When it comes to buying cards, women are in first - but men are still picking up the tab for dinner. Amid the rampant commercialism, is there still room for romance, asks Fiona McCann.

St Valentine's Day: a day for lovers, replete with romance and teeming with tenderness, or a crass, money-spinning excuse for commercial entities to loot our pockets and guilt-trip people - mostly men - into parting with their readies?

Certainly, if the industry surrounding it is anything to go by, St Valentine's Day has become one of the costliest festivals, and the commercial spin-off would make anyone giddy.

For greeting card vendors, it's a veritable bonanza, and in the days running up to February 14th, stand upon stand is suffused with the pink and red hues of this commercial cash cow. In the lead-up, Card Gallery on Grafton Street boasted 22 feet of St Valentine's Day cards, over half the available shelf space, and this was set to increase all the way up to tomorrow's jackpot.

After Christmas, St Valentine's Day is the card vendors' busiest time of the year, and the target market appears to be anyone with a heart. Even, it appears, if it's a cheating one. "The odd time you will still get a man buying a card for a girlfriend and a separate card for a wife at the same time," says a spokesperson for the Card Gallery, who also observes that men tend to spend more than women on the day. "But women buy them earlier than men. We would always sell out of husband cards first and wife cards last. Women are more organised," she says. Some recent psychological experiments have even suggested that those who buy early do so positively ("how can I show my love?"), while late shoppers think negatively ("how can I stay out of the doghouse?").

FLORISTS ARE ALSO getting ready for their "single busiest day of the year", according to Philip Wynne, commercial director of Mad Flowers.

"We've been planning it since Christmas, selecting products and ranges, trends and fashions and so on, and in terms of sourcing flowers," he says. Although he expects to do a roaring trade, Wynne explains that it's not a straight run to the bank. "All flowers are bought at an auction, which means the higher the demand the higher the cost prices, so while the volume we sell is very high around Valentine's day, because of the demand for flowers out there our profit margin is less. They cost us more, but we don't pass that on to customers," he says.

With 30 vans on the road delivering on the day, it's a round-the-clock rush to ensure smiles on the faces of all the recipients, among them this year a girl who, though she doesn't know it yet, is to be delivered 240 roses, according to Wynne, who refuses to reveal her identity. Confidentiality is key, he explains, but sometimes can lead to hilarious results. "You can have a guy sending flowers to his wife and saying they're from a secret admirer, and then you get the wife calling up to verify who sent them," he says. "She'll have a little snigger in her voice, and you know that she's just checking, thinking 'maybe the guy who takes his top off when he's working in the garden has the hots for me!' There is that bit of craic on Valentine's Day."

There'll be no craic at all, however, if you're hoping to book a romantic meal for two for tomorrow night. Last minute lovers should ready themselves for disappointment, as all the top tables have been reserved for months now. "Valentine's day has been booked out pretty much since before Christmas," says Sally Anne Clarke of L'Ecrivain restaurant.

Although it's a busy day, having all the tables occupied by couples can make things difficult for restaurants. "It's all twos, so your tables are not at optimum," explains Clarke. "Technically we'd be a 120-seater restaurant, but on Valentine's night, we can only do 60. The only way you're going to make the night a normal night is to do two sittings."

Sittings are one thing, but some diners end up on their knees - for reasons other than the rush for tables. "We have a proposal nearly every year," says Clarke. "Last year we had a guy who got down on one knee, and the whole restaurant clapped!"

While there's nothing to stop women from popping the question on St Valentine's Day, the more traditionally-minded may hold off until February 29th - and take the leap-year prerogative.

Until then, it's mainly the men who are forking out, according to Andrea Hussey of Dublin's Pearl restaurant. "The majority of men pay for the meal."

IF YOUR BUDGET doesn't stretch, or your loved one isn't quite worth a full meal, you can always just plump for desert, which is where the chocolatiers come in. This year, Butlers Chocolates have answered the Valentine's call with heart-shaped chocolate boxes of varying sizes, the size of the heart you get dependent, naturally, on the size of the wallet.

The red velvet boxes have a longer shelf life than their contents, making them a better long-term investment, according to Aisling Walsh, marketing director of Butlers.

"People tend to hang on to the boxes afterwards," she says. "You can even pop an engagement ring in before you give it. A small one would be perfect for hiding a little diamond in."

Busy times indeed for the chocolate fairy, but Valentine's Day still comes after Christmas, Easter and Mother's Day when it comes to the commercial peaks on the candy-selling calendar.

"At Easter and Christmas you buy multiple gifts. But unless someone wants to buy a gift for their wife and their girlfriend, in general, people would buy less gifts for Valentine's day," she explains.

So, despite the complaints over what's become known as a Hallmark Holiday that rips-off romantics, it appears that few are setting out to bleed hapless gentlemen for all their hard-earned cash. Or at least, they're not admitting it. There's no denying St Valentine's Day is big business for some, yet even those making money from it seem swept up by the romantic flip-side.

Cards, chocolates and flowers aside, it's fun in the run-up to February 14th to feel that love is in the air - especially when nobody's charging for it.