How long until Valentine's Day?

February 14 through the weekdays

A fixed date moves one weekday each year, two after February 29. Valentine's Day 2028 comes before that leap day, so it still advances by one: from a Sunday in 2027 to a Monday in 2028. The skip shows in 2029, when it jumps to a Wednesday.

A crowded weekend in February 2027

Three dates meet in mid-February 2027. Valentine's Day is the Sunday. The NFL has placed Super Bowl LXI on that same Sunday at SoFi Stadium. Washington's Birthday, which most people call Presidents' Day, falls on Monday, February 15, under the third-Monday rule of 5 U.S.C. 6103. The result is a three-day weekend for federal workers, banks closed on Monday, and post offices closed on Monday with collection boxes still emptied, because the Postal Service lists Washington's Birthday among its holidays that are not widely observed in its Operations Manual.

For restaurants, florists and anyone planning a dinner, it means demand split between a game night and a date night on the same evening, and a long weekend for many travelers. The Lunar New Year falls about a week earlier that year, on February 6, adding one more celebration to the month.

From saints to printed cards

The day takes its name from one or more early Christian martyrs called Valentine, whose feast was kept on February 14. The link with romantic love appears in English and French poetry of the late Middle Ages, and exchanging handwritten notes was common in England by the eighteenth century. In the United States, mass-produced cards took off in the 1840s, when Esther Howland of Worcester, Massachusetts, began selling decorated valentines made with lace and colored paper. Cheaper postage later turned the exchange of cards into a habit across the country.

Counting the days that matter

The countdown above runs to midnight at the start of February 14 where you are, and shows the business days left. For a delivery, those business days are what count, not calendar days. Two quick checks: if February 14 is a Monday, as in 2028, the last regular delivery before it is the Saturday; if it is a Sunday, Saturday again. The Super Bowl page and the federal holidays of 2027 give the rest of the February calendar.

Schools and offices make no change for the day itself. When February 14 falls on a weekday, the evening is what changes: restaurant bookings, flower deliveries during working hours, and in schools, the exchange of cards in class that many families prepare a week ahead.