Roses are Red!

Remember how January’s enigmatic birthstone was the gorgeous red Garnet?  Despite January being over already (can you believe it?!), every year red makes a huge splash again in February courtesy of, you guessed it, Valentines Day. There’s no getting away from it as restaurants across the land plaster their walls with posters of red hearts, flying cupids and the promise of a free glass of Prosecco...and we are offering you FREE UK DELIVERY until Monday so you can treat yourself!

 

So, where did it come from, and why February the 14th..?

Although it is said that some of the story may have been ‘a little embellished’ over the years, the following is the legend as we know and love it today - St Valentine was in fact a Catholic priest living in Rome in the 3rd Century. During Valentine’s lifetime a few Romans had starting to covert to Christianity, so the Pagan Emperor, Claudius II, believing that the Roman soldiers should be devoted only to Rome, passed a law against them getting married. Valentine, however, always a firm believer in the power of love, decided to start marrying the soldiers in secret ceremonies.