We love a candle-lit dinner as much as the next person, but it’s also time to get creative. Perhaps your better half has hinted that they would like to learn to defend themselves or you found them bopping along to the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel some lessons in Bollywood dancing might be in order. Think of ways you can be romantic and thoughtful. It will also be extra special, and you can always top it up with the aforesaid romantic dinner!

Have you heard of Single Awareness Day? Well, it’s the Valentine’s Day alternative for non-couples! Originally on the 14th, but moved to the 15th due to its acronym’s (SAD) air of misery. So instead of dreading the month of love, let’s actually celebrate it!

Why not take yourself and your equally single friend for a lovely walk around the South Bank at dusk, have a 7 Spices Facial or a Shellac manicure, book a table at your favourite place or somewhere you’ve always wanted to try, and just enjoy! What a lovely take on the Month of Love… loving ourselves!!

This year Valentine’s Day falls on a Sunday. A Sunday! The laziest, most laundry-inclined day of the week! We may as well make it a Valentine’s weekend, so we can spread the fun over three days of ce-love-brations!

Our suggestion - dinner on Friday, go out for a culture-filled Saturday morning, stroll around somewhere beautiful on Saturday afternoon/evening and sleep-in on Sunday. Maybe rustle up some heart-shaped waffles, your call!

To narrow it down, for Friday dinner we encourage you to book a table at Champagne + Fromage. It’s a delightful venue full of romance, great bubbly and delicious cheese boards! And isn’t fondue the true language of love?

Perhaps Joe’s Kitchen is a better option if you’re lactose-intolerant. In any case, the main purpose is to ditch the cutlery, because eating with your hands is definitely sexy! …No?

Just us then.

Some lovely places to visit on a Saturday morning are the Tower of London and Kensington Palace. Let your post-Friday-drinking brain bask in softly uttered historical facts and the smell of antiques, get a conversation starter at the gift shop or just gape at the Crown Jewels, like we usually do.

And for walk ideas, there’s always Kew Gardens and Richmond Park, but for variety we suggest a walk along the river path eastwards, getting to know Bermondsey’s quirky architecture. Also, the Graffiti Tour around Shoreditch is a continuously-changing delight.