{"id":1729,"date":"2023-02-06T13:05:14","date_gmt":"2023-02-06T13:05:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/?p=1729"},"modified":"2023-02-09T11:18:27","modified_gmt":"2023-02-09T11:18:27","slug":"the-anti-valentines-day-guide-for-hailsham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/the-anti-valentines-day-guide-for-hailsham\/","title":{"rendered":"The Anti-Valentine\u2019s Day Guide for Hailsham"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re a hopeless romantic, look away now. In this three-minute read, we look at why Valentine\u2019s Day isn\u2019t romantic at all and how you should spend it instead.<\/span><\/h3>\n

Love is in the air\u2026 and every shop window, every restaurant, down every supermarket aisle and even in petrol stations (for those partial to a wilting bunch of flowers). Yes, it\u2019s Valentine\u2019s Day. The ultimate \u2018holiday\u2019 designed to make you miserable.<\/p>\n

Whether you have a significant other or you\u2019re a smug singleton (honestly, having a bed all to yourself without someone snoring or drooling in their sleep is seriously underrated), one thing is for sure, Valentine\u2019s Day is all hype and often no fun.<\/p>\n

Welcome to the anti-Valentine\u2019s guide. Where heart-shaped balloons, kiss-covered cards and calorie-laden chocolate boxes are banned.<\/p>\n

Weird history
\n<\/strong><\/span>The ancient origins of Valentine\u2019s Day are unclear, but they may (or may not) have something to do with a Saint Valentine who was executed on or around 14 February. However, it turns out that Valentine was a popular name back then and the Catholic Church has at least three other saints known by that name. So, there\u2019s no clear answer about who he was or what he did.<\/p>\n

An alternative explanation goes back to the Romans, who celebrated a month of fertility around this time of year. They marked it by sacrificing goats and dogs, and then slapped women with animal hides to increase their fertility. Sounds well romantic.<\/p>\n

The UK\u2019s most famous poet, Geoffrey Chaucer, wrote the first ever Valentine\u2019s Day poem called \u201cThe Parliament of Fowls\u201d back in the 14th<\/sup> century. Thanks, Geoff.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to the 20th<\/sup> century, and American company Hallmark began mass-producing Valentine\u2019s cards. Last year, Brits sent approximately 145 million cards. Hope they were all recycled!<\/p>\n

Spend, spend, spend
\n<\/strong><\/span>If you want to waste your money, there\u2019s no better day for it. In 2022, it\u2019s estimated that Brits spent approximately \u00a31.37 billion on Valentine\u2019s Day, with men spending at least \u00a320 more than women<\/p>\n

For restaurants, Valentine\u2019s Day is a cash cow. Dining rooms are packed with bored couples spending money on cheap fizz and a few rose petals. There are plenty of gift ideas to tempt you to spend, too. But as we\u2019re in a cost-of-living crisis, is that expensive gift worth it? Or would you rather pay for a couple of extra hours of heating instead?<\/p>\n

Romantic alternatives
\n<\/strong><\/span>Thankfully, over the last few years, people have started realising the emptiness of declaring your love on just one day of the year. Forget sitting across from your other half while they pick their teeth or drone on about work; celebrate alternatives such as Galentine\u2019s or Palentine\u2019s (a girls\u2019 or friends\u2019 night out).<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll have more fun, you\u2019ll have far fewer expectations, and you won\u2019t need to find a vase for a clich\u00e9d bunch of roses.<\/p>\n

What about you? Do you love Valentine\u2019s Day, or does it make you cringe? At Crane & Co,<\/u> we\u2019d love to know. <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re a hopeless romantic, look away now. In this three-minute read, we look at why Valentine\u2019s Day isn\u2019t romantic at all and how you should spend it instead. Love is in the air\u2026 and every shop window, every restaurant, down every supermarket aisle and even in petrol stations (for those partial to a wilting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1767,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[25,22],"class_list":["post-1729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-personal-advice-from-our-team","tag-jerry","tag-seasonal"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1729"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1729\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1733,"href":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1729\/revisions\/1733"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}