Valentine’s Day is a time to let someone know you love them, or that you want to be with them. Now as well as things like flowers and cards and chocolates people also enjoy gifting themed gift baskets NZ. Here is a look at the history of the holiday and the hope it inspires you to let someone know how much you care.
Back at the beginning
There are several different stories when it comes to Valentine’s Day’s origins. For example during Roman times, this time in February was a festival that included the Feast of Lupercalia. Part of that involved a matchmaking event where a man was paired with a girl whose name was drawn from a jar. There are also different stories about Saint Valentine, the saint after which the day is named. One of them says he married couples in love in secret so that they could get out of having to go to war. In 496 Common Era, the 14th was first made the Feast of Saint Valentine.
From the 14th century to the Victorian era
Over time the 14th was celebrated in different ways though something more similar to how it is now started around the 1300s. By the 1500s people would send poems and loving messages and it started to be known as a festival of love. Two of Shakespeare’s plays talk about the day and then Samuel Pepys talks about Valentine’s gifts from men to women in 1661. Secret gifts and messages came before Valentine’s cards which became more common in the 1700s
Finding love in the Victorian period
Just as the Victorians made the Christmas card a popular thing, so they too made the Valentine’s card a popular thing to do. This was not yet the time for gift hampers NZ but it was the time for flowers and chocolates becoming the popular gift. Flowers had more meaning in those days and people would be very specific about the flowers sent to people so that they said the right thing exactly. Red roses have become the traditional flower given for Valentine’s now because then they meant deep love. It is also true that this is the favourite flower of the Greek love goddess, Aphrodite.
The chocolates were then a luxury item so it really was a special gift to give someone you admired. Especially when those chocolates came in specially shaped boxes that were then kept and used for keepsakes by those who received them. Chocolate was a very exclusive thing. For a long time, the beans were used just to make a bitter hot chocolate drink. In Victorian times bars of chocolates were around but expensive and boxes of chocolates were new. Chocolate also remains a good gift, perhaps as part of gift baskets NZ, as chocolate is thought to be an aphrodisiac.
Conclusion
Whether you choose the usual red roses and chocolates or you want to be different as long as you show them you think highly of them you should do well. Gift hampers NZ are a great way to combine some of the more traditional choices with some things they might like on top. Chocolates and wine, a basket with their favourite foods, or even something linked to something they love to do. Make someone feel spoiled and special!
