While many romantics will be celebrating February 14 with roses, chocolates and acts of devotion, Valentine's Day's peculiar historical origins may come as a surprise.
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What may have originated as a Christian feast day celebrating the martyr Saint Valentine has now become a marketing frenzy with Australian consumers spending roughly $1.1 billion on their valentines each year, with $110 million spent on flowers alone.
The pagan origins of Valentine's Day are connected to the ancient Roman holiday Lupercalia, which occurred for centuries in the middle of February.
Lupercalia celebrated fertility, and the strange rituals of the day included men stripping naked and sacrificing a goat and dog. Young boys would then take strips of hide from the sacrificed animals and use it to whip young women, to promote fertility.
Melbourne based florist Rennie Sardone told ACM Valentine's Day and Mother's Day were the busiest days of the year in their industry, but Valentine's was the most frantic.
"There's a lot of men especially getting off work at the end of the day, needing to grab something quickly, they're like 'just give me anything!'," they said.
"On Valentines day it's still the classic red roses people go crazy for. A dozen red roses is a poetic gesture, and a lot of people still see that as the most romantic gesture you can make."
Flower giving became associated with Valentine's Day during the 19th century when Victorians used floral bouquets to deliver messages of love.
Roses originated from eastern Asia, grew in popularity in the Roman era, and began to enter the European market in the 1700s.
Australia imports the majority of its cut flowers, many from Kenya, Colombia and Ecuador.
As such, Rennie Sardone also had views on why red roses were not the best-suited flowers for Valentine's Day.
"I think roses are so overrated, the worst thing to buy on Valentine's Day. Red roses are not fresh, they're being kept in storage in fridges for weeks in preparation," they said.
"We get most of our roses imported from Ecuador, but there's a lot from Tasmania too."
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The origins of Valentine's Day are also linked to two Christian martyrs bearing the name 'Valentine'. Both are credited with healing miracles and were executed after refusing to denounce their faith during Roman persecution of Christians.
In 1969, the Roman Catholic Church removed St. Valentine from the General Roman Calendar, because so little is known about him.
A 2004 US study of relationship breakdowns found that relationships were 2.5 times more likely to break up in the week before and after Valentine's Day.
The researchers attributed this increase in relationship breakdowns to the catalysing effect that Valentine's Day had on moderately strong and weak relationships already on a downward trajectory.
So whether the day of 'love' is a stressful rush to purchase a symbol of devotion to your partner or an opportunity to focus on self-love, red roses will no doubt be in abundance across our cities and towns this February 14.
