Grab a 100mm pot of miniature roses for about $7 at Bunnings and tell your sweetheart that your love will last longer than cut flowers.
Miniature roses won’t cost a fortune. Source: Supplied
Cement your relationship with bling that doesn’t cost a fortune. A stainless steel Inori Eternally Yours ring sells for $21.95 at Off Ya Tree.
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Shakespeare’s most popular love poem, Sonnet 18, is freely available online. Rote learn it, find a suitably Shakespearean setting in a park (we are a bit short on 16th century buildings) and dazzle your partner with your recitation.
Publicly declare your everlasting love by attaching a padlock to the rail of Southgate footbridge and toss the key into the Yarra River. Engraving your names will set you back $50, so get a cheap padlock at a hardware store and write your names using a permanent marker.
Buy a kransky sausage for about $3.60 at the supermarket, start nibbling at opposite ends and meet in the middle for a spicy kiss. Share a licorice strap for dessert. Alternatively, impress your date with $1 oysters from 4pm-7pm at Melbourne Public, South Wharf. melbournepublic.com.au
Fun, fancy and affordable
Hire a tandem bike at St Kilda Cycles for $60 and cycle along the foreshore. It takes teamwork and you’ll soon find out how well balanced your relationship is. The store is open 9am to 7pm, so plan a progressive lunch at different cafes along the way. stkildacycles.com.au/
A tandem bike ride takes teamwork. Source: News Limited
Most of Melbourne’s fancy restaurants are booked out for Valentine’s Day dinner. No. 35 at Sofitel Melbourne On Collins has some tables available for its early sitting, 5.30pm-7pm, with a three-course meal and beverages for $125 per person (no35.com.au) or try Alluvial Restaurant at The Rialto, 495 Collins St. Their four-course meal is $195 per couple. (melbourne.intercontinental.com)
Step back in time to a 1930s Parisian nightclub. Swing Station presents Midnight In Paris with jazz band Leigh Barker and The New Sheiks, and dance outfit The Melbourne Rhythm Project. There will be a free vintage dance lesson and lots of swinging out. Doors open at 7.30pm. Presales $25. At the door $30. Substation, 1 Market St, Newport. (http://ift.tt/1bnpLQB)
Six long-stemmed roses is the perfect way to say I love you. Prices start at $39.95 at bloomex.com.au. If bling is your thing, Prouds Jewellers have a 9ct diamond ring with heart shapes for $99. And for him, a 9ct diamond ring for $249.
Pre-order a gourmet picnic hamper and drive to Hanging Rock for a special screening of Peter Weir’s Picnic at Hanging Rock. The classic film screens every Valentine’s Day to mark the disappearance of a group of schoolgirls on February 14, 1900, in the Joan Lindsay’s classic novel. Don’t forget the picnic rug. Gates open 7pm, movie starts at dusk. $25 per adult. Bookings: 1800 888 802 (visitmacedonranges.com).
Take the movie experience to whole new level. The Shadow Electric at Abbotsford Convent has a special screening of Hollywood heart-warmer Sleepless in Seattle. The Extreme Romance Package for Two includes two movie tickets, champagne on arrival, reserved candlelit table for two, a four-course meal and a bottle of wine. $185 per couple/table. (2014.shadowelectric.com.au)
Why stop at roses? A box of 24 long-stemmed red roses, 750ml Moet Chandon, 250g box of chocolates and a teddy bear costs about $300 at flowersales.com.au. But if you want to go completely overboard, order 50 long stem red roses in a large basket with foliage for $550 at flowertemple.com.au
Watch the sunset together at The Point in Albert Park. Executive Chef Justin Wise has devised a special menu and there’s a glass of French champagne on arrival. $250 per person. Aquatic Drive, Albert Park. Ph: 9682 5577 (thepointalbertapark.com.au)
Tiffany & Co’s Valentine Gift Guide is online and you can blow $800 to $8000, depending on whether your pockets are as deep as your love. The Elsa Peretti Open Heart pendant in sterling silver and 18k rose gold is $800, while the Tiffany Metro Five-Row ring in 18k white gold with diamonds is $8850, but you might want to save that one for the wedding. (tiffany.com.au/)
Single-minded
There is a run on roses, so chose a bunch of any other type of flowers and indulge yourself in a bit of self-love.
If you want to party, there’s the $95 Valentine’s Party Cruise on board the Victoria Star, aka the Party Boat, which leaves from Dock 9, Central Pier, Docklands. Ph: 0431 100 987. Or head to the Prince Alfred Hotel (355 Bay Street, Port Melb) to avoid soppy couples. $10 entry includes champagne on arrival and finger food plus a live band.
The Supper Market at the Abbotsford Convent is a fun place to be on Friday nights in summer.
There are hawker-style food. fashion, craft and gourmet condiment stalls. You can also explore the Abbotsford Convent. Take friends and a picnic rug, and enjoy the food, wine and live music, and forget about being alone.
Try placing a love lock on the Southgate footbridge. Source: Supplied
Join the communal table at Rumi (116 Lygon st, Brunswick East). They have two sittings for Valentine’s Day. The first sitting is $55 for four courses or $60 for five courses. The second sitting is $60 for five courses and for an extra $30 a head you can get matched wine or beer. Bookings, ph: 93888255.
For the ultimate girls’ night out, book out the Dom Pérignon private dining room at Vue de Monde and share the love with your BFFs. Enjoy a six-course degustation with champagne on arrival and matching wines with tea or coffee and petit fours to conclude. It’s a heady $450 per person, but you’re all worth it. It’s available for eight to 18 people. http://ift.tt/15gCezm
Romance-free zones
Go to a nursery to shop for cactuses and succulents — you’re sure to avoid clinging couples fawning over feel-good flowers.
Rent an anti-romantic movie and watch it with a friend. Sid and Nancy, War of the Roses or Days of Summer should do the trick.
Head to Ballarat for the Beat Rockabilly Festival and redirect your passion into enjoying great music, cars and fashion. A rockabilly passport costs $50 and gives you access to the all areas, including the burlesque and international acts. Program at ballaratbeat.com.au
Take an interpretative site tour of the newly constructed Birrarung Marr stormwater harvesting scheme from the diversion point at Speakers Corner. Meet up at the angel statue on Friday, 10.45am-noon. Free. Ph: 0488 659 446 or visit http://ift.tt/1gefwkn.
Technically it’s still about love, but in an Addams Family kind of way. South Melbourne Market Valentine’s Noir features limited edition jewellery pieces based on the theme “”til death do us part’. Some pieces are guaranteed to creep you out. The SO: ME Space will also be cursed with black heart-shaped chocolates.
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