Why Keeping Gifting Simple Is Often the Most Meaningful Choice this Valentine’s Day and Beyond
My birthday was this week and as birthdays often do, it came with a good conversation.
Another flower friend of mine and I happen to share very similar birthdays. As we were catching up, we laughed about something we both know well — how much our husbands stress about making both birthdays and Valentine’s Day feel special. The pressure to get it just right. To make it memorable. To not mess it up.
And it got me thinking: maybe the guys just need permission to keep it simple.
Not in a careless way.
In a thoughtful, grounded, this-actually-matters kind of way.
We’ve been taught — mostly by movies and social media — that romance has to be big to be meaningful. Grand gestures. Perfect moments. Over-the-top scenes where everything goes exactly as planned. And while those moments are lovely on screen, real life rarely looks like that.
Real romance usually shows up much more quietly.
It looks like bringing home the flowers.
Or making a cup of coffee before the day really begins.
Or grabbing a deck of cards and turning off the TV for the night.
That kind of simplicity is often where the deepest meaning lives.
When “more” starts to feel like pressure
Gifting, especially around Valentine’s Day, can start to feel overwhelming very quickly. Too many choices. Too many opinions. Too many moments where you wonder, Will they like this? Did I choose the right one?
Somewhere along the way, simplicity got confused with a lack of effort.
But simplicity doesn’t mean you didn’t try.
It means you trusted the intention behind the gift.
It means you focused on how something would feel, not how it would look in comparison to everything else or everyone else.
What people actually remember
In my experience — both as a flower farmer and just as a person — what people remember isn’t the most extravagant gift. They remember how it made them feel. I mean let our kids be the example here. It feels so incredible to get a special craft made by them or most recently I got a special gum ball placed in my pocket that meant the world to me. What a gift?!
We remember:
feeling seen
feeling thought of
feeling cared for
Flowers do that beautifully when we let them. Not because they’re flashy or perfect, but because they’re living, fleeting, and full of quiet meaning. They mark a moment. They say, I was thinking of you.
Why simplicity is built into how I design
At Breemar Flower Farm, this belief shows up very clearly in how I offer flowers.
I don’t create pages and pages of designs to scroll through. I don’t ask people to guess which arrangement might be “the right one.” Instead, I offer just a couple of thoughtful options — a wrapped bouquet or a vase arrangement — and everything is farmer’s choice.
That choice is intentional.
Farmer’s choice means I select the best American-grown flowers I can source at that moment and design with care, seasonality, and balance in mind. It removes pressure from the buyer and replaces it with trust.
You don’t have to overthink it.
You don’t have to guess.
You just have to choose with care.
If you’re curious why I care so much about where flowers come from and how they’re designed, I’ve shared more about that here.
A gentle reminder for this season
As much as I remind people to look for calm in the garden, this time of year offers a good reminder to look for calm in gifting, too.
Keeping things simple doesn’t make them less special. Often, it’s what allows them to be truly meaningful.
This Valentine’s Day, whether you’re giving flowers, time, or a small everyday gesture, know that simplicity can be a gift in itself.
And that’s something worth choosing.
Keep Blooming,
Nicole 🌿
P.S. If flowers feel like the right way to keep things simple this Valentine’s Day, you can see the options I’m offering here.
