Daisy Knatchbull, founder, The Deck London
What the occasion means to you?
I often try to snub Valentine’s Day as a well-constructed marketing piece, but I am a hopeless romantic sometimes. A
bunch of flowers never goes wrong! I think it’s about celebrating your love for someone (romantic or friendship) and
also yourself.
Outline your preferred ways of celebrating it?
I usually try and make time to have a one-on-one dinner with my boyfriend. We try and find somewhere different and
fun – an establishment that we wouldn’t usually visit. This year we have actually been treated to a London
staycation by Page8 Hotel which I’m looking forward to and is definitely different to my usual Valentine’s!
Reference to memorable days of the past?
Life gets crazily busy at the best of times and I certainly know I can often forget to spend proper quality time with
the people I love, so it’s a good way to remind myself of that.
Eléonor Picciotto, Mrs Rake
What the occasion means to you?
An absurd excuse to get a woman flowers and a box of chocolates to supposedly express your love, driven by heavily
imported American marketing. What if she doesn’t love you back, hates chocolate because it gives her pimples and
travels too much to keep flowers fresh and hydrated? Then everything is ruined before it even started!
Outline your preferred ways of celebrating it?
A big dinner at home with friends, with a majority of them single, and a few couples to balance it out. “The
Valentine’s date night topic” will always be raised and the debate can be very interesting; it can even lead up to
couple creation towards the end. Who knows?
Reference to memorable days of the past?
A few years back, a bouquet of 23 red roses that were one meter tall arrived to my office with a written card that
said: “There isn't anything more beautiful than a rose besides the face of the one who receives it.” It took me 24
hours to figure out who sent it.
Post the delivery he said: “You always claimed that Valentine’s was commercial, expected, and lacking of surprise,
well - gotcha’ on that one!”
We started dating a few weeks later and stayed together for 6 years.
Are there any particular ways you’d like to celebrate in the future?
I would love a genuine surprise to be an experience. Not necessarily love related even though it somehow will be
because he will think about what I would enjoy not what a girl should enjoy. That could be spending a day, an
evening, a night in an unusual way… like sleep on top of the mountain or get my weight in raspberries. Just
sayin’.
Caroline Andrew, founder, Caroline Andrew London
What the occasion mean to you?
It’s a day to be appreciative of your loved ones, family and close friends - as well as other halves. It’s a time to
be in the company of those you most care about.
Outline your preferred ways of celebrating it?
A romantic evening with my partner. Love letters, good food and a night of hot sex.
Reference to a memorable day of the past?
One of my favourites, and slightly awkward/hilarious memories growing up was my parents sending me anonymous
Valentine’s Day cards year after year, and me wondering each time who it was from — hoping it was a boy.
Countess of Lucan, founder, Lucan
What the occasion means to you?
As Warren Zevon sang: “Bring lawyers, guns and money, dad, get me out of this.”
Outline your preferred ways of celebrating it?
A gun in my hand, cash in the bank and gas in the tank heading shooting in full Lucan regalia, driving a sexy vintage
Porsche with a stock of cigars next to me. The final secret ingredient: epic tunes to which my feet can tap to the
beat dressed in a pair of kick-ass Louboutins.
Reference to memorable days of the past?
That would be a kiss-and-tell story, although I can mention they were smoky and hot, filled with Ramon Allones
cigars
Are there any particular ways you’d like to celebrate in the future?
I still love a good, now almost, old-fashioned romantic evening with popcorn in the cinema.
