Valentine’s day in 2025: Expensive dinners, cheap gifts and ‘bruv dates’
In case it wasn’t already clear by the availability of restaurant tables in central London this February 14th, Brits are ditching expensive gifts in favour of meals out with friends or partners this Valentine’s Day.
It seems decades of films and songs have encouraged both singletons and those in relationships to get out of the house on Valentines, with both Galentines and so-called ‘Bruv dates’ (your reporter is still looking into this phrase) boosting meals out.
Dining out was the most popular option for spending this Valentine’s, with over 1 in 4 people intending to take their partner out for a meal on the 14th, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC).
Bookings across MiXR venues – a bars and clubs app – for 14 February this year were – as of February 11 – already 74 per cent higher than last year.
But ‘friend dates’ are taking the day of love by storm, too: Searches for ‘Galentine’s Day’ and ‘Bruv date’ are both up this year, according to Google, although admittedly the latter is centred around ‘What is a bruv date’.
“Romance isn’t the only kind of love worth celebrating… It’s not all about diamonds and dancing,” Google’s head of retail Sophie Neary said.
“I thought my mate was joking when he asked me to go on a ‘Bruv date’… But any excuse to [spend time together] is a good excuse,” a 26-year-old Londoner told Morning Wire.
“[I thought] Valentine’s day would be depressing by myself so I wanted to make sure I wasn’t alone… it’ll be nice to spend some rare one-on-one time [with my friend],” a 25-year-old added.
A 2022 survey from multinational dating platform Plenty of Fish showed that 36 per cent of the 2,000 American Gen Z-ers and millennials surveyed planned to spend Valentine’s Day having a self-care night with friends.
Don’t toss out the cards just yet
But Brit’s desire to go out doesn’t mean gifts and roses are off the table: you couldn’t walk past a card shop on the 13th without it being flooded with last-minute card buyers (mostly men) scrambling to buy a heartfelt message. Chocolate shops in the City on Thursday looked much the same.
It is expensive gifts that are feeling the pinch: Research by Wealthify has found that the number of Brits searching for ‘cheap Valentine’s gifts’ has more than doubled this year, with a 127 per cent annual increase.
Last year Valentine’s Day spending in the UK soared to £2bn – a whopping 50 per cent increase on the year before, Google’s Neary said. This year, however, it is projected to drop back down to £1.5bn.
Spending in the US is expected to rise, suggesting the change has more to do with a weak consumer environment in the UK than a cultural shift away from February 14th.
But it’s still an “important day” for the high streets, Kris Hamer, Director of Insight at the BRC, said, adding that there’s a spending bump “in the week leading up to the big day.”
Funnily enough, spending on red roses is flagging, with the perhaps-cliched Valentine’s flower actually the “least-favoured gift”, Aron Gelbard, co-founder and CEO of Bloom & Wild, said, adding that he’d stopped selling red roses for the big day.
Valentines Day in five numbers
- One in five couples get engaged on 14th February, even though 72 per cent think it’s a cliche, according to 77 Diamonds and Revere
- Dating apps downloads are expected to surge by 28m users over Valentines, according to Chargebacks911
- 44 per cent of people say love is the key to happiness, while only 10 per cent say money – although 18 per cent of 16-24 year-olds and 16 per cent of greater London say money, according to Muchbetter
- Over 6 million people in the UK – nearly one in 10 – have been targeted by romance scammers, according to Visa
- Men are more likely than women to spend on Valentine’s Day – at 55 per cent vs 49 per cent – while Londoners were the most likely to spend money and the South West the least likely – at 64 per cent versus 39 per cent, according to the BRC