Deemed as one of the top consumer holidays in the United States, Valentine’s Day only comes once a year. According to About Flowers, around 250 million roses are produced for Valentine’s Day, and $2 billion is estimated to be spent this year on roses. But should love be celebrated on one specific day?

Valentine’s Day is an overrated holiday facilitated by large corporations, focused on love for only one day, and pressure people to participate.

Boxes of chocolate, heart shaped candy and roses. These are just a few of the consumer-bought goods people associate Valentine’s Day with. Other items include jewelry, stuffed animals, and cards. Each one of these are marketed a month or so in advance to get people hyped about the coming holiday. Don’t forget about February 15, when all of these items are half price. Companies want people to invest in their man-made holiday by showing love through material objects. Society has created the idea that love is tangible, rather than a holiday that simply celebrates the existence of love.

Who’s to say love can only be celebrate on a single day out of the 365 days in the year? People should celebrate their loved ones more often, and not make up a day to try and prove love. People get so caught up in what companies sell them, that they forget that love can be celebrated at any time.

People in relationships over Valentine’s Day feel the need to provide their significant other with such gifts. No matter how new or how old the relationship is, there is the pressure to spend money on each other. People should acknowledge love and relationships, but Valentine’s Day makes people prove their commitment through expensive gifts. There is even a pressure not to be alone on Valentine’s Day which creates a negative atmosphere for single people.

Valentine’s Day can be a good thing because people are acknowledged for their contributions to a relationship. However, the holiday glorifies the amount of money that should be spent on that special someone.  All of these products that are produced specifically for the holiday are overwhelming, and the precedent is set for love to be shown through gifts on Valentine’s Day.

As an alternative to Valentine’s Day, people should be thankful and happy every day for their relationships and significant others. A simple way to limit the extremes of Valentine’s Day is to set a budget for gifts or a fancy dinner, and avoid going overboard. Another way to avoid costly gifts, is to show love through by doing something together like planning a picnic or taking a hike outdoors.

Valentine’s Day gives a false sense of how love should be celebrated. Love is worthy of appreciation more than one day of the year. Being together is more important than receiving expensive gifts.