It's Valentine's Day, Gal/Pal-entine's Day or simply Wednesday for those who believe the tradition is just another way for restaurants, florists, greeting card and chocolate corporates to make money off of people.
Whether you're single or smitten, you'd agree finding a long-lasting match online or in real life involves a mix of luck and resilience.
So how does the national capital fare when it comes to the matters of the heart?
Atrocious, small, and cliquey - these are some of the words people have used to describe Canberra's dating scene. Others say love is always hard to come by no matter where you live and it's that rarity that makes their connection more special.
Couple Katie Johnson and Lou Raynolds, were all smiles when sharing their meet cute story.
Having just moved from Wollongong in 2022, Ms Johnson joined the rookies program at the Canberra roller derby league in an effort to meet people.
Little did she know she would quickly become friends, and eventually find love with Lou when they were serendipitously put in the same team.
"I think most social scenes in Canberra are a bit cliquey which probably makes it hard to get into - that's why it's good to find a mutual hobby ... the apps are hard, you can swipe through everyone in a day if you're only into women," Ms Raynolds says.
Clicking in Canberra
Jason Waddell says it's going really well with his partner of two months, Tara Olivia. They met on a dating app.
"I was about ready to give up on dating before meeting Tara," he says. "It's atrocious, it's different these days. People are just more transactional and [not] interested in getting deeply involved."
He feels it was easier to date in his twenties and that he'd become pickier now. Ms Olivia, on the other hand, says she had a ball meeting her online dates.
"I had a great time getting to this place with Jason. I think I met the right kind of people, I was told I've been very lucky," she says.
Joanna Chen found her partner Jackson Sully on a dating app about eight months ago. Back then, she began having feelings for him when they worked together.
She didn't know if he was interested so when she came across his profile, she saw her chance and sent him a "like".
"Dating is always hard, so it just makes you appreciate it more," she says.
Meeting online is 'the norm'
In her 34 years of speaking to couples, relationship counsellor Janenne Hamilton said she noticed an increase in people who met online.
"There is much more awareness about the potential for people to misrepresent themselves online so generally people are more cautious when organising catch ups," she says.
She also said couples used to be "a little embarrassed" to tell people they met online, but that changed to the norm in the past five years.
"The COVID pandemic increased the reliance on online dating to meet prospective partners," she says.
Ms Hamilton also found an increasing number of young couples making appointments with her.
In her experience dealing with people's relationship difficulties, she said the main issues remained the same over the years - poor communication, unrealistic expectations, lack of trust and conflict resolution skills to deal with differences.
How many Canberrans are single?
The latest census revealed just over 30 per cent of Canberrans, about 144,560 people are technically single. This includes people who were divorced or widowed, and excludes those under the age of 19 at the time.
However, keep in mind the transient nature of Canberra's population - people who might have moved here in the last six months and those who have left since 2021.
Mira Grace from Sydney met Tony Tadros six years ago at the St Mark Coptic Orthodox Church in Kaleen. She felt it was a lot harder to find a relationship that lasts these days.
"Today's society has a different view of relationships and what love actually means," she says. "That's not to say the right person won't come around. Its a lot harder here in Canberra, I don't know if options are limited but I definitely think it's a lot more difficult."
Her husband agrees. He says relationships have become confusing because of shifting standards of commitment.
"In Sydney you have a much broader or a diverse community. In Canberra, while there is a diverse community it's a lot smaller," Mr Tadros said. "It's hard to find people who are in it for the long run, who aren't going to walk out on them because of superficial things."
Larissa Scott and Jake Hynes lived in the same dorm at university and met each other through mutual friends. Mr Hynes suspects extroverts like him would have much better luck meeting potential partners, particularly in the city's "massive pool" of young people.
"I think Larissa feels it's not as easy as I say it is - I think there's plenty of events and places to be. It's just about ... getting around and just making friends and you'll eventually meet someone, it's just a matter of time," the 20-year-old says.
Fewer young people are getting married
The latest Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey revealed the number of married men and women in their late twenties and early thirties has significantly decreased.
About 40 per cent of women aged between 25 and 29 were married in 2001. That number has almost halved in 2021, to 20.6 per cent. In the same age range, while the percentage of married men had decreased from 25.5 per cent to 14.6 per cent.
The survey also shows de facto relationships have become more common among all age groups, increasing from 8 to 14.7 per cent for men and 8.9 to 14.3 per cent for women.
Just take Janet and Michael. They met in 1980 while they were both married to different people and had young kids.
"Long story but we ended up living together later when her kids and my kids were in high school. We bought a house together, that went on for about 10 years. Then I left Canberra, and now I've come back and we're sort of living apart together," he says.
"Not a relationship, just spend a lot of time together."
