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Happy Valentine’s Day

14th February 2017

There are two main theories as to why Valentine’s Day lands on the 14th February- one is simply that it commemorates the day of the Patron Saint’s death or burial (around the year 270 A.D.) Other theorists claim that it was the Christian Church who long ago decided to celebrate with a feast in mid-February to Christianise Lupercalia- a Pagan celebration. Lupercalia was a fertility festival, dedicated to the Roman God of agriculture, Faunus- as well as Romulus and Remus, the Roman founders.
Lupercalia celebration was deemed ‘un-Christian’ by the end of the 5th Century as Pope Gelasius decided February 14th was to be St. Valentine’s Day. However at this time, it wasn’t associated with love- in France and England it was thought that February 14th was the beginning of birds’ mating season; perhaps today this is the association with all the birds we see on cards.
Of course, cards like we send today weren’t sent during this period, in fact, the oldest known Valentine we know is a poem, written in 1415 by the Duke of Orleans, Charles, who wrote it to his wife during his imprisonment in the Tower of London after he was captured during the Battle of Agincourt. During the 25 years he spent in the prison, he wrote 60 love poems to the Duchess- she died before she received this Valentine; the manuscripts are now in the British Library.
Photo Credit: BBC
Since then, it developed to hand written notes and small tokens of affection that were exchanged. Hand made cards began to  be exchanged in America in the early 1700s. During the 1840s, it was Esther A. Howland who began to sell the very first mass produced Valentine’s Day cards- one example can be seen below, but make sure to take a look at others as they’re really beautiful crafts! According to many websites, Esther has been deemed the ‘Mother of the Valentine,’ creating cards by using colourful ‘scrap’ pictures, ribbon, lace and other craft pieces.
It remains unknown who St. Valentine specifically was, and which the Pope intended to honour; according to the ‘Catholic Encyclopaedia,’ there were at least three Saints a the time who went by that name. One, a Bishop in Terni, another a Priest in Rome, and the third we largely know nothing about, except that he died in Africa. In a spooky coincidence, all three St. Valentine’s were martyred on February 14th.
It’s interesting that the tradition remains all these years later, when, if you research the day, we largely don’t know why it began or for who we are celebrating. Though Valentine’s Day today has become a huge (and profitable) holiday, perhaps we shouldn’t grumble and instead be happy at any celebration of love.

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The table is all set for a festive weekend dinner party 🎄 We used our William Morris Mallow design, doesn’t it look so perfect this time of year ✨ Featuring our latest floral arrangement 🌿✨
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If you’re looking for the perfect Christmas gift that will be used year-round, our kitchen sets of tea towels, aprons and ovengloves are sure to be a winner! 🌿
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Have you had any festive table set ups yet? 🎄 This was our table last year for Christmas Day and our Strawberry Thief in Red has seen a lot of use throughout the year too at many a celebration 🌿 Isn’t it amazing how many events happen around the dining table- we may as well make it as pretty as possible! 🤍
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A pink and white Christmas theme on the table today with Charlotte Rose 🌹 It matches perfectly with our Nutcracker theme flower arrangement 🤍🩰
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#christmastable #christmastablesetting #christmastablescape #tablescape #frenchflorals #laurasbeau #floraldesign #floraltable #floraltablecloth
Did you know we offer a gift wrap service? 🎁 If you’ve got a loved one you’d like to send a floral gift to this year, you can send it straight to their door all wrapped with a note written by the Laura’s Beau elves 🎄🤶🏻 It’s an option on our website only and you can check the gift wrap box at checkout to write your gift tag that we will hand write for you (we also won’t include a reciept or anything of course, but will email it to you instead ✨) Are you giving any William Morris floral goodies to your friends and family this year? 🤍
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📸 features our William Morris Brother Rabbit blue design 🤍
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Use Code: BF15 for 15% at checkout until Monday 27th at midnight 🌛 Happy Shopping ✨ (valid on our website only; www.laurasbeau.co.uk 🌿
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We'll keep this tab updated as and when we have fabric ready so keep checking back! Remember, we do sell all our fabric by the half metre if you find a new fave in a bundle 🤍
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#tablescape #tabledecor #engagement #frenchfloral #frenchflorals #floraltable #florals #floraldesign
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Sitting at the table to admire our latest floral arrangement creation with a cuppa! ☕️ Don’t these colours look absolutely wonderful with our beautiful licensed William Morris design Compton 🧡
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Can’t forget your Strawberry Thief tote if you’re off to the shops! 🛍️
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