Valentine's Day by the Numbers

Today is Valentine’s Day- a day of love for some and a day of loneliness and frustration to others. In honor of Valentine’s Day or Singles Awareness Day as it is sometimes called, here are a few interesting and random facts about this holiday:

· $126.03- What the average person is expected to spend on Valentine’s Day gifts this year.

· $4.1 billion- The amount that Americans will spend on jewelry for Valentine’s Day. Now that’s A LOT of jewelry.

· $3 billion- How much more Americans spend on Valentine’s Day each year compared to Mother’s Day.

· $367 million- The amount that Americans spend on Valentine’s gifts for their pets each year.

· 4 million- The number of Americans who expect to propose or to be proposed to on Valentine’s Day.

· 220,000- The actual average number of wedding proposals on Valentine’s Day each year.

· 8 billion- The number of Sweethearts Conversation Hearts manufactured each year by the New England Confectionary Company.

· 196 million- The number of roses grown for Valentine’s Day in 2011. However, Valentine’s Day is the 3^rd most important day for flower giving, behind Christmas and Mother’s Day.

· 1868- The year of the first box of Valentine’s Day chocolates. They were created by British chocolatier Richard Cadbury.

· One last random fact- Saint Valentine is the patron saint of lovers and engaged couples. He is also the patron saint of epilepsy, plague, greetings, travelers, young people and bee keepers.