Couples wait for Valentine’s Day so they can plan out the most romantic night of the year – a lofty goal that almost never ends as intended.

If you’ve watched one too many romantic comedies, then you’ve probably learned the hard way that unrealistic expectations often accompany Feb. 14. And these high hopes can be a breeding ground for nights that go all wrong.

But you’re not alone. In honor of the big day, students shared some of their most cringe-worthy memories from the holiday:

Floral fiasco
This annual event can be especially treacherous for lovebirds in long-distance relationships, and freshman Hannah Kelman’s experience last year was no exception.

Kelman and her boyfriend bickered leading up to the holiday because she wouldn’t be able to visit him at Northeastern University.

In an attempt to patch everything over, Kelman’s boyfriend decided to surprise her by sending a crowd favorite Valentine’s gift. The romantic gesture would’ve been a winner, if not for a mortal mix-up at the florist.

“He shipped me two dozen red roses, but the flower shop messed up,” she said. “I got a bouquet of flowers that were supposed to go to a funeral home with a note saying ‘I’m so sorry for your loss.’”

To top it all off, Kelman received her rightful bouquet a few days later, but by the time they finally reached her they were mostly dead, along with the relationship.

Dinner with a side of tears
Junior Lucy Escamilla said her mistake came when she agreed to go out with ex. The pair had dated for two years, but split in the weeks leading up to the holiday during her freshman year.

Neither of them wanted to spend the day alone, so they decided to still go on a Valentine’s Day date. The pair went out to dinner for what Escamilla had hoped would be a relaxed, casual evening. But the atmosphere was interrupted when her phone buzzed with a text from another guy.

“It was someone I had just met the day before,” she said.

Before she could grab her phone, her ex saw the other guy’s name on her screen and became visibly upset.

“He was like ‘who’s that?” and I was like ‘some stupid boy,’” Escamilla said. “Then he started crying at dinner, saying ‘you’re going to move on from me and love someone else?’”

Escamilla tried her best to comfort her ex, telling him that it would also be hard for her to get over him.

When the tears stopped, she returned her attention to her chicken fingers and made a mental note to never accept a date with an ex again – especially on Feb. 14.

Much to her ex’s dismay, Escamilla and her mystery man from iMessage started dating shortly after this incident.

Pumping the breaks
Valentine’s Day can pose a massive relationship hurdle for those in the “what are we” phase of their relationship. Sophomore Aubrianna Mierow was in that awkward in-between phase and looking to cool things off, but her man had other plans.

“My ex-boyfriend asked me out on Friday the 13th so we could be official for Valentine’s Day, but he was moving too fast for me,” she said.

In an attempt to slow things down, Mierow decided to plan the least romantic night possible.

When he asked where she wanted to go for dinner, she chose a local Chinese restaurant that was notorious for serving senior citizens.

“We were the only people under the age of 55,” she said.

When that didn’t deter him, Mierow had one more trick up her sleeve.

“Then for the movie he wanted to see Fifty Shades of Grey, but I picked American Sniper because I figured it would ruin the mood,” she said.

Eventually, he managed to win Mierow over.

Love lockdown
During her senior year of high school, freshman Shannen Patel had a recently married teacher whose betrothed showed up during the school day as a surprise for the couple’s first Valentine’s Day together as a married couple.

When the school’s secretary refused to let the middle-aged, bearded man in without a photo ID, he was determined to not give up on this romantic gesture.

“Ultimately, he caused a school-wide lockdown for about 15 minutes after an administrator noticed him wandering around without a visitor badge and reported him as a ‘suspicious unknown character,’” Patel said.

He ended up convincing the security guard he wasn’t a threat to the school with his wife’s gift in hand. Then, he proceeded to sheepishly tell her the whole story as he presented her with the gift – a massive teddy bear – in front of the whole class.