Valentine's Day Games

Games not only amuse and entertain your guests, but they also act as an ice-breaker among the party people. However, while planning the games for the Valentine's Day party, do keep in mind the age of your guests. If you are slated to have a kiddy party, then the games will be different from the Valentine’s Day games you might have for an older group. Check out some very interesting Valentine’s Day games that you might indulge in at your party this year.

Things I Love

Hand out small heart-shaped cutouts of construction paper and ask each guest to write down their favorite movie, book, food and vacation spot in them. Nobody should sign their names at the end. Then the papers are put in a hat and randomly drawn out by the emcee who reads it out. The guests have to guess who has written it and the person who guesses the maximum right answers, wins. This Valentine’s Day game shows how much you know about the people you love.

Chin Pass

Divide your guests into groups of five or six. Each group makes a circle and a small heart-pillow is to be passed from one person to the other in the group. But the catch is that hands can’t be used and the people only get to hold the pillow in between their chin and chest and pass it on in a similar manner. If the pillow falls, then the pillow is to be picked up without using hands and the process has to start again. The first group to pass the pillow from the first to the last person, wins the game.

Ring Fun

For this Valentine’s Day game, take a bowl filled with milk or some dark liquid and throw many rings in it. Now ask a couple to take off their rings and throw it in the bowl with the other rings. Then they have to put their hands in, feel the ring of their partner, and without seeing take it out. Both of them go together and are allowed to take their hands out only once. Time the contestants and the couple who finds the right rings in the shortest time, is declared the winner of this game.

Guess How Many

Like all other games, this one is fun too. Fill a glass jar with candies and ask the guests to guess the number of candies in it. But before you start the game, make sure you yourself have counted the number of candies in it. This game can also be played with a cake, in which case, the weight of the cake needs to be guessed. The one who guesses right or comes closest to the answer wins the game. Make this Valentine’s Day game more interesting by making the total candy jar or the whole cake the prize for the winner.

Tie the Ribbons

Before the Valentine's Day party starts, cut a few pieces of ribbons (about 100 or 200) and hide them all over the house or the party room. At the party, the couples have to find the ribbons and tie them up in a chain. The couple with the longest yarn at the end of this adventurous Valentine’s Day game wins. It is not necessary for all the ribbon pieces to be found.

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Valentine's Day Symbols

Cupids, flowers, candies, doves or hearts ? Well it is only normal to associate these with Valentine's Day as they pretty much are the most popular Valentine's Day symbols. There are various symbols related to Valentine's Day, and these Valentine’s Day symbols often feature in the gifts and other tokens of love given out on February 14 or Valentine's Day. Cupid is numerouno when it comes to Valentine’s Day symbols, but there are many other symbols of Valentine's Day which you may be interested to check out. So read on...

Red Rose

The red rose is as big a symbol of Valentine's Day as the turkey is of Thanksgiving ! Roses symbolize love, compassion, peace, friendship and romance. But when it comes to red roses, they sure stand for one thing—the intensity of your love and passion for that special someone. Now this would be interesting to note that if you rearrange the letters in the word ‘rose’, you get ‘Eros’—the God of love (or Cupid). So rose is one of the leading Valentine’s Day symbols that rule hearts every February 14. And apart from the color red, roses of other colors are also sent out on Valentine's Day to convey different messages.

Hearts

Then the heart is the warmest Valentine’s Day symbol because it represents love in its purest form. Giving someone your heart means giving him/ her the thing that is most precious and vital to you. In a nutshell, a heart symbolizes life !

Birds

Have you and your beloved ever been called love-birds ? Well, ‘love-birds’ is a word often used to indicate couples deeply in love. Birds are an important Valentine’s Day symbol as it is widely believed that birds find their mates on Valentine's Day. The Herricks have come to symbolize undying love. Doves on the other hand, are symbols of purity, humbleness and virtue. Pigeons and doves, it is said, mate for life and so are symbols of fidelity.

Ribbons and Frills

Ribbons and frills are the Valentine's Day symbols since the days of knighthood. It is said that maidens would give their beloveds (kings or soldiers) ribbons and frills before the latter went to war. The men used to keep the ribbons and frills with them while they fought.

Lace

Lace is also traditionally associated with love. How, you ask ? Well, in the past, if a woman liked a man, she dropped her lace handkerchief to send a signal to the man, and if the man picked it up for her, the feelings were thought to be mutual. Apart from lace, another well-known Valentine's Day symbol is the love-knot. Love knots have a series of intertwining and meandering knots without any beginning or end. These are the symbols of endless and eternal love.

Cupid

Think of Valentine’s Day and images of cute fat cupids and throbbing red hearts of various sizes are sure to dance in your mind. Why, you ask? Well, the cupids and hearts are the most powerful Valentine's Day symbols as you perhaps already know. The associations are so strong and deep-rooted that even a child will know it’s time for Valentine’s Day when he/ she spots cupids and hearts hanging in shop-windows and greeting card stores. The chubby cherubic being and that plush crimson riot of hearts sweep people off their feet irrespective of age and location. Such is the potential of these two Valentine's Day symbols—the god of love, Cupid and the indispensable pulsating organ within us, the heart. They create an instant connection without any medium of speech and they symbolize Valentine’s Day—the day of love !

Cupid is the son of the Roman goddess Venus, the goddess of love and beauty. Cupid consequently became the popular god of love and it is believed that whoever Cupid strikes with his arrow, instantly falls madly in love. It is for this that the Cupid has come to be associated with Valentine’s Day and has become the most cherished Valentine's Day symbol. For those who don’t know, the Cupid looks like a little child with an innocent face, golden curls and blue eyes. He has a pair of wings and always carries a bow an arrow with him. So watch out for the Cupid…Valentine's Day is here and he may strike you any moment !

Now there you have the various symbols associated with Valentine's Day. So next time you pick a red rose for your beloved, or wrap a candy heart with a ribbon, do remember their symbolic connotations. That would ad more meaningfulness to your Valentine’s Day celebration, wouldn’t it ? And Valentine's Day would not have been half as special without the Cupids, roses, ribbons, laces, and decorated hearts around. So celebrate Valentine's Day with all the lovely Valentine's Day symbols and have a simply fabulous time !

Article Source: http://www.1888articles.com

Perfect valentine venue For your sweatheart

Do you know where Romeo and Juliet dated first? It was a ballroom during a ballet when their eyes met to each other for the first time. Adam and Eve first dated in the pure, sovereign and natural greenery of the garden of Eden. Julius Caesar and Marcus Antonio both dated Cleopatra during political upheaval at the castle of Cleopatra in Egypt. There are various other dating venues where our heroes and heroins dated first. Searching through the pages about St. Valentine some painfully romantic dating stories come in front. When we hug our sweetheart celebrating Valentine's day we never remember the pathos of the jailer's daughter who was fated to receive the Valentine wish first time ever in the world from St. Valentine just before he was going to hang and they dated in the jail. There was a romantic note signed 'From your Valentine' by St. Valentine himself. The magic of his holy being created another spell, just after his death; spring, the season of merrymaking started. Since that time the lovers started dating on 14th February.

Since there is no age bar for falling in love there are different age groups of lovers all round the globe. According to the age groups of people the taste of venue for dating naturally varies. The traditional and nostalgic minds like to fly over the vales and mountains of Scotland countryside. The city of Glasgow is reputed worldwide because the couples believe that St. Valentine still resides at the churches hereby and they call this place as the 'City of Love'. Gretna Green, the sister city has also received the fame of being the ideal place to date and then marry your soul mates. Romantic love birds from England and other European countries come here in order to get married. During ages French castles of historic importance are also noted ethnic Valentine dating venue for couples. The ballerinas of castles and monuments around old boulevards of England, France, Ireland and Scotland are hugely famous and the most exclusive and expensive dating points for sophisticated couples.

Young Americans share different interests than the middle aged couples in case of choosing a perfect venue for their partners on Valentine's day. The new age youngsters love to spend valentine's day parties in the discs with jumbo-box stereophonic Dolby digital sound effect of rock music. The most popular and hep gen-Y culture now a days tend to celebrate the Valentine's day parties at the malls, restaurants and other popular hang out spots for dating. Whereas some middle aged busiest working American couples celebrates Valentine's dates at the warmest and cozy corners of their own sweet homes. Some order delicious menu from favorite restaurants, besides some like to casually roam around the places they dated earlier and cherish the cups of their nostalgia. Pittsberg is one of the hottest choice for the couples of all age because of its photogenic landscapes and worldly reputed inns and restaurants. London is another hotcake in the list of Valentine date venue. The train and air tickets to London from all sides around the globe is overflowed with bookings and reservations during the valentine's day.

Actually its up to the person, your valentine that he or she would like to get a wonderful date at the heavenly places on earth or at the rooftop of your home itself. It will be the greatest joy of the world if your valentine finds the venue awesomely attractive and beautiful. If it pleases him or her too much that she feels like thanking you with a sweetest kiss, that means you are greatly successful in planning out the perfect dating. After all you know your beloved the most. So its your task to find out a perfect and attractively apt venue for celebrating the day to make it an all time memorable one.



Article Source: http://www.1888articles.com/author-sean-carter-690.html

Valentines Day customs & Tradition

On a broader look, you’re sure to come across this—the customs and traditions of Valentine’s Day commonly include pampering one’s loved ones with loads of gifts and greetings.

One of the commonest customs and traditions of Valentine’s Day is going on dates, looking for the right companion. This practice probably descended from the popular English belief that birds chose their partners on February 14. And today’s Valentine’s Day is a time totally high on love—a time to whisper sweet “I Love You, propose with a bold “be my valentine” or just flirt a special someone with a few love-verses or some sizzling kisses.

Quite in keeping with the Valentine’s Day customs and traditions, people buy romantic gifts and cards for their beloveds and sometimes they even get into the act of the day with fragrant flowers, candlelight dinners or a romantic day-out, whichever suits their pockets. Heart-shaped cards, candies and gifts are all the rage in the market this time around.

Gifting of cute heart-locks and keys are also quite favorite customs and traditions on Valentine’s Day, to say “You hold the keys to my heart”. Then there’s the custom of sending romantic messages to him or her on Valentine’s Day. Thousands of stores sell mushy love-notes for this occasion to draw throngs of lovesick souls to their doorsteps. So if you want to pamper your sweetheart with some really romantic poems and songs, start queuing up now and avoid the rush !

In Wales there was this tradition of gifting carved wooden love-spoons on Valentine’s Day, while in some places of England you’ll find the custom of special Valentine’s Day feasting and baking of extra-special Valentine buns. Now, the Italian and British maidens observe Valentine’s Day with a very interesting custom. They stand by the window before sunrise on Valentine’s Day with bated breath because they believe the first man they spot would be their partners for the rest of life. In Denmark, people send anonymous love-letters to their valentines to keep the fun alive and kicking.

One of the many other Valentine’s Day customs and traditions is the pinning of bay leaves in the pillows by unmarried women on the Valentine’s Day eve. This comes from a belief that they would be able to catch a glimpse of their future husbands in dreams if they pinned five bay leaves to their pillows and sprinkled rose water on them the night before Valentine’s Day.

Then there’s also a popular Valentine’s Day practice of choosing female-partners by drawing their names from a big jar. Men pick a piece of paper each and the woman whose name comes up, she becomes his valentine. In some occasions, men wore their partners’ names on their sleeves and it’s probably from this that the popular Valentine’s Day saying of “wearing the heart on sleeve” came from.

There are umpteen customs, traditions and beliefs associated with this most awaited day of Love—Valentine’s Day. But not each is followed everywhere. With regional variations, the customs undergo slight modifications too. But the underlying current is the same everywhere!

People wallow in their loved ones’ company, talk about being in love, enjoy being in love, promise to be in love and feel love all around as all colors are put into the back-burner for the day and the only color that reigns is red !

Source: http://www.1888articles.com/author-sean-carter-690.html