Contributed by: ElyseRomano on Tuesday, February 21 2012 @ 01:55 pm
Last modified on
Ok, so Valentine's Day is a little bit silly. Everyone who complains that being in love should mean expressing that love every day, not just on one Hallmark-saturated day a year, is right - but it's still fun to see what couples were up to on the most consciously loved-up day of 2012.
According to Google[*1] , gifts and mouth-watering goodies were the main things on lovers' minds this year. Searches for keywords like "Valentine's Day dinner," "Valentine's Day recipes," "romantic dinner," and "romantic recipes" start increasing at the beginning of February and hit their peak on the 14th. But some of us aren't wizards in the kitchen, and there's hope for us too - searches for "Valentine's Day reservations" typically peak on February 9th and remain high through the holiday.
Zagat[*2] also checked in with lovers looking for a romantic culinary experience on Valentine's Day and found that 44% planned to eat out while only 35% had the guts to play chef and celebrate at home with their sweeties. V-day dinner isn't a cheap prospect for those 44%: "on average, the diners surveyed plan[ned] to spend $147 on their romantic meal. Compare that with $43.46, which is the average cost of a meal in New York according to our 2012 New York City Restaurants Survey, adding up to $86.92 per couple." And only 11% said they would split the check!
If that sounds like an expensive proposition, don't forget about the presents. When it comes to gifts, women may be the better givers. Google found that the ladies search for perfect Valentine's Day presents earlier and more often than men do - about 160% more, to be exact, since January. Some gifts will always be classics: searches for "jewelry gifts" have grown 10% since last Valentine's Day, while searches for "flower delivery" have increased 20% and searches for my personal favorite, "couples massage," have jumped almost 50% over the last year.
According to NRF's 2012 Valentine's Day Consumer Intentions and Actions survey[*3] , conducted by BIGinsight, the average person was expected to shell out $126.03 for a Valentine's day present, up 8.5% from 2011 and the highest in the survey's 10-year history. Broken down, total spending on traditional items was expected to be:
For couples who want to think outside of the box (of chocolates), gift giving can get a little more creative. Searches for "Valentine's scavenger hunt" and "personalized Valentine's Day gifts" were both up around 20% on Google from last year, and searches for "homemade Valentine's gift" rose over 60%! Nothing says "I love you" quite like a personalized present that really speaks to who your partner is and who you are as a couple.
Whoever said "love don't cost a thing" clearly didn't know what they were talking about.