delicate teacups. High tea is a casual British tradition that historically involved heavy meals that included meats, beans, and potatoes, according to the Pioneer Woman. However, many people began to confuse "high tea" with "afternoon tea," with afternoon tea being the much fancier version of high tea thanks to its fancy teacups, tiny pastries, and a general air of luxury compared to the more casual high tea.

Whether you want to call it high tea (which admittedly does sound fancier than afternoon tea) or afternoon tea, hosting a tea party is a fun and unique way to celebrate this Valentine's Day. To make the day extra special and on-brand, ask your guests to wear their Sunday best. Then find yourself a pretty teapot and matching teacups (hot tip: thrift stores tend to have plenty), and finish things off with some delicate sandwiches to have a Bridgerton-worthy celebration of love.

We typically reserve dressing in costume for Halloween, but why not dress up on Valentine's Day as well? Hosting a Valentine's Day costume party is almost guaranteed to be more fun than a non-costume party since costumes are always great conversation starters and allow people to be a bit goofier than usual. You can stick to Valentine's Day-themed costumes only, which would likely translate to lots of cupids and couples' costumes, or you can advise guests to wear any costume their heart desires.

And if a full-blown costume party is a little much for you, you could always just have your guests dress up in formal, date-night looks. That way, the occasion still feels special but no one has to scramble to find a last-minute costume. Plus, throwing on your favorite dress is sure to boost your confidence and add a touch of glamour to your Valentine's Day. "It will probably feel special enough wearing a pair of heels and a dress," matchmaker Nikki Lewis told The Zoe Report.

We would be remiss not to include perhaps the ultimate date night pairing: pizza and beer. While some may think it's not "special" enough for Valentine's Day, we'd say that there are few things in this world better than pizza and a good beverage — especially if you've got a good movie or some so-bad-it's-good reality TV to watch, too.

This casual V-Day celebration is a good option if you and your partner want to keep things low-key. After all, as L.A.-based relationship therapist Jaime Bronstein told Brides, "The happiest couples can make anything fun, lemonade out of lemons and all that."

Another great thing about pizza and beer? They taste just as great if you're single. Valentine's Day is a day to indulge in the things we enjoy, and if that happens to be pizza and beer, you should certainly partake, whether you're coupled up or not. "Just do the nice thing for yourself, whatever that looks like to you," life coach and therapist Tess Brigham advised to Women's Health.