I Asked 6 Guys About Their Ideal Valentine's Day & They Got Surprisingly Romantic

I'm not sure if it's fair to say that most girls know how they want to spend Valentine's Day but I definitely have never given much thought to what guys want to do on Valentine's Day. It's not a selfish thing; I've just never been with anyone who cared very much about the holiday.

Whenever I've wanted to celebrate Valentine's Day in past relationships, it's been up to me to plan and execute the date ideas, which is a little exhausting, to be honest. I was surprised to find out — randomly and on Tinder — that some guys actually do care about how they spend Valentine's Day. In fact, they're not entirely opposed to planning a full night of activities. And no, it's not just about what kind of Valentine's Day sex they're hoping to have — although I agree that's a valid concern.

Turns out, their date ideas aren't that far off from your own. I talked to guys who said they'd enjoy looking at the stars (like, really) or going for a romantic walk with their partner and just, what? Where have these guys been all my life?

If, like me, you're dying to know more about what guys really want on Valentine's Day, pull up a chair and check out what these six guys had to say.

Matt, 27

Matt was the guy who launched a thousand Tinder interviews. Or a half-dozen, whatever. He was the first guy who implied that I may have been missing out on useful dating information for most of my adult life. For no reason other than the desire to strike up an interesting conversation, I asked Matt what we would be doing on Valentine's Day and his response blew me away.

Matt's idea of the perfect Valentine's Day wasn't terrible. In fact, it was actually kind of cute. So cute that I decided to recreate the experiment with five more guys.

Jeremy, 27

Maybe Matt had given me false hope but Jeremy was happy to bring me back down to Earth. Instead of humoring me and describing his perfect Valentine's Day right away, he asked if I was "even a real person."

Slightly offended, I asked if he was a real person and his response was stranger than his original question. Apparently, whether or not Jeremy is a real person depends on what dimension we're having this conversation in.

I laid out the parameters of our interaction — in this dimension and on planet Earth — and pressed on. He finally opened up, explaining quite nicely that as long as he spends Valentine's Day with someone he shares a genuine connection with, he's happy. And I was happy with that response.

Michael, 25

Despite my initial hiccups with Jeremy, things had been going surprisingly well so far — almost too good to be true. So Michael got right on that. Apparently, his idea of a fun time on Valentine's Day is watching a gruesome, science-fiction horror movie. You know the one where a human man births a murderous alien from his chest? That one.

To make sure I got the full effect, he included a grotesque GIF from the movie Alien, leaving me no choice but to reply with a Paris Hilton GIF, saying, "That's hot."

Adam, 26

After Michael's graphic date idea, I was happy to hear that Adam preferred "something simple." He used the word "nice" a lot, which must mean that he's, well, nice.

Michael, 26

Michael (the second in this experiment) admitted right away that he'd been single for the last three Valentine's Days but that didn't mean he hadn't given any thought to how his ideal date would go.

I especially liked that he tailored the date to our location and atmospheric pollution levels.

Jonathan, 29

Jonathan's bio said, "I don't think you're ready for this jelly," so I used that in my opening line. I asked what his ideal Valentine's Day would look like if we somehow determined that I was indeed ready for his jelly.

He explained that, to him, showing someone you care about them means doing something selfless and putting their needs first. Ok, swoon.

But if he had to plan the date according to his preferences, it would definitely include music, cooking together, and goofing off. Pretty sure this is the exact recipe for every romantic comedy ever produced.

He wasn't done, though. After dinner, Jonathan and his date would head to a concert, followed by a backyard nightcap and some V-Day sex, of course. I know he didn't exactly ask me out but would it be wrong to say yes to all of this? I hope not.

If the thought of planning a Valentine's Day date both you and your partner will enjoy, why not try asking for their input? Like these guys, they just might surprise you.

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