5 Unique Local Ways to Celebrate Valentine’s This Year

If you and your special someone are going to support any of DC’s scrumptious restaurants to celebrate Cupid’s Day, make your reservations now. There are too many incredible dining options to mention, and seats for Valentine’s Day specials are more limited than ever, so you should do your planning ASAP.

But if you are looking for something a little different — and maybe are celebrating friends and family in addition to romantic love — here are a handful of other unique options that can make the day just as sweet.

Community participants are invited to add their messages of love and gratitude to five temporary murals on Wilson Blvd. this year in an installation called Rosslyn Love. These “love letter” messages — of 200 characters or less — can be submitted through Feb. 1 to be included on the murals which will be up from February 6th through the end of the month.

Pick up a pretty little black box tied with a red ribbon in the lobby of the Fairmont Hotel. These Valentine’s Boxes are better than just chocolates… though they do contain eight of Executive Pastry Chef A. J. Thalakkat’s handmade confections, as well as freeze-dried rose petals, two candles with votives, personalized matches, and two splits of either Mumm sparkling wine or Möet champagne. Order by 2/8 for yours to be available for pickup in the hotel lobby on 2/12 at 4:00 pm. ($49 or $69)

Seven Reasons’ Plate @ Home Experience allows you and your special someone(s) to play Chef and try your own hand at beautifully arranging your Valentine’s meal together. You’ll get a deconstructed five-course dinner for you to plate and put on all the final touches. Great for a creative family celebration!

And Arena Stage is bringing a Valentine’s Love Letter Experience right to your mailbox. Inspired by the 2019 play of Ken Ludwig’s Dear Jack, Dear Louise, participants can experience the magic of this love story through a series of nine letters of handwritten correspondence, including photos and telegrams designed with period details, all following the love story of Ludwig’s parents, Jacob S. Ludwig and Louise Rabiner. You don’t have to have seen the play to follow along on this intimate journey, which is not only utterly charming but brings audiences back — to the theatre in a way — and also to an era when handwritten letters were a most important form of romantic communication. ($35)