Occasion
Make a Valentine's Day website instead of a card
Valentine's Day is crowded. Every restaurant is booked, every card says the same thing, and the flowers cost three times what they did last week. A page cuts through that because nobody else made one, and because it is about the two of you rather than about the holiday.
The Question template is built for exactly this. An envelope opens and bursts into flowers, then asks 'Will you be my Valentine?' with a Yes button and a No button that runs away from their thumb. Add up to three photos and a short note. When they tap Yes, a heart of flowers fills the screen and you get an email.
The runaway No button, and why it works
The page puts a Yes and a No on the screen. When they go for No, it dodges away from their finger. When they press Yes, the heart of flowers fills the screen. It works because it is a game rather than a form, and it gives them a moment of laughing before they get to anything sincere. Two things are yours to set. First, the question: 'Will you be my Valentine?' is a ready-made choice, but you can write your own, like 'Dinner on the 14th, no arguing about where?'. Second, the line that appears after Yes. Make it specific: the time you are picking them up, the restaurant, what to wear. It makes the Yes feel like it did something in the real world.
Send it in the morning, not at night
Valentine's pages get read on the morning of the 14th, on the way to work or before getting out of bed. Text the link just after midnight or first thing, with a line that does not give the surprise away, like 'open this when you are alone'. If you are long distance, a link beats a call at a bad hour for one of you, and it does not need both of you awake. You get an email the second they say yes, so there is no need to hover. If you would rather watch, skip the text and hand them your phone across the table at dinner; the opening works the same way in person.
What to put in the note when you are not a writer
The note is short on purpose, so three sentences are enough. One thing they did this year that you keep thinking about. One thing you are looking forward to doing with them. One line that is only for them, the joke or the nickname or the reference nobody else would get. Skip 'you are my everything' and 'my rock'; both are on every card in the shop right now. They read it after they have said yes, which is the best moment to be read. If you write more than a few lines, break it up, because it is being read on a phone with one thumb.
Cheap and thoughtful beats expensive and generic
A published page is a single $9.99 payment and the link works forever. Pair it with something small rather than something pricey. The three photo slots are the best place to spend your time: pick the ones that make them laugh, not the ones where you both look best. Put the real plan in the line after Yes, so the page leads straight into the evening instead of ending as a greeting. And if you can, get one real flower to go with it. The page is the card, and the card is the part they will still open next year.
For a first Valentine's Day together
Keep it lighter. One question, one photo and a note of two lines is plenty, and the page does the rest by being playful rather than heavy. 'Will you be my Valentine?' is a low-pressure thing to ask, and the runaway No keeps it a joke even if you are still working out where you stand. Leave out anything that sounds like forever. 'I really like you' beats a speech. Whatever you build, preview it on your own phone before sending. A page that reads as sweet on a laptop can read as a lot on a phone, and previewing it is free and private.
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