Two honest problems with these days, and both should be said before anything else.
Neither is a gifting occasion. They are two of the free days in Valentine’s week — our week guide says buy nothing on either, and that is not us being austere, it is what the days are. Hug Day and Kiss Day are prompts to do a thing, not to purchase one.
At distance, the thing they prompt is the one thing you cannot do. Which is the whole difficulty, and it is why searching for ideas on these two days in particular usually turns up a wall of products that miss the point entirely.
So what is actually left?
Do not buy a substitute for a hug
The market for these days runs on objects that stand in for physical contact — a cushion, a bear, something scented, something that “feels like” being held.
They almost universally disappoint, for a reason worth naming: a substitute for a hug is a daily reminder that you are not getting one. The object’s whole meaning is the absence. That is a strange thing to put on someone’s bed.
The gifts that work at distance do the opposite — they are about the relationship rather than about the gap in it.
What to actually do on the 12th and 13th
Say what you would do. Specifically, not romantically. When I see you on the 4th the first thing I am doing is taking your bag off you and not letting go for a minute. Concrete beats poetic, at distance especially.
Send the physical thing that is not a substitute. A letter is physical. A printed photograph is physical. Something that was in your hands and is now in theirs is the closest honest equivalent, and it is not pretending to be an embrace.
Book the visit, if it is not booked. On the two days of the year explicitly about physical presence, the only gift that addresses the problem is a date.
Call at an odd hour. Both of these days are prompts for spontaneity, which is the thing long distance loses first. Two minutes at seven in the morning does more than an hour scheduled for the evening.
If you want to send something anyway
Fair enough — many people mark these days regardless, and there is nothing wrong with that as long as the object is not a hug-shaped apology.
| Format | Why it works here | Ours |
|---|---|---|
| Print pack | 30 loose photographs, physical, no pretence | ₹270 |
| Card deck | 30 to 60 short specifics, opened one at a time | From ₹999 |
| Photo magazine | The visits, in order, with words | ₹499 to ₹1,099 |
About four photographs fill a page. Flat ₹70 delivery anywhere in India.
Keep it small. These are minor days in the week. Something on the scale of the 14th, given on the 12th, unbalances the whole week — the week guide has the proportions.
The week has better days for this
If you are trying to make Valentine’s week work at distance, spend the effort on the days built for it rather than on the two that are not.
Promise Day is free, it is about something written, and it survives distance completely. Valentine’s Day itself takes an object well. Long distance Valentine’s, planned properly covers the whole week from that angle, including the February courier crunch that decides whether anything arrives at all.
When to skip both days entirely
When you are already doing the 14th. Eight days is a lot of occasions. Most couples pick two or three.
When one of you finds the week silly. Plenty of people do, and observing all eight days at someone who does not is a scheduling exercise rather than a romance.
When the distance is hard right now. Days explicitly about physical contact can land badly during a stretch where the separation is already difficult. Skip them and do something on an ordinary Thursday instead.
When you would be buying a substitute. Covered above, and it is the one genuine mistake available on these two days.
Timing
5 to 14 days from order to doorstep, 5 to 12 to Delhi NCR, flat ₹70 anywhere. Dispatch is weekly on Mondays, so a Friday order catches that week’s dispatch and a weekend order waits seven days. Add two to four days for design and your proof approval.
February is the heaviest week of the year for made-to-order gifts, so anything printed needs ordering in late January — which is well before you will be thinking about the 12th.
Frequently asked
What do you give on Hug Day and Kiss Day? Nothing, by convention — they are two of the free days in Valentine’s week. They are prompts to do something, not to buy something.
What can long distance couples do on Hug Day? Say specifically what you will do when you next meet, send something physical that is not pretending to be a hug, or book the visit.
Are hug-substitute gifts a good idea? Usually not. An object whose meaning is that you are not getting a hug becomes a daily reminder of the absence.
Which Valentine’s week days actually suit long distance? Promise Day, which is free and written, and the 14th itself. The two contact days are the hardest ones to translate across distance.
Part of our guide to Valentine’s week, day by day. See also: promise day gift ideas that mean something.
Shop: Valentine’s Day gifts · Long distance relationship gifts · Polaroid prints from ₹270