Lockdown love - 5 playful date ideas for Valentine’s day 2021

If there’s one thing that’s really lifted our spirits since last March, it’s been seeing the creativity and sheer bonkers ingenuity that people have bought to lockdown celebrations. From indoor camping to zoom karaoke and drive by birthday parades, the nation has really brought it’s A game when it comes to making our loved ones feel special. 

Here at So Close, we’ve been lucky enough to be a part of your socially distanced celebrations, sending out warm and hilarious personalisations for all sorts of occasions, and getting a wee glimpse into the lives of our customers along the way. 

First, there were the enthusiastic teacher thank you’s; gifts and cards emblazoned with rainbows, pouring out to hero staff all over the land. Then the Father’s day banter that saw hundreds of cheekily worded cards and playful pun plant pots winging their way to socially isolated Granpa’s. Christmas came with a volume of orders that surprised us all, and enough quirky and heartfelt personalisations to keep all our new staff as busy as Santa’s elves. And of course, through it all, birthday greetings of every kind and little messages of love and support “just because”.

And now, here we are looking at Valentine’s day in lockdown. Maybe you’re coming to the end of your creative resources, after months of video calls and screen-time and trying to make the weekend feel special. Or perhaps you’ve found your stride and are now a zoom party planning pro. Either way, we hope that this blog post fires your inspiration and helps you plan a romantic time with someone special. We’ve included suggestions that work for couples that are living together and need date night inspo, or who are separated during lockdown. 

So here they are - our 5 ideas for a lockdown Valentine’s date!

1. Paint each other's portraits - good for: cohabiting or socially distanced couples.

When was the last time you spent time just looking at your other half and enjoying their lovely face? Painting each other can be romantic or silly, but either way it gives you the chance to focus your attention on your sweetheart and pay them a few compliments whilst you're at it. 

If you’re not sure where to start, try putting the names of some famous artists into a hat and copy the style of the artist you pick out; Beryl Cook, Picasso, Andy Warhol, Terry Gilliam and Banksy are all good choices.

2. Better than a cuddly toy - good for: cohabiting or socially distanced couples. 

Gifting cuddly toys may be a Valentine’s tradition, but when it comes to animals nothing beats the real thing. Maybe you can’t actually get a pet together just now, but whether you are a socially distanced couple or cohabiting, you can sponsor an animal together.

There are so many different sponsorship packages out there, with different levels of involvement for the sponsors. The WWF will send you an info pack and a toy of the animal you’ve chosen, whilst some shelters and sanctuaries have webcams to see the animals online, or send out regular newsletters. 

Whatever type of sponsorship you choose, spending time together picking out an animal to support is bound to create a night to remember. 

3. Swan about strictly style - good for: cohabiting couples.

If your dancing shoes could use a dust, why not book yourselves in for a romantic couples dance class with a teacher via video call? Plenty of companies are offering live online dance lessons - a quick google search will show you what’s available, or ask for recommendations in a local Facebook group and support your local dancers at this tricky time. 

4. Fall in love all over again -  good for: cohabiting or socially distanced couples. 

Have you heard of 36 questions to fall in love? The questions were designed by a psychologist to help people discover their potential for bonding. It takes around 1 hour, and works best if you can maintain eye contact throughout, but done via video call it’s still interesting. 

Visit http://36questionsinlove.com/  to play! 

5. Makeover time! - good for: cohabiting couples. 

Inspired by all those “I let my boyfriend / dog / 5 year old do my makeup” videos on social media, get out some make up, glitter and whatever else you fancy and style each other up for a bit of fun. 

If you want to go all out, create your own personal photobooth with props and backdrops!

Whether you make it silly or sexy, be sure to take lots of photos and for an extra giggle put them on your social media as a caption competition. 

Whatever you choose to do this year, we hope that you enjoy yourselves and stay safe.

Claire and the So Close team