Step 1: Know your audience

Know your partner’s tastes, especially when it comes to public displays of affection. What's hopelessly romantic to one person is mortifyingly cheesy to another.

Step 2: Avoid cliches

Avoid cliches. If your romantic gesture is a staple of bodice-ripping novels and bad rom-coms, it's probably more cheesy than romantic.

Step 3: Don't write a song

Unless you're a professional singer/songwriter, don't write your love a song. Insipid lyrics, out-of-tune singing, one-note guitar strumming -- they haven't got time for the cheese.

Step 4: Put your love in words

Do try your hand at writing your sweetie a love letter -- on real paper. To make it romantic without being cheesy, keep it simple and straightforward. Don't compare their lips to rubies or their eyes to diamonds; just tell them honestly why you love them.

Step 5: Treat them like a grown-up

When it comes to gifts, treat your lover like a grown-up. If the present is something a 5-year-old would enjoy, it's cheesy, not romantic.

Step 6: Do something nice

Do something nice for them that makes their day a little brighter or their life a little easier. Sometimes, just being kind is the most romantic gesture of all.