Valentine’s Day is a time of year to show love to our significant other or the important people in our lives. Bouquets of roses and boxes of assorted chocolates are classic gifts given on the holiday, but sometimes we want to give our loved ones gifts more unique and personal to them. Knowing your giftees' love languages can be a beneficial guide to picking a thoughtful gift that they will especially appreciate based on the way they feel most loved. So, while you are looking for that special gift for your person, we created a list of gift inspiration based on your partner's love language.
What are love languages?
Love languages have become an increasingly popular concept on social media in recent years but were first labeled by author Gary Chapman in his 1992 book The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate. The five languages he came up with are words of affirmation, quality time, physical touch, receiving gifts, and acts of service.
These love languages are “your way of expressing how you love others and how you would like to receive love from others,” said Jeff Kallil, an entrepreneur and social media creator. Kallil is known for making content revolving around building and maintaining healthy and loving relationships and creating a new podcast on the same topic.
How to know your partner’s love language?
Many of us don’t know our own love language, never mind guessing our partner’s.
“One thing I recommend NOT asking is, ‘What is your love language?’ But if I said, ‘What do I do that makes you feel loved?’ that is a lot easier to answer,” said Kallil.
These are also questions you can ask yourself to find out your own love language.
Words of Affirmation - Conversation Hearts
People whose love language is words of affirmation feel loved when they hear how they are appreciated in words and this can help them with “feeling seen and heard and validated,” explains Kallil.
When it comes to nostalgic Valentine’s Day treats, conversation hearts are high up there — especially if your partner’s love language is words of affirmation. Whether you want to stick with the traditional candies or go all out and make homemade versions, every time your partner takes a bite, they will get a sweet message that will surely be appreciated.
Quality Time - DIY Dessert Bar
Often, the best gifts are experiences rather than elaborate material things. It lets your partner know that “you have that person’s 100% attention” and can be something as simple as shutting your phone off for the evening.
If quality time is what makes your partner feel appreciated, put together something you two can do together, like a dessert bar. Set up a table with mini treats and garnish options to personalize your perfect desserts for yourselves or each other!
Physical Touch - Chocolate-Covered Strawberries
Feeling the physical presence of your partner can mean a lot if your love language is physical touch. Holding someone’s hand or giving them a hug can be an affirmation of “‘Hey, I’m here for you,’” said Kallil.
Chocolate-covered strawberries are a classic, and for good reason! The contrast of the hard chocolate shell covering a sweet and bright strawberry is a flavor and texture dream. These simple treats are a great option for people with physical touch as their love language, whether it’s the process of making and tasting them or feeding them to each other.
Receiving Gifts - Themed Gift Basket
Putting time and effort into a special gift is how many people show and feel love from their partners. Having this love language is not about how expensive of a gift you find but the fact you thought about your S/O enough to think of getting one in the first place. Creating a themed gift basket doesn’t have to be a costly endeavor and can be as simple as putting together a collection of monochromatic candies with flowers to match.
Acts of Service - Cooking Their Favorite Meal
There are so many things we have to do in our day-to-day lives, and it means a lot to people whose love language is acts of service when their partner takes one of those tasks off of their hands to focus more on self-care. As a gift, surprise your partner by cooking one of their favorite meals for dinner while they relax. If you’re not that comfortable in the kitchen, check out some easy-to-follow recipes on our website.
Kallil’s recommendation is to cook the meal in a way that incorporates many of the love languages.
“Maybe your partner is taking a class on Italian history and they LOVE it. It might be unfeasible for you to take a trip to Rome, but you can create Rome in the house,” Kallil said.
Cook a Tuscany dinner paired with some Italian wine to show that you a taking an interest in things your partner is passionate about. In addition to being an act of service and giving them words of affirmation, it is undoubtedly a gift where you also get the chance to spend quality time with them.
Beyond all of the pink pastels and red hearts that furnish all of our favorite stores, Valentine’s Day is truly about taking the time to do something thoughtful for your partner. Considering how your partner appreciates the love to be shown is a great way to elevate your gift for this year.