Valentine’s Day doesn’t always feel applicable to you.
For some people, it is about flowers and dinner bookings. For others, it brings pressure, awkwardness or quiet sadness. And for many, it simply does not reflect the kinds of love that actually shape their lives. As a Lancashire celebrant, I see every day how love shows up in far more ways than the traditional Valentine’s story allows.
So this is a gentle reminder. Love has never been one size fits all, and it was never meant to be.
Romantic love, the real kind
Romantic partnerships deserve celebrating, especially the honest, lived in version of love.
Not the polished version, but the love that grows through friendship, stress, laughter, grief and showing up for each other every day. The kind of love that keeps choosing each other, even as life evolves. Many couples I work with as a Lancashire celebrant want their love honoured without performance or pressure, and Valentine’s Day can be a quiet moment to simply say, this matters.
Queer love stories
Queer love has always existed, even when it was hidden, unrecognised or unsafe.
Valentine’s Day can be a powerful moment to honour LGBTQIA+ love stories of all kinds. First loves, long term partnerships, chosen commitments, late in life discoveries and relationships that never followed a traditional timeline. Queer love is resilient, creative, and deeply intentional, and as a Lancashire celebrant, it is an honour to help tell those stories with care and pride.
Chosen family
Not all love is romantic, and not all family is biological.
For many people, chosen family is where safety, belonging, and unconditional support live. Friends who stood beside you when others could not. Communities that held you through change and becoming. Valentine’s Day can be a chance to honour those bonds too, and to recognise that love does not need a romantic label to be profound.
Self love, without the clichés
Self love does not have to look loud or performative.
Sometimes it looks like boundaries. Rest. Letting go of what no longer fits. Speaking to yourself with kindness instead of criticism. Valentine’s Day can be a reminder that your relationship with yourself is the longest one you will ever have, and it deserves care and respect.
Love after loss
This is a kind of love we rarely talk about on Valentine’s Day, but it matters deeply.
Love does not end when someone dies. It changes shape, but it remains present in memory, legacy, and the way someone continues to be held in our lives. For those carrying grief, Valentine’s Day can be complex, tender and layered. As a Lancashire celebrant, I see how important it is to honour love after loss, not as something finished, but as something enduring.
Honouring love in all its forms
At its heart, Valentine’s Day is about noticing what matters.
That is also what ceremonies are for. Whether it is a wedding, a vow renewal, a naming ceremony, a gender affirmation or a celebration of life, ceremonies exist to honour love in all its forms, not to force it into a single script. A Lancashire celebrant helps create space for real stories, real people, and real love, exactly as it is.
This Valentine’s Day, may the love that shapes your life be seen, valued and celebrated.
If you’re planning any kind of celebration, enquire here.
Photo by Alleksana