WE SPENT £2,000 ON 750 BAUBLES AND BALLOONS TO KEEP THE ROMANCE ALIVE

SAMANTHA FITZSIMMON, 29, owns a beauty salon and fashion brand and lives near Liverpool with her partner and their two-yearold son, Parker. She says: OTHER couples might spend thousands on a romantic weekend away for Valentine’s, but with a toddler and a lack of babysitters we can’t.

Instead, I splashed out £2,000 to have a professionally decorated Valentine’s tree.

It’s a 7.5 ft green faux fir, bedecked with 750 decorations including champagne glasses and a pair of my own red Louboutin stilettos. It’s the first thing visitors see in our hallway and it’s quite a talking point. Most gasp in delight before agreeing it’s bonkers but very beautiful.

Our dining room also resembles a romantic boudoir, with 60 fresh red roses on the table, candles in crystal holders, balloons and ‘floating’ roses hanging from the ceiling. Plus, there are rose petals scattered everywhere, which my son loves throwing around like confetti. He stands and gazes at the tree, mesmerised, and tries to grab the decorations!

Two years ago, my partner said that my attempt at decorating our Christmas tree was ‘awful’, so last December I hired The Christmas Decorators to do it for me. I always feel sad when the house is bare after Christmas, so when they mentioned that they were also getting inquiries about Valentine’s trees, it seemed like the perfect antidote.

Plus, as exhausted parents it’s important to keep the romance alive. We’re even throwing a Valentine’s party for friends and their young children.

After this, there won’t be any more trees till Christmas. But I’m already planning to hire the professionals to decorate our garden for Easter!