Valentine's Day in USA

A festival of romance, love, affection and friendship, Valentine's Day is celebrated on February 14th all across the world. A traditional day for lovers to express their love for each other, it is the day when people send cards, presents flowers and offer confectionery as their token of love. Today, valentine symbols include heart-shaped balloons, red roses, doves and figure of the winged cupid. In the United States, people observe this festival as an opportunity to express gratitude and love for their sweetheart, spouse, teachers, parents or any other person close to them. Romantic meals are arranged in restaurants, while hotels arrange romantic nights for couples. Read through the following lines to know more about Valentine's Day celebrations and traditions in the United States.

Valentine's Day Celebrations In America
In USA, Valentine's Day is a major card- and gift-giving festival. This day is not a public holiday here. Offices, schools, stores and organizations are open as usual. However, the markets can be seen wearing a festive look and loaded with gifts to lure customers, days before the actual day arrives. Cards have been exchanged in USA since the early 1700s. Some other popular gifts that are exchanged on Valentine's Day are fresh flowers, especially red roses, chocolates, candy baskets, candy boxes, lingerie and champagne or sparkling wine. Most of the candy boxes are heart-shaped and tied with red ribbons. Some people take a step ahead by presenting lavish gifts such as jewelry, diamonds, etc.

On Valentine's Day, classrooms are decorated with lace and paper hearts. Programs are also organized, where children perform songs, dances, skits and plays. Friends and teachers are presented with handmade gifts and cards from paper doilies, red paper, wallpaper samples and pictures cut from magazines. The evenings see the romantic couples hanging outside in restaurants and hotels. Special dinner and dance parties are organized across the country to mark the occasion. Those couples who stay in different cities and are unable to meet up exchange their greetings through e-cards and send Valentine's Day gifts to each other, through online shopping stores.

The tradition of exchanging heart-shaped gifts symbolizes the giving of one's whole heart and emotions to the one they love. According to U.S. Greeting Card Association, approximately one billion Valentine cards are sent each year worldwide, making the day as the second largest card-sending holiday of the year, behind Christmas. A time to express love and appreciation for loved ones, this day has people taking out time from their busy schedules to spend time with their beloveds. With celebrations varying in size and scope, Valentine's Day roots down to telling a partner how much one treasures having him/her in his/ her life and rejoice shared experiences. In USA, Valentine's Day is also very popular date for weddings.