According to the National Retail Federation, this Valentine's Day, spending nationally is expected to reach a record $29.1 billion, compared to last year's $27.5 billion.
The group reports that about 83% of people they spoke to plan to purchase a gift for a significant other.
The top five gift categories this year are candy, greeting cards, flowers, an evening out, and jewelry.
"It is probably one of the busiest weekends all year for us," said Nathan Long, owner of Nate's on Marsh restaurant in San Luis Obispo.
He says they are prepared for crowds on Valentine's Day, but also in the days leading up to the holiday.
"We do have limited space. We're fully committed for most of the weekend," Long said.
Crowds are one of the main reasons people in San Luis Obispo cited for celebrating Valentine's Day on a night other than Saturday.
"The day doesn't matter. It's the love and the relationships, even Galentine's Day, it's just the friendship that's there that's what matters," said Natalee Reiley, who plans on celebrating.
"We like to stay in because we don't like the crowds," said John Forney, another celebrator.
While restaurant reservations typically need to be made in advance, a local florist says flowers are a different story.
"It's usually a day-of holiday, so the day-of and the day before I'm really busy," said Lisa Marie Dietz, owner of Open Air Flowers.
Open Air Flowers has been operating in San Luis Obispo for 35 years, and Dietz says they are prepared to meet the need for last-minute purchases. But if you want delivery or special requests, do that soon.
Nationwide, people are expected to spend $3.1 billion on flowers. Dietz says the cost of flowers on the supplier side has increased.
"Cost of flowers have gone up a little bit. It's not drastically. For us, a lot of the hard goods or vases and the containers have gone up a lot because of tariff's," she said.
Dietz adds that despite some increases in supply costs, she has been able to keep bouquet prices about the same.
