Updated on February 15, 2021
February 14th is known worldwide as Valentine's Day. It is a day dedicated to love. It is customary to offer flowers, cakes and presents to those you love but the fact remains that there is a differentiation of traditions amongst countries. Read and find out about these differences and then leave a comment telling us:
a) which country's traditions you found most interesting and why,
b) how Valentine's Day is celebrated in your country.
If you don't know much about specific celebrations in your country, check this out or read this article: Valentine's Day in Greece
14 Comments on “Valentine’s Day traditions”
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Valentine’s Day is a celebration for lovers. All around the world many people celebrate Valentine’s day with many ways.
In my opinion the most interesting tradition on Valentine’s day is in England because women place five bay leaves on their pillows, one at each corner and one in the center to dream of their future husbands.I find it very interesting that women sleeping and dreaming of their future husbands, I don’t believe its true but we never know if we don’t try!
In Greece many people don’t really mind about Valentine’s day or they don’t celebrate it. But there are some people that they like celebrating Valentine’s day. Some children bring cards and drawings to their mothers saying “I love you”.Older man brings flowers or cakes with shape of hurt to their wife’s sawing their love. Fathers also bring flowers to their daughters and all the family surprise their mothers.
In my opinion Valentine’s day is a very lovely celebration, celebrate with family but I believe that we don’t need a celebrate sawing our love to our parents- friends. We are suppose to sawing our love everyday to our relatives bring them a kiss and a hug.
Marianna Giapoutzi
I found very interesting the traditions in England about Valentine’s day. I’ve never heard of putting five bay leaves on your pillows so that you can see a dream with your future husband. I think that’s very unique, but does it work ? Something else I found really interesting about the traditions of England is that in Norfolk Jack Valentine is like a santa and kids wait with joy until they hear him knocking at their door, then they all check their porches for Jack Valentine’s small gifts and candies.
In Greece Valentine’s day is celebrated way too different than how England celebrates it. Most of the couples or lovers here like to spend time with each other like, going on trips and of course exchanging gifts. The most popular things that are bought on Valentine’s day {for women} are : Flowers, chocolates and sweets, perfumes, jewellery, teddies.As for men the most popular gifts are : Techonogy gadgets ,books, watches designer clothes or just clothes and shoes. Also some couples enjoy going on trips. Overall I think Greece is a romantic country.
A] Throughout the world’s valentine’s traditions, I believe the most interesting tradition is the one found in Norfolk England. This is because Valentine’s Day there, can be like Halloween or Christmas. This way it is not only a day for love but it’s a day where children can have fun too.
B] Valentine’s Day is celebrated in Greece like in the rest of the world.
The ancient Greeks believed that Cupid, the son of Aphrodite causes the emotion of love between two people. Cupid is a small mischievous winged child whose arrow pierces the heart.
Nowadays, men give women mostly flower bouquets, chocolate candies, soft toys and diamond and platinum chains as Valentine’s Day gifts. Οn the other hand, women usually buy gifts such as electronic gadgets, books, watches for the men they love.
In Greece, people make homemade chocolate cookies, put it in a gift basket with umpteen number of gift cards and a photo collage. Candle light dinners also have high demand on Valentine’s Day in Greece and are one of the favorite things to do in order to show your love to a woman.
In conclusion I believe that the love between two people should be shown every day with little valuable things.
In my country we don’t celebrate the Valentine’s day . In Greece we don’t celebrate it because it is a catholic celebration and we are Orthodox . But there are some people who bring chocolates , beautiful flowers , teddy bears and colorful cards with red hearts to their love . Additionally, some people organize weddings or travels for their love . Other countries celebrate that day differently . They do more special things than Greeks. They have some extra traditions in their countries . In South Korea they celebrate the 14th every month , in Philippines they marry on that day and in Bulgaria they celebrate the day with a glass of wine .
I found interesting, the traditions of Denmark for Valentine’s Day, because Denmark started celebrating the Valentine’s Day in 1990 and they exchange pressed, white flowers called snowdrops, instead of roses. I also liked the lover’s cards which had a picture of the person who gave the card. But the best of all was the gaekkebrev. Gaekkebrev is a letter that consists a funny poem written on cut paper and signed with anonymous dots. Men give this letter to women and if a woman who got a gaekkebrev finds the sender, she earns an Easter Egg that year.
In Greece, people celebrate the Valentine’s day because that day Zeus and Hera celebrate their marriage ,according with the myth. These days, young men propose or they get married with girls. Also men give to women a rose or bouquets with chocolates and rings. Men give perfumes too. They believe that these perfumes will sing the hymns of love.
While I was trying to find a country that celebrates the Valentine’s day I saw that South Africa celebrates the Valentine’s day differently from us. First, people exchange flowers and other tokens of love. Women pin the name of the person that they love on their sleeves on February 14th.In some cases, this is how South African men learn of their secret admirers.
In Greece, men and women celebrate the Valentine’s day by exchanging presents. Women like flower bouquets, chocolate, candies jelleries as Valentine’s Day gifts. On the other hand, men like presents that are more useful than romantic. Some gifts are, electronic gadgets, books and watches. But the best thing isn’t the presents that people take, the best is to spend time with your sweetheart by watch romantic movies or have a romantic dinner.
After I read the text I discovered that each country has its own unique Valentine’s Day traditions. The traditions of each country are great and special but the Valentine traditions I liked the most are from England.
In England, women place under their pillow 5 bay leaves in order to dream of their future husband. Another cool, different and unique Valentine’s Day tradition, I read, is the tradition of Jack Valentine. Jack Valentine is someone like Santa that who brings candies, sweets and small gifts on Valentine ’s Day in England. Jack leaves small gifts, the candies and the sweets in front of their porch.
As in other countries we have our own Valentine traditions and here too. The Valentine’s traditions, that we have, are similar with the traditions in other countries.
Valentine is a celebration for lovers all over the world so a Valentine tradition that Greek lovers have and do every year is to exchange cards and messages telling to their loved ones how much they love them. Another Valentine tradition that people, especially men do, is to bring beautiful, colorful and, sometimes, in the shape of a heart bouquets of flowers and chocolates to their girl lover. Something that many lovers also do too is to decorate their house with beautiful and colorful flowers, smelling candles and garlands in shape of hearts to make a romantic dinner for their lover.
The most important thing to do is to give love to the people close to you love not only on Valentine’s day but every day.
I think that Wales has the most interesting Valentine’s Day tradition, because they have different and weird things. For example, they celebrate Saint Dwynwen instead of Saint Valentine and they celebrate it on January 25th. Men give to the women they love a wooden spoon. In the 17th century, Welsh men were making wooden spoons as a token of affection to the woman they loved. Each one of the spoons has a different carved symbol (spelling) and they have a different meaning. For example, the horseshoe symbolizes good luck, the wheel stands for support and keys symbolize the keys to a man’s heart. Today, love spoons can also be used at weddings, anniversaries and births.
In my country, on Valentine’s Day young men and women give a gift to each other. They usually give cards and other things. The women usually get flowers, chocolate candies, toys, shoes, bags and perfumes. The men usually get electronic gadgets, books, watches and more things. In Greece they also make Gift baskets. They put inside chocolate cookies, gift cards and photos. The Greek couples usually spend Valentine’s Day watching a movie, going to a spa together or having candle light dinners.
One of the Valentine’s day traditions that impressed me the most is the Danish Valentine’s day tradition.On February 14th men give women”gaekkebrev”a joking letter consisting of a funny poem or rhyme.The interesting fact about this is that if a woman who receives the ”joking letter’ guesses the sender, she earns herself an Easter egg.
In Greece,there are also some Valentine’s day traditions which are characterized with sheer romance.During this day couples enjoy each other’s company by exchanging gifts.Men gift women mostly flower bouquets,chocolate candies,soft toys,perfumes and jewellery while women gift their sweethearts useful things such as electronic gadgets, books and watches.Finally, it is customary for couples to have a romantic candle light dinner to celebrate their love.
I found interesting the tradition in Italy because unmarried girls believe that the first man they will see on Valentine’s Day is the man they would marry within a year.Another tradition I found really sweet is in South Korea were women woo their men with chocolates, candies and flowers and after that, men shower their women with chocolates,flowers and give them gifts.I found interesting all the festivals they do in different countries on Valentine’s Day!The tradition in South Africa was really interesting because women pin the name of the person they love on shirtsleeves.I liked all these traditions because most of them are unusual in my country.But my favorite is in Denmark, the one with the “joking letter”, because I liked the part that women try to find the sender.
On Valentine’s Day in Greece men and women exchange gifts.Men usually get electronic gadgets,books and watches.Women get flower bouquets, chocolate candies, soft toys, diamond and platinum chains or perfumes.Here couples also go together to restaurants and to the cinema,or they just have a romantic dinner with candles at home.Something else that women do is that they make homemade chocolate cookies and put them in a basket full of gift cards and a photo collage.Kids present them to their teachers while parents present them to their kid.Youngsters make love maps and photo collages on Valentine’s Day.
a)In my opinion, the best Valentine’s Day traditions take place in South Korea because they have multiple days of celebrating Valentine. After Valentine’s day, there comes the white day on March, 14th. After the White Day, there’s the Black Day on April 14th for the ones who are single and don’t have much to celebrate on Valentine’s Day.
B) In Greece we celebrate Valentine’s Day on February, 14th but some other countries like France, America etc celebrate Valentine’s day in January 14th . In Greece, men or women give gifts to each other like flowers and chocolates. We also give soft toys or platinum and diamond chains. Men sometimes prefer electronic gadgets instead of a chocolate. Women on the other hand prefer shoes, bags, watches, or a chocolate.
On Valentine’s day we usually cook cookies too and we put them in baskets with a massive amount of cards and collage pictures.
Valentine’s Day is very special because men and women can celebrate their love. In my country Greece, we celebrate this day. But the customs that surprised me a lot are in Philippines
In Philippines celebrations are similar to Western countries, but one tradition has swept the country and led to thousands of couples sharing a wedding day on February 14th. They gathered in churches to get married or to renew their vows.
In Greece people have a romantic dinner and send gifts like shoes, jackets, bags, or more expensive, electronic gadgets, books, watches, or if they’re young, love maps, spa trip, photo collages, flower bouquets, chocolate candies, soft toys and the women send perfumes, and bracelets.
In my opinion Valentine’s Day is a day that we celebrate love, but we can celebrate love every day.
I found interesting information for Valentine’s day in England. On the Eve on Valentine’s Day women put bay leaves on their pillows to dream their future husband. I don’t know if it really works but I think it’s really interesting and I’ve never heard about something like that. Also, in Norfolk Jack Valentine acts like “Santa” for Valentine’s Day and knocks on the doors and lefts gifts and small candies on their porches. I think this is really interesting and makes children really happy.
In Greece its really different. Men buy gifts to women mostly flowers, chocolates and soft toys. Couples like spending time with each other in romantic places. Some couples also like going on vacation together to spend the Valentine’s Day.
Valentine’s day is a day that many people around the world celebrate!
In Greece, we don’t have a special tradition for that day because a lot of people don’t celebrate it. For example, we don’t have festivals as in other countries. But this doesn’t mean that all people don’t celebrate it. In Greece, we give gifts to people we love. Boys give flowers or cards to girls to show their love to them, and girls give them gifts.Boys usually don’t want to take something romantic but useful things like gadgets, watches, books etc. I disagree with it. If you love someone you shouldn’t wait for a specific day to say ” I love you” or to hug him/her. Show it every day. You never know what will happen in the future!
I found interesting the tradition in Italy where unmarried women on Valentine’s day think that the first man they will see on that day,is the man of their life! Another interesting tradition happens in England where the girls put on their pillows five bay leaves(one in each corner and one in the center) and they will dream of their future husband! I believe both of these traditions aren’t true but you never know!