How to spend Valentine’s Day in lockdown: Couples edition

Something better than lockdown and chill


Lockdown seems to have created a few different romantic circumstances for those in a relationship.

Option one: you have been stuck together for the last five weeks in your parents’ house with a bed that squeaks at the merest blinking movement. Option two: you are facing the unknowns of a long-distance relationship and are either a seasoned veteran or a newbie who has been ungraciously thrown into the seas of facetimes,  four hour long calls and trying to press play on Netflix at the same time. Option three: you are living blissfully together in a flat sans parents but realise that they have never learnt how to use a washing machine.

Either way we all need some more romance in our lives, especially now so here are some ideas for those both in person and apart. Whilst you might not be able to walk 500 miles to be the man (or woman) who walks 1000 miles to fall down at their door, these ideas are just as romantic and Covid compliant.

Watch a movie

With the ease of apps and extensions you can now watch a film with your partner either together or over video call. Apps such as Gaze, MyCircleTV and Netflix Party all allow their users to ensure the movie is synchronised for everyone and videos can be watched on all platforms including Netflix, YouTube and Amazon Prime.

Struggle to decide on a film? Worry not. The website Netflix Roulette allows users to put in as many or as few specifications as they want from a film and then spin away!

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Build a fort

This one is more for those who are in the same household, however there is not anything to stop those apart from making their own forts on video call. Gather together chairs for the walls, a mattress for the floor and a blanket for the roof and voila, a fort. Eagerly enter inside armed with fairy lights, snacks and while the night away from the stress of the outside the fort world. Credit to IKEA for their fort templates, and as we all know assembling anything IKEA based is a really good idea for a romantic, calming Valentine’s.

via IKEA on Instagram

Cook together

For those who have a culinary flair, create your own Valentine’s meal. Plus if you’re cutting onions and start to cry you can spin it off as just being so overwhelmed by their beauty and love.

And for those who cannot cook together, plan a meal in advance and cook together through video call. Once you have cooked together, you can place your device opposite you and have a virtual date night. However if your meal turns out to be inedible you can always turn to something else, dessert anyone?

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Takeaway

Let’s be honest, this is what has been getting us through lockdown. If you were to pen a love poem to anyone this Valentine’s, let it be to the UberEats, Deliveroo and Just Eat’s in your life. Simple, quick and tasty, this option might not be the most romantic but when you watch your partner devour the 20 McNuggets box how can you not fall deeper in love?

Get in my belly

Treasure hunt

Create a series of clues around the house, flat, shed, cupboard under the stairs etc. leading to a final prize. This activity will occupy your partner for at least five minutes, which should be enough time for you to prep your next lockdown activity.

Write a love letter

When you are with someone it can often be hard to express how you feel for each other. And in the age of constant texting and communication it can be so special to receive an old-fashioned love letter, delivered preferably by a bird of course. Writing a letter and including some printed pictures of the two of you can make a special keepsake or help to bridge the pain of the distance.

To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before…

Romantic walk

But what you might ask, if I am in a relationship I hastily entered into pre lockdown and am now facing the consequences? Well fear not as the guidelines can guide you through this faux pas! If you meet your beloved for a romantic stroll and they want to hold hands or are leaning in for a kiss merely remind them of the 6ft rule and have Boris on speed dial.

And for those who living together, feel free to be within 6ft of your partner a romantic walk. This can be a great way to reconnect with each other away from phones or friends.

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Play board games

If you both like board games, then this should be right up your Monopoly street. Plus, if you want to make it more PG18 you can always make your own spin on the board games, things such as the treasure chest cards in Monopoly can be easily customised.

Home spa

Who says a spa experience must be expensive? This relaxing and tranquil experience can be easily recreated with the help of facemasks, a deep bath with bubbles, relaxing spa music and a romantic massage. Life has been so stressful lately so it’s important to help your partner to unwind and relax.

This can also be done with those who cannot be in the same household. You could facetime your partner to do facemasks together or even pre prepare them a spa pamper package to arrive on their doorstep for Valentine’s!

Bar crawl

Getting drunk together sound like more of your Valentine’s style? Assign each room a different drink theme and go from room to room! Have a pirate rum room, Russian vodka room and Caribbean pina colada. Plus, if you’re both really missing that Edinburgh feeling, turn of all the lights, put on a 2000’s playlist and down those WKDs – did someone say Big Cheese?

Related articles recommended by this writer:

• The best and worst places to spend Valentine’s Day at Edinburgh Uni

• Valentine’s Day is over: Galentine’s Day is the superior holiday and here’s why

• A beginner’s guide to lockdown Galentine’s