Valentine’s day is a romantic based holiday celebrated around the world every February 14th, and in recent years there has been an adaptation including friends celebrating Valentine’s day together.

There are many traditions for Valentine’s Day, from roses and chocolates to fancy dinners, gift exchanges, homemade treats. Valentine’s day even has a set color scheme including different variations of reds and pinks, which are colors associated with love and romantic feelings. The heart is also a symbol for the holiday of love. 

This year Valentine’s day was in the middle of the week on a tuesday. For many people celebrating on the actual date doesn’t work with their schedules so they celebrate the weekend before or after. Joseph Florez, a teacher at Fair Grove, shared that he and his wife celebrated the weekend before, “We had a Valentine’s Day weekend in St. Louis. We went to see a concert (Colter Wall) and had dinner at one of our favorite restaurants (Favazzas) in “the hill” district. We’ve been married for 11 years, and we’ve been visiting Favazzas probably at least once a year for over a decade.” 

For some people like Stephanie Brown, an art teacher at Fair Grove, Valentine’s day becomes a more laid back holiday. She explained, “This year we stayed home. My husband cooked us dinner and we gave little gifts to our kids. We make it more about them than anything.” 

There has been a large addition to the classic romantic innuendos that Valentine’s day usually brings, and it has been dubbed “Galentines.” Galentines consists of a group of platonic friends who get together and celebrate the holiday, recognizing that not all love has to be romantic. Katie Mueller (12) said, “This year for Valentine’s Day I went out with friends to eat at Olive Garden and painted pottery. After that we went home and created themed desserts and followed that with a movie night.”

At Fair Grove Schools there were a variety of parties. In the elementary school there was a school-wide celebration where students brought in “Valentine’s boxes” and handed out cards and treats to one another. Haydn Hall (12) said, “My last hour of the day is A+ luckily they were having a party and I was invited. It started off by passing out valentines to everyone and admiring the boxes everyone brought. Next they played valentines themed games like stacking candy hearts and playing musical chairs with heart shaped paper.” 

Hall also shared that he had a few parties in his high school classes, “During school in Spanish I had a valentines party and in calculus also. In calculus we had a box making competition which I won by a landslide.” 

Valentine’s day can be celebrated in many different ways no matter the type of relationship or friendship, and is simply a holiday for love, in both extravagance and simplicity.