Valentine's Day Gift Ideas for Your Boyfriend

Valentine's Day with a boyfriend comes with a question: how much is too much? The best Valentine's gift for your boyfriend fits where the two of you are right now, whether that is two months in or five years. These 12 ideas run from a heart-shaped pizza to a day of trying something new together. Our top pick is a song about how you two started, because it is personal without being a ring.

Hear a song made for someone else

This one was made for someone else. Yours would carry his name and your stories.

12 Valentine's Day gift ideas for your boyfriend

1. A song about how you two started ($39.90). Share where you met, your first date and the inside joke nobody else gets, and Songbond turns it into an original song. It is personal, and it takes up no shelf space.
2. A heart-shaped pizza from his favorite place. Plenty of pizza shops will make one for February 14 if you call ahead. It is funny, it is romantic, and it is dinner. $15 to $30.
3. An instant camera for your dates. Bring it on every date for a year and pin the prints on his wall or yours. $60 to $120 with film.
4. An escape room for two. An hour of solving puzzles side by side tells you a lot about each other. $50 to $80.
5. A scratch-off poster of date ideas. Fifty or a hundred dates, scratched off one at a time. It takes the "what do you want to do" question off the table for a year. $20 to $35.
6. Tickets to a comedy show. A good night out that does not need an hour of talking over dinner. $30 to $80 for two.
7. A pasta-making night at home. Flour, eggs, a rolling pin and a bottle of something red. It is messy and it counts as a date. $20 to $40.
8. Something handmade by you. A beanie you knitted, a drawing of his car, a jar of his favorite snacks with a label you wrote. Handmade counts for more than it costs.
9. A try-it-once day. Axe throwing, go-karts or a climbing gym. Pick something neither of you has done. $40 to $100 for two.
10. A good pair of sunglasses. For the boyfriend who buys gas-station pairs and loses them within a month. $50 to $150.
11. Lunch brought to his work. Turn up at his job with his favorite sandwich, or have it delivered with a note. Small, surprising and cheap.
12. A treat for his dog. If he has a dog, a toy and a bag of treats in the same bag as his gift will win you points with both of them. $10 to $25.

How to choose for your boyfriend

Match the gift to how long you have been together. Early on, lean toward things you do together, because they are low-pressure and they make memories. After a year or two, you can go more personal.

• If it is still new: the pizza, the comedy show or the escape room.
• If you have been together a while: the song, the instant camera or something handmade.
• If he likes to be doing things: the try-it-once day, the pasta night or the scratch-off poster.

If you have not been together long

A first Valentine's Day can feel like a test neither of you asked to take. Keep your gift and your plan in the same range as what you think he will do. Talk about it a week ahead if that helps. "Are we doing gifts?" is a fair question, and most people are relieved when someone asks it. A shared plan, like dinner and a show, takes the pressure off both of you. If he goes bigger than you did, a warm thank-you and a good evening are enough. Save the big declarations for when you both know you mean them.

Make him a Valentine's song

Create a Valentine's song for your boyfriend about how you met and what he means to you. It is ready within 24 hours, and express delivery gets it to you in about an hour if you are cutting it close.

Also in the Journal: Valentine's Day song ideas and just-because love songs.