Many will feel happy, some sad and others indifferent; but, Valentine’s Day will come and all will have to accept it.
People without someone special can sometimes feel out of place and out of touch in this “love fest.” Some even go on to hate the holiday all together.
“There is a great deal of social pressure to celebrate, and the norm has become spending money to show your love. Valentine’s Day has been co-opt by consumerism where your love is expressed by the biggest teddy bear or the most roses,” said Mary Stricker, a professor in the sociology department.
1-800-Flowers.com reports that more than 110 million roses, mostly red, are bought and delivered during a 3-day period surrounding Valentine’s Day, not to mention the 36 million heart-shaped chocolate boxes delivered around the holiday.
Laura Fischetti, a sophomore at Temple vented, “Valentine’s Day is just an excuse to show people you love them with materialistic things – it’s just a commercial holiday.”
So how do singles cope? The lonely can either talk to a counselor, or pretend the holiday’s not even happening.
Instead of moping at home this Valentine’s Day, throw an “Anti-Valentine’s Day” bash. When people are loveless, they can’t help but say no to snubbing love in the face. Help them out this year and maybe find a little bit of love yourself.
Inviting the guests:
Even if you aren’t an experienced party planner, don’t panic. Make a list of friends who will enjoy bashing the love sick holiday with you. Send out a fun invitation via Facebook or MySpace that entices your friends to go “anti” this Feb. 14 and make sure to include a “no couples allowed” stipulation to attending.
What to wear:
At a party like this, wearing bright colors is a no-no. Black shoes, pants and black underwear are the way to go. Avoid looking gothic or depressive by adding an iron-on design of a broken heart or hearts marked with an “X” through the center. Wal-Mart or A.C. Moore sells iron-on designs, or just use a fabric marker and a white shirt and let loose your creatively anti-Valentine’s Day side. Dark make-up and black hair pieces can also add to the “anti” experience.
Food and Drinks:
Serving dark-colored foods and drinks is best to put everyone in the anti-love mood. Chocolate anything is preferable. Serve dark chocolate to rebel against the usual milk chocolate of the holiday.
Baking cookies with dark-icing is a tasty alternative to heart shaped cookies, or for the full effect, purposely burning cookies is about as anti-Valentine’s Day as it gets.
Black licorice and black jelly beans are also good alternatives to love message candies and cinnamon hearts. Serve dark-colored soda like Pepsi and root beer for drinks; for the 21 and over crowd dark liquors and beers such as Captain Morgan, Hennessey or Guinness are fine choices.
Decorations:
Bright colors are not acceptable. Black balloons, black roses, black streamers and black confetti may be hard to find this holiday season, but work to perfect the anti Valentine’s Day feel. Get a cake and complete the theme with a broken heart cake topper. Make drinks more personal and use fake labels made for the bottles that say things like, “He broke my heart,” or “She lied and cheated.” If your guests are strangers to one another, help them break the ice with name stickers for them. Instead of writing their names, write one word describing them on the sticker to give them something to talk about.
Music:
Don’t even think about putting on KC and JoJo this Valentine’s Day – it’s all about the “anti-love” music.
“Don’t forget music, it always helps to set the mood of an event and if people aren’t talking you won’t be able to hear the crickets chirping,” said Kerry Boytin, an intern at Expert Events. “Stay away from ballads that would be too romantic.”
Music will make the party come alive, so create a mixed CD to pump up the holiday hate.
So before you throw in the towel on Valentine’s Day, take a minute and consider the options. It can be a day of sorrow, of roses or it can be a day of fun and parties.
“At its core, how can you really find anything wrong with a holiday whose purpose is to express love with other people?” Stricker said. It’s your choice, join the revolt and bash or celebrate the love and embrace the day.
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