Celebrate Love With These Awesome Valentine’s Day Ideas

Let’s start out by saying that while these do make great Valentine’s Day ideas, they also make for a great girls’ night in gathering as well, among other things.  

Valentine’s Day Ideas

Last year the weekend before Valentine’s Day my girlfriends and I took a trip to Oregon for Bubbles Fest and it was a super fun getaway to not only drink great bubbly, but to celebrate our friendship.  

And since we were out and about all day, we intentionally spent each night in with something fun and creative that, of course paired well with bubbly.  You can read all about that Galentine’s Day celebration here.  

This year, as it does look a little bit differently, whether you’re celebrating with your significant other or have that core group of girlfriends over for a much needed night in, we think these Valentine’s Day ideas are fun for either.  

Charcuterie Board of The Month

So you may have seen over on Instagram that we are going to be doing a “charcuterie” board of the month that we will be calling Boards + Bubbly.  And it all started with that Char-treaterie board creation from last Valentine’s day courtesy of Jenny Cookies.

So for this month, we thought we’d create two board + bubbly creations to help you with Valentine’s Day ideas for a fun and different night in to celebrate love.  

Snackuterie Board

Have you ever wondered why salty, fatty (delicious) snacks pair so well with bubbly?  Science, really!  Salt and fat both love sparkling wine (and vice versa)—the bubbly has high acidity and the prickle of those bubbles is the ideal preparation for the next yummy snack chip.  

So, clearly if you want to test this science out, you need to go grab all of your favorite salty snacks and bottles of bubbly and put it to the test.  Not to mention it’s so easy and fun to do!

Creating this board was so fun because I asked everyone over on Instagram what their favorite snack foods were and so we bought it all to create this fun snack food board!  And seriously, who doesn’t love the crunchy goodness of salty snacks and then a little bit of sweet to satisfy the sweet tooth?

The sky is the limit with this board, really.  Go and grab all your favorite snack/junk food and spread it out.  When we were creating this board, we purposely grabbed snacks that needed no preparation.  These are some of our favorite guilty pleasures that we don’t eat that often, but definitely treat ourself with.  

So gathering up our favorite salty snacks:

• Doritos
• Cheetos
• Cheddar and Sour Cream Ruffles
• Popcorn
• Goldfish Crackers
• Parmesan Crisps
• Dots Pretzels

And for our sweet treats on this board:

• Twizzlers
• Swedish Fish Hearts
• Dark Chocolate Dove Hearts

Desserterie Board

Now we also decided to satisfy our sweet tooth to make a companion to the snack board and create this awesome dessert board. 

And this isn’t your traditional dessert board by any means, but let me show you exactly what makes this one so different and a whole lot of fun!

We, of course, grabbed some easy sweet treats to satisfy the need for something sweet after all that salty goodness like:

• Muddy Buddy or Puppy Chow (the Chex dessert)
• Heart-shaped Gobstoppers
• Champagne Seattle Chocolates
• Twizzlers and Red Vines
• Swedish Fish Hearts

And then to kick this up a notch to make it one of the best twists on Valentine’s Day Ideas, we put chocolate and dark chocolate shot glasses to make the perfect after dinner drink with Wilson Creek Port and bubbly.  

This is something you can experience at Wilson Creek Winery when you visit, but we re-created this at home.  We have their Decadéncia, Tiramisu and Raspberry fortified wine and a bottle of bubbly and here’s what we did.

1. Choose your chocolate shot glass (dark or milk)
2. Fill it halfway with the fortified wine.
3. Drink and enjoy.
4. Fill it halfway with fortified wine and then top it off with bubbly.  
5. Drink, sample your chocolate shot glass and enjoy.  

We, of course, repeated this with all of the fortified wines and it was so hard to pick a favorite because all of them were good for different reasons.  

This was definitely a fun twist to a normal dessert board and would be an awesome way to share an after dinner drink at any gathering or celebration.  

Bubbly Kiss Cocktail or Mocktail

If you want to makes something special for the kids or would love a great morning appropriate cocktail (it’s practically a mimosa!), check out this recipe:

Pairs Well With Bubbly

And yes these Valentine’s Day ideas absolutely pair well with bubbly, which is one reason we created this absolutely adorable t-shirt that we wear all year long and especially when we go bubbly tasting.  But they were certainly created for our Galentine’s weekend!  

You can order your shirt now over at the Bubbly Side of Life Amazon shop.

Not Limited to Valentine’s Day

We’ve said it time and again, these boards are not limited to a Valentine’s Day celebration.  They’re perfect for any type of gathering when you want to have a super fun spread with truly something for everyone.  This is great for kids and adults alike. And definitely makes it easier and a bit more fun that having a bunch of bowls around.

Follow along as we create the custom boards each month for loads of fun ideas!

Want more?

If you have not seen our breakfast charcuterie board yet, go check it out now!  So far, it’s my most favorite.

Don’t forget the bubbly! I mean this is boards + bubbly after all! We have so many recommendation on the blog from grocery store bubbly to our favorite wineries. If you need some bubbly, check It out before you head to the store.

Curious about Bubbles Fest?  Sadly it’s not happening in February (crossing fingers it can be rescheduled), but it’s a must do event for any bubbly lover you know!