Valentine’s Day Celebration Ideas

Who says that Valentine’s Day is only for couples? Spend February 14th celebrating all kinds of relationships, including the ones you have with your employees and co-workers. It’s an excellent opportunity for businesses to express their love and appreciation for their staff.

Although it’s often overlooked as a holiday that companies can celebrate, Valentine’s Day is the perfect occasion to reconnect with the team that supports your business. This guide includes Valentine’s Day event and gift ideas to inspire your celebrations this year!

Why Should Businesses Celebrate Valentine’s Day?

While some people shy away from celebrating Valentine’s Day in the workplace, it can help boost employee engagement and morale.

Commemorating special occasions and milestones gives your staff a chance to interact in a fun and relaxed setting. It also helps build team spirit and a shared sense of purpose among your employees. By nurturing team bonding, you strengthen workplace friendships and build a culture of kindness and respect.

Research shows that employees with work friends are more productive and engaged, which leads to better performance. As a result, organizations that support friendship among their employees could see a significant increase in profits. Encouraging strong friendships at work will likely lead to a better company culture, which can attract new hires.

Valentine’s Day also creates an opportunity to recognize your employees’ hard work. Use this holiday to showcase your team’s accomplishments so everyone feels valued and appreciated. These small tokens of gratitude result in higher performance and employee retention throughout the year.

Tips for Celebrating Valentine’s Day at Work

Since Valentine’s Day is traditionally a celebration of love and romance, planning work-appropriate events can be challenging. Here are some tips to ensure everyone feels comfortable and included:

• Make it fun: Valentine’s Day often makes people feel lonely. Cheer them up with exciting games and activities that will make them smile. Remind them that they have an entire office full of friends to keep them company.
• Encourage participation: Celebrating as a team promotes bonding that leads to lasting friendships. Motivate your entire staff to participate in your Valentine’s Day celebration with prizes and incentives.
• Foster inclusivity: Valentine’s Day is typically celebrated by couples, so single people can feel a bit left out. Including all of your employees in your workplace celebration will ensure everyone feels loved and appreciated on this special day.

Company Valentine’s Day Event Ideas

What’s more fun than flowers, chocolate and heart-shaped candy? There are countless ways to combine these traditional Valentine’s Day elements to create a memorable experience for your employees. The only limit is your creativity!

Here are some unique ideas to inspire your Valentine’s Day festivities:

1. Decorate the Office

Rally your team together to decorate the office with hearts, flowers and all things Valentine’s Day. This activity helps build anticipation and excitement for your upcoming celebration.

Motivate your team to go all out by making it a competition. Depending on the layout of your office space, they could decorate their desk, cubicle or office door. Let your team vote for their favorites and award prizes to the winners.

2. Exchange Valentines

Do you remember exchanging valentines with your classmates as a kid? Give your coworkers a chance to relive their childhood by swapping valentines at work. Make the experience even more nostalgic by decorating shoeboxes for everyone to collect their cards.

Encourage your staff to choose cards that reflect their personality. Then, they can fill them with words of encouragement for their coworkers. This activity is playful and fun, and it gives your team a chance to share encouragement and appreciation.

3. Throw a Valentine’s-Themed Happy Hour

Boost team spirit with some Valentine’s Day-themed cocktails. Host a happy hour in the office where your team can gather and unwind.

If you’re unsure what to make, consider these Valentine’s Day inspired drinks:

• Love potion: This fruity cocktail is the perfect shade of pink for your Valentine’s Day happy hour. Mix 1.5 ounces of vodka, 0.5 ounces of peach schnapps and 3 ounces of pink grapefruit juice. Rim the glass with sugar and garnish with a heart-shaped slice of strawberry.
• Chocolate-covered strawberry martini: This nod to a classic Valentine’s treat includes 1 ounce of strawberry vodka, 1.5 ounces of dark chocolate liqueur, 1.5 ounces of white creme de cacao and 1.5 ounces of half and half. Decorate the glass with a drizzle of chocolate syrup and top it off with chocolate shavings and fresh strawberries.
• Cupid’s mimosa: Keep it simple with this crowd-pleasing cocktail. Fill your glass with champagne and add a splash of grenadine to taste. Garnish with some heart-shaped strawberry slices, and that’s all there is to it!

If your office doesn’t allow alcohol or you want to provide nonalcoholic options, you can easily transform these recipes into delicious mocktails.

4. Create an Appreciation Bulletin Board

This easy Valentine’s Day activity is sure to leave your team feeling warm and fuzzy. Set up a large board in a prominent location in your office. You could use a whiteboard, corkboard or even a large piece of paper tacked to the wall. Set out a few markers and some sticky notes — pink and red or heart-shaped sticky notes would be even more special.

Ask everyone to share praise and compliments about their coworkers. Exercises like this help create a culture of teamwork and positivity among your employees.

5. Plan a Valentine’s Bake-Off

Nothing says Valentine’s Day like decadent desserts. Ask your team to make their favorite treats for a chance to win the office bake-off. Everyone can swap recipes and bond over their baking techniques. After sampling all of the recipes, they can vote for their favorite. Reward the winner with a festive Valentine’s gift basket.

6. Volunteer or Donate for Valentine’s

Valentine’s Day is all about spreading love and appreciation. Come together with your co-workers to show some love to people in need by volunteering for a local organization that aligns with your company’s mission. Here are some of the best places to volunteer:

• Animal shelters
• Food pantries
• Retirement homes
• National parks
• Local libraries

If volunteering isn’t possible, you could make a monetary donation on behalf of your employees. Let your staff members vote for a charity that’s meaningful to them. No matter how you do it, giving back to the community is sure to warm your heart for Valentine’s Day.

7. Organize a Secret Cupid Gift Swap

Everyone’s heard of a secret Santa gift exchange, but what about secret Cupid? The rules are the same. Here’s how you play:

1. Put everyone’s name in a bowl and let each staff member choose one — they have to keep it a secret.
2. Create a reasonable price limit for gifts that everyone must follow.
3. Give your team several days to find gifts for the person they chose.
4. Compile the gifts in one location, so the secret Cupid remains anonymous.
5. On Valentine’s Day, everyone gets to open the gift and find out their secret Cupid’s identity.

8. Prioritize Heart Health

With so many heart-shaped candies and decorations, Valentine’s Day is the perfect time to pay extra attention to your actual heart. Organize a workshop for all of your employees to learn about their hearts and how to stay healthy with the right diet and proper exercise. You could plan a company-wide kickball tournament to reinforce this lesson and have some fun. This idea gives your team a chance to interact outside of the office and shows that you care about their health.

Valentine’s Day Gift Ideas for Employees

Your employees are crucial to the success of your business. If you want to build a culture of respect and positivity, you must reward your team for their hard work and dedication. Giving gifts to your staff makes them feel like they matter and boosts morale. Satisfied workers are 20% more productive, which helps your organization thrive.

Valentine’s Day is the perfect opportunity to give gifts to remind your workers they matter. Consider the following promotional gift ideas for your employees:

1. Chocolate

The most popular Valentine’s Day gift in the U.S. is candy and sweets. Keep with the trends this Valentine’s Day and give the classic gift of chocolate.

With so many chocolate confections, choosing only one can be challenging. Consider gifting a selection of chocolate treats that are sure to please the entire office. This promotional candy tin is a chocolate lover’s dream with seven different chocolate candies included. Complete with your branding on the lid, this gift is sure to boost team spirit.

If you’d prefer to give individual gifts, this beautiful box of chocolate-dipped pretzels is the perfect portion for one. Wrapped with a satin bow and imprinted with your company’s name and logo, this thoughtful treat box will remind your staff that you love and appreciate them.

2. Candy

In keeping with the sweet treats theme, candy is another excellent gift option for Valentine’s Day. Consider creating a candy buffet with all the sweets you can imagine. Your employees will feel like kids in a candy store.

If you’d rather keep it simple, order a few promotional candy gift sets with an assortment of sweets. This candy bar gift tower has four different candies to please everyone in your office.

Make it even more personal by gifting each person their favorite sweets. These promotional candy pouches come filled with over a dozen candies, such as gummy bears and jelly beans. Leave it on their desk for them to find on Valentine’s Day.

3. Conversation Hearts

You can’t go wrong with gifting conversation hearts — they’re the premier Valentine’s Day candy. The silly messages are sure to put your staff in a loving mood.

Put your spin on this classic treat by adding your own messages to the mix. Add three custom messages to the candy in this promotional box of conversation hearts. You can also add your branding to the outside of the package.

4. Cookies

Treat your staff to an assortment of soft and chewy cookies for Valentine’s Day. This promotional tin of gourmet cookies is overflowing with everyone’s favorite flavors:

• Chocolate chip
• Macadamia with chocolate chip
• Double chocolate chip with walnuts
• Oatmeal raisin

If you’d rather give individual gifts, this gourmet cookie gift bag has five chocolate chip cookies. You can write each employee’s name and a compliment on the back of the promotional tag to add a personal touch and show your appreciation.

5. Wine Glasses

This set of two imprinted wine glasses is a unique gift. Pair it with a bottle of wine, and they have everything they need to share a drink with someone they love. This is the perfect gift to go with your Valentine’s Day-themed happy hour. Employees can reuse these promotional glasses for years to come.

6. Heart-Shaped Gifts

Fill a red or pink promotional tote bag with a collection of heart-shaped items to get your staff in the Valentine’s Day spirit. Choose themed gifts your employees can actually use. Here are some practical heart-shaped products to consider:

• Hot and cold pack: A heart-shaped hot and cold pack filled with pink aqua pearls is cute and functional. They can use this gift to soothe an injury or help them relax.
• Jumbo magnetic clip: A heart-shaped magnetic memo clip is a multipurpose gift. Employees can use these in the office to hang up notes or in the kitchen to seal their snacks.
• Retractable badge reel: If your team carries badges or key cards, gift them a heart-shaped retractable badge reel.
• Stress ball: Encourage your team to destress with heart-shaped promotional stress toys. They also look cute and festive sitting on their desk during Valentine’s season.
• Pens: You can’t go wrong with a promotional pen covered in hearts. Employees always need something to write with.
• Calendar: Your employees will enjoy this heart-shaped press n’ stick calendar all year long! It attaches to almost any surface so they can quickly check the date. Add your brand name and logo to the top to promote team spirit.

7. Candle

Your employees work very hard to keep your business running smoothly. After a long day at work, they need to rest and recharge. This dreamy citrus verbena scented candle will help your staff unwind and encourage them to practice self-care this Valentine’s Day.

The slender copper tin fits perfectly on the side of a tub so that they can enjoy a relaxing bath. This thoughtful gift will show staff you care about their happiness and well-being.

8. Coffee Mug

Out of all the Valentine’s Day promotional products, this one is perfect for your office workers. This eye-catching metallic iridescent mug will make their morning coffee very special. It comes in five stunning colors, so you can choose a shade that everyone likes. The logo on the front will remind them they’re a valued member of the team. Fill it with a hot chocolate bomb or a candy pouch for an extra special touch.

Get Everything You Need for Valentine’s Day From ePromos

Show your appreciation this Valentine’s Day by throwing a party for your team or gifting them a few thoughtful items. Celebrating your employees throughout the year boosts happiness and engagement among your staff. Whether you block off the afternoon to celebrate or simply hand out a few presents, these group activities can help strengthen your relationships.

Find everything your need for your Valentine’s festivities at ePromos. We have all the promotional treats and heart-shaped goodies to show your employees how much you care. Our team of experts will work with you to make the ordering process simple and easy. Shop our selection of promotional gifts today!