# Create a Valentine's Day Time Capsule

> A Valentine's Day time capsule is a sealed set of letters, photos, videos and voice recordings that a couple puts together around the 14th of February and sets to open on a later Valentine's Day — next year's, or the one in ten years. You write it, choose the date and the recipient, and once it is sealed neither of you can open it until that day.

Flowers last a week, and the restaurant is full of other couples having the same evening. Neither is a bad idea. Neither will tell you, in ten years, what the two of you were like this February.

A capsule is the inexpensive half of the evening, and the only half that comes back. One that opens next Valentine's Day costs nothing.

## What a letter does that flowers cannot {#why}

Most Valentine's presents are consumed on the day. That is their charm, and also why nobody can remember what they were given three years ago.

A letter sealed until a later date works the other way round. It is worth little on the evening you write it — you could say the same things across the table — and a great deal on the evening it arrives, when the flat, the jobs and possibly the hairline have all changed, and the person who wrote it is exactly as they were.

It also asks more of you than a card does, which is the point. A card has room for two lines. A letter that will be read in five years has to say what is actually going on: what you argue about, what you are saving for, what you hope the other one never stops doing.

## What to capture this Valentine's Day {#what-to-capture}

Six things, none of which needs more than a phone and a quarter of an hour.

### A letter each

Written separately, without conferring. What this year has been, what you are grateful for, and one thing you have not said out loud. It is the item everything else is built around.

### The two of you, talking

Prop the phone against a glass and record ten minutes of the pair of you answering the same questions: where will we live, what will we have given up, who will have been right. Record it on your phone, then upload the file.

### An ordinary evening

Not the restaurant. The Tuesday before it: who cooks, what is on, who falls asleep first. It is the material that feels least worth keeping and ages best.

### The story of how you met, twice

Each of you tells it alone, to the camera or on paper. The differences between the two versions are the part worth sealing.

### This year's evidence

The booking confirmation, the card, the menu, a photo of the flowers before they went. The bill, in particular, will age well.

### A prediction each

Specific enough to be checked: a city, a job, a dog's name. A vague prediction cannot be wrong, which makes it no fun to open.

## One capsule or two: keeping the letters secret {#two-capsules}

A capsule has a single author. Whoever creates it is the only person who can add text and files to it, and they can see everything in it until the moment it is sealed. That is worth knowing before you promise each other a surprise.

So for letters that neither of you reads first, make two capsules. Each of you creates your own, on your own account, adds the other as the recipient, and picks the same opening date. Recipients are emailed when a capsule is created as well as when it opens, so each of you hears straight away that one is waiting — and nothing about what is in it. Once both are sealed neither can be opened early: not by the recipient, not by the author, not by us.

A single shared capsule still has its place: the video of the two of you, the photos, the menu, everything you are both happy to watch going in. One of you creates it and adds the other as a recipient, and the other sends over their files to be uploaded. Nothing stops you doing both — one joint capsule for the evidence, and one each for the letters.

[Every step of creating a capsule](https://time-capsule.io/how-it-works.md)

## Which Valentine's Day should it open on? {#when}

- **Next Valentine's Day** — A year is long enough to have forgotten what you wrote and short enough that everything in it can still be checked. It is also free, since it opens within a year, which makes it the sensible first attempt.
- **In five years** — Far enough for the predictions to have started resolving. Most of what you were worried about will have been replaced by something else, which is reassuring to read.
- **In ten years** — Long enough that the two people in the video look and sound younger than you remember being. The letters read differently too: less like news, more like evidence.
- **A date that is yours** — The 14th of February belongs to everybody. The anniversary of the first date, the day you moved in, or the day one of you finally said it belongs to two people. Seal it on Valentine's Day and open it on that one.

Some couples make it a tradition: a one-year capsule every February, opened the following year just before the next one is written.

## Valentine's Day time capsule ideas {#ideas}

Choose a handful. A short capsule that gets sealed beats an ambitious one that is still open in March.

### From each of you

- A letter to be read only when it opens
- The moment you knew, described as precisely as you can manage
- One thing the other does that you hope never changes
- One thing you are willing to admit they were right about
- A promise small enough to be kept and specific enough to be checked

### About the two of you this year

- Where you live, what it costs and what is wrong with it
- What you do on a Sunday
- The argument you keep having, summarised fairly by both sides
- What you are saving for, and how far off it is
- The names you have for each other, which nobody else may ever know

### The evening itself

- A photo of the table before anything was touched
- The card, photographed inside and out
- A voice recording made on the walk home
- The playlist, or the one song that matters
- What you gave each other, and what it cost

## How to give it on the day {#give}

A sealed capsule has nothing to unwrap, so give the waiting instead. Every capsule has its own link and QR code, and until the opening date that page shows a countdown and nothing else.

One detail decides how you hand it over: recipients are emailed when a capsule is created, as well as on the day it opens. Add your partner as a recipient and the news that a capsule is waiting reaches them before you have sat down to dinner — though not a word of what is in it. That is fine when you have each made one; two emails crossing is rather the point.

For a surprise, create the capsule with yourself as the only recipient, leave it viewable by link, and add a password only the two of you would know. Then print the QR code or copy the link into a card and hand it over at dinner. They scan it, see a locked capsule counting down to a Valentine's Day some years off, and have to live with that. The capsule is identical; only the notification differs. The opening-day email comes to you, so keep the card, or send the link again when the day arrives.

## If this is not a typical Valentine's Day {#situations}

The same capsule, in four less usual circumstances.

### Long distance

You are not in the same room on the 14th, so make the capsule the thing you do together: each of you writes your own that evening, on a call, and seals it before hanging up. Set them to open on the first Valentine's Day you expect to spend in the same place.

### A new relationship

A ten-year capsule in the third month is a lot. A one-year capsule is a modest bet: it is free, it opens next February, and whoever created it can delete it at any time if things turn out otherwise.

### Married for decades

You have the opposite problem: too much material. Do not summarise the marriage. Record this year only — the routines, the grandchildren's names, what you still disagree about — and open it on a round-number anniversary.

### A Valentine's Day on your own

Nothing requires a second person. A letter to yourself about what you want from the next few years, opened on a future 14th of February, is a perfectly good use of the evening.

[A capsule for your future self](https://time-capsule.io/time-capsule-for-yourself.md)

## Practical notes {#practical}

Unless it is a surprise, add your partner as a recipient by email address, and add yourself too. A capsule with one recipient depends on one inbox still working on the day; two is a cheap precaution over five or ten years. After sealing you cannot add recipients, though you can still share the link or QR code.

Choose who can see it. Private means only the recipients you named can see the capsule, once signed in — countdown included — which suits two capsules addressed to each other. If you are handing over a link in a card with yourself as the recipient, leave the capsule public, meaning viewable by anyone holding the link, and add a password with a hint you write yourself: a question only the two of you can answer works well.

Free capsules include 300 MB and paid ones 1 GB, with more available for a one-time fee. A letter weighs nothing; video is what fills the space, so trim each clip to the part that matters. Capsules are not end-to-end encrypted, and automated safety checks run on content, which means it is technically reachable by us — worth knowing before you decide what goes in.

A capsule opening within a year is free. Beyond that it is a single payment that depends on how far ahead it opens, with no subscription. On the opening day, download everything: the capsule stays available for the window you chose when sealing it, and is then deleted from our systems.

[See storage and pricing](https://time-capsule.io/pricing.md)

## Related capsules {#related}

- [An anniversary time capsule](https://time-capsule.io/anniversary-time-capsule.md) — The same idea on a date that belongs to the two of you rather than to the calendar.
- [A wedding time capsule](https://time-capsule.io/wedding-time-capsule.md) — If this Valentine's Day comes with a ring, the capsule after this one.
- [Open when letters](https://time-capsule.io/guides/open-when-letters.md) — The paper cousin: sixty ideas for envelopes opened on a mood rather than on a date.
- [Time capsule questions for couples](https://time-capsule.io/guides/time-capsule-questions.md) — Questions to answer on camera now and watch back later, including a list for two.
- [How we preserve capsules](https://time-capsule.io/preservation.md) — What we commit to over five or ten years, and what we refuse to promise.
- [How digital time capsules work](https://time-capsule.io/digital-time-capsule.md) — Sealing, recipients, opening dates and formats.

## Valentine's Day capsule questions {#faq}

### What is a Valentine's Day time capsule?

It is a sealed digital capsule of letters, photos, videos and voice recordings that a couple puts together around Valentine's Day and sets to open on a later one — often the next year's, or the one in five or ten years. Once sealed it cannot be edited or opened early by anyone, and on the date the recipients are emailed.

### Can we both write in the same capsule without reading each other's letter?

No. A capsule has one author, who is the only person able to add content and who can see all of it until it is sealed. For letters neither of you reads first, each partner creates their own capsule, addresses it to the other and chooses the same opening date. Each is emailed that a capsule is waiting, and neither can see inside the other's. A shared capsule works for everything you are both happy to see.

### Is a Valentine's Day time capsule free?

It is if it opens within a year: a capsule sealed this Valentine's Day and opening on the next one costs nothing and includes 300 MB of storage. Capsules opening further ahead are a single payment based on how far away the date is, with 1 GB included and no subscription.

### When should a Valentine's Day capsule open?

Next Valentine's Day is the most practical first choice, because it is free and close enough that everything in it can still be checked. Five and ten years are the natural longer choices. A date of your own works just as well — the anniversary of the first date, or of moving in.

### How do I give a time capsule as a Valentine's gift?

Recipients are emailed when a capsule is created as well as when it opens, so for a surprise create it with yourself as the recipient, leave it viewable by link with a password, and put the link or QR code in a card. Until the opening date, scanning it shows a locked capsule with a countdown and nothing else, so the gift on the day is the wait.

### What if we are no longer together when it opens?

The person who created a capsule can delete it at any time, even after sealing it; nobody else can, and nobody can open it early. It is one reason a one-year capsule is a sensible place to start.