Valentine’s Day is a worldwide holiday celebrated on February 14th to express your love for family and significant others. In America, a typical Valentine’s Day is spent giving flowers, gifts, and a nice dinner. Valentine’s Day traditions vary from place to place all around the world. For example, in Japan it’s all about chocolate. Women give out two different kinds of chocolate. One is Giri-choco and the other is one is called Honmei-choco. Valentine’s Day is somewhat newer to Denmark and people only began celebrating it in the 1990’s to express their feelings to friends and loved ones. Their tradition is to give out white flowers called “snowdrops.”  Lastly, in the Philippines, February 14th has become the most common wedding anniversary day. Hundreds, sometimes even thousands, of Filipinos gather to say “I do ” in a local gathering led by government officials. Most are free and include flowers, wedding cakes, and sometimes even wedding rings. 

This holiday has become very special in the United States and has evolved over the course of many years. Valentine’s day traditions vary from place to place all around the world. For example in Japan it’s all about chocolate. In fact this is one celebration that has lost the significant association with its origin. Valentine’s Day, which always had a religious basis, has progressed over the years into a day that focuses less on religion but rather celebrates love in its various forms of gifts and appreciation.  In the U.S. Valentine’s Day gifts started off with flowers, chocolates, and a card. However,many people still expect and hope for huge extravagant gifts and dates. 

According to the Greeting Card Association, an estimated 145 million Valentine’s Day cards are sent each year, making Valentine’s Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year. This holiday permits people from all around the world to exchange meaningful gifts with someone they consider their “Valentine.” Girls especially, look for someone to celebrate this holiday with by doing something special with their loved one. For all the options available, exchanging cards, flowers, and chocolate with your Valentine has still remained the most common way to celebrate this annual holiday.