Valentine's Day: How Important Is It To Your Relationship?

Still haven't gotten your Valentine a gift?  Well, you're not alone.  Instead of rushing out in the stores, write a sweet card and insert pictures of the loving goodies you purchased from Isme.

Valentine’s Day offers the perfect opportunity for couples everywhere to spend a bit of quality time together and celebrate their relationship. And while it's certainly an important day circled in couples' calendars, it's also a bumper date for the retail industry, with loved-up Brits forking out an impressive £880million on romantic gifts to mark the day in 2012.

But with household budgets now more stretched than ever, it might be a good idea to ask yourself just how important the 14th February is to your relationship before you take those expensive heart-shaped chocolates to the till and whip out your credit card!

A recent survey by leading online retailer isme.com actually found that more than half of men and women still saw Valentine’s Day as an important date in the year. And, quite surprisingly, twice as many men as women felt the day was "very important", which might go some way to ridding boyfriends and husbands of the stereotype that they simply don't care.

However, there are still a fair few people who would just as easily pass up the champagne, flowers and chocolates, with 4 out of 10 men and almost as many women confessing to being completely indifferent to celebrating Valentine’s Day. Let's just hope that these dedicated cynics are going out with each other!

In fact, with birthdays, anniversaries and Christmas all competing for priority as the most important romantic date in the year, men should take note that an overwhelming 9 out of 10 women thought that their anniversary was a much bigger deal than Valentine's Day. So, gentlemen, remember to underline that date in your diaries as, unfortunately, Cupid won't be there to remind you! 

But regardless of how important your partner views it, Valentine's Day just wouldn't be the same without cards and presents. Perhaps a reflection of the fact that a greater significance is placed on other important days, the majority of people surveyed favoured giving modest Valentine's gifts, with three quarters of men and more than 8 out of 10 women only willing to spend up to £50 on presents for their partner. To put this into perspective, women reportedly expect men to spend a cool £300 on their Christmas present! 

However, any guys out there looking to score extra brownie points by treating their partner on 14th February can find plenty of inspiration for gift ideas online, with a fab selection of Valentine's gifts for her at isme.com.

Disclaimer: This was a sponsored post.  I was compensated in exchange for publishing this article.