Do you have a special night planned for some special ladies this Valentine’s Day? Here are some amazing ideas that you can use for your own Galentine’s Day get-together! You can also grab some free printable Valentine’s games and activities for your party at the end of the post!
Welcome to Galentine’s Day
Ladies getting together with their girlfriends is nothing new, but the phrase ‘Galentine’s Day’ was thrown in the mainstream from the TV sitcom Parks and Recreation. Leslie Knope, head of Parks and Rec in Pawnee, celebrated her favorite girls in a local diner on Valentine’s Day – thus instituting ‘Galentine’s Day.’
It doesn’t really matter if you’re planning a night for your closest and dearest friends or just putting together a gathering for some wonderful women, Galentine’s Day can be a super-fun night.
I hosted something of a Galentine’s Day with homeschool moms from my co-op, and today I want to share some of the ideas I used as well as other you can incorporate to make it a really fun night to honor your best females, celebrate friendships, and create new traditions.
What You Need to Throw a Memorable Galentine’s Day Celebration
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I hate saying that there are ‘must-haves’ for anything – but if you’re looking for something of a checklist for your Galentine’s Day party as well as some concrete ideas you can use!
Party Theme & Decor Ideas
Decorations are some of my favorite things to pull together for a party!
When I planned our get together, I bought some fun Valentine paper products.
I also had some heart bowls in various shades of pink and white that I used for the food.
Other than that, I kept it simple, girly, and spring like by using a eucalyptus runner along with small bud vases filled with flowers, along with candy strewn down the middle.
The tablecloth (albeit wrinkly) is a 2 layers of a sheer curtain panel for a soft look.
There’s also a version that highlights the Bible’s 1 Corinthians 13 definition of love – the true meaning of love!
I did have an area close to the dining table that had Valentine’s decor – so that helped created the atmosphere! If you decorate your home for Valentine’s Day, absolutely use your decor as accents for your party!
I didn’t use a particular color scheme because I feel like it’s mostly an obvious choice for Valentine’s Day, but I did go for more of a spring theme (if you like spring themed Valentine’s decor, you may want to take a look here!).
You could also go choose to pair your Valentine’s Day with your winter decor – winter greens, white snow, and red berries.
I would suggest finding a few pieces of Valentine decor you love and build your color scheme off that.
Decor Tips
For me, the dining table was central for our night, so I kept most of the decorations there.
But if you are branching out into your living room or den, feel free to include other types of Valentine’s party decor like heart-shaped balloons, fairly lights, candles, flower arrangements, DIY garlands!
First, you’ll need to create your guest list. For me, it was a wide-open invitation to the moms in our co-op.
But you can keep it small, with a group of close friends, or open your circle wider for a more festive night to celebrate all the ladies.
Just about everything these days is digital, and the same would be true for your invites! I like to use Canvato create just about anything digital. It’s really easy to whip up an invite.
Seriously, just go to Canva(create a free account if you don’t have one), type in ‘valentine’s day party invites’ and you’ll see a plethora of options you can edit and download!
Then, either text, email or share on social media, and you’re good to go!
Fun Activities & Games
As for what to do, for lots of get-together, just sitting around the table grazing and talking!
But if it’s a sort of random mix of people and you’re nervous about how to entertain, here are a few ideas.
Free Printable Games
You can print out a variety of Valentine-themed games you can do together – including trivia, movie or music love quotes, famous couples, Bingo. etc.
In fact, if you like that idea, you’re in luck! You can grab these free printables right here! At the end of the post, be sure to fill out the box so you can get the free download!
Craft Station
There are loads of ideas for Valentine’s Day crafts. They don’t necessarily need to be Valentine-themed (though here are lots of ideas if you want to Valentine DIYs or wreaths).
You can also make jewelry, friendship bracelets, painted mugs, body butters, and bath scrubs! This post has a lot of fun ideas that would be great for a girls’ craft night!
You can also DIY your own backdrop with streamers, balloons. or other decorations, to take all kinds of fun, girly pictures with your favorite friends.
Flower Arranging
We did flower arranging at a different mom’s night with our homeschool co-op moms and it was so fun! And it allows everyone to take home a beautiful floral bouquet!
Karaoke Machine
If you have a group of friends who feels zero shame at embarrassing themselves, a karaoke machine is a KILLER idea for a Galentine’s Day party.
Favorite Things Gift Exchange
Have you ever done a Favorite Things gift exchange?!? They are so fun! Each lady brings one of their favorite things ever, within a certain dollar amount, and y’all exchange White Elephant style! Super-easy and fun – and each lady goes home with a sweet gift!
Spa Night
It’s always a fun idea to do manis and pedis or facials together! It doesn’t get more girly than that! If you don’t want to go that far, you can always DIY your own homemade spa items like bath bombs, essential oil sprays, or sugar body scrubs.
Parks and Rec
Yup, you can throw Parks and Rec episode that made Galentine’s Day famous into the mix! If you’re searching for it, Season 2, Episode 16!
Food & Drink Ideas
This is where I think you really can make this a special event!
For my Galentine’s Day party, I kept things simple with more of a grazing table.
I set up a Valentine’s Day sweet treat charcuterie board with all kinds of Valentine’s treats – Valentine M&Ms and chocolate candies, chocolate-covered heart pretzels, mini red velvet cupcakes, and mini-cookies with pink icing.
I also put together a yogurt parfait station, with vanilla yogurt and all kinds of toppings and fillings like strawberries, granola, chocolate chips, and nuts.
Another fun treat for Galentine’s Day is a dessert dip. Here, I made a cannoli dip with all kinds of dippers like waffle cone pieces, ‘Nilla wafers, and cinnamon graham crackers.
There are no shortage of Valentine-themed sweets – heart-shaped cookies, XOXO brownie bars, LOVE ombre cookies, chocolate-covered strawberries, or cupcakes decorated with pink frosting. Here is one of my favorite roundups with a whole bunch of choices!
If you don’t want to bake for your party, I’ve found that Aldi has the best variety of holiday-themed treats! I’d look there first to find Valentine- themed goodies!
Festive Drinks
There are all kinds of drinks you can serve – both alcoholic and non-alcoholic. If your guests are OK with alcohol, you can find recipes for Galentine’s Day-inspired cocktails, like a fruity sangria, pink champagne punch, or strawberry margaritas.
If you don’t want to serve alcohol, there are so many fun mocktails, sparkling waters, and fizzy punch recipes where you won’t miss the alcohol at all.
Hot Drinks
It’s still pretty cold in February, so a hot drink station would be perfect! You can serve hot coffee, hot cocoa, and tea.
Finger Foods and Appetizers
If you want to provide a little substance to your guests, you can serve a variety of savory snacks like cheese platters, veggie dips, and heart-shaped sandwiches.
For a festive occasion like this, I LOVE the idea of individually served appetizers. It’s just a little more fancy in presentation and really elevate the food without creating too much pressure or work for the host.
I also need to say – nowadays, it’s customary and assumed to ask guests to bring a snack to share. It’s pretty much a given that you’ll bring a little something to any gathering you’re invited to to help the host out.
So do not hesitate to ask guests to bring something to share! There are no etiquette rules to prevent this!
Playlist & Music Recommendations
If you like to have music at your party, feel free to curate a playlist full of fun and upbeat girlie songs. These can be great for background music – and if the list is good enough, trust me – your girls will spontaneously break into song.
You can include songs by female artists or feel-good tunes perfect for chatting and singing along.
Everyone’s taste in music is different, but I feel like some old-timey songs would be great – Frank Sinatra – or some newer versions of that style like Harry Connick Jr or Michael Bublé.
And you really can’t go wrong with country music for some good sing-along tunes.
Gifts & Party Favors
I love the idea of sending your guests home with a thoughtful little gift. Some ideas for really sweet favors would be friendship bracelets, custom mugs, candles, candy or cookies, bath bombs, hot cocoa bombs, beauty products, or mini photo frames. or something like that.
You can also give your guests a small custom goodie bags filled with a variety of little gifts.
This post for DIY giftsfor friends has a bunch of ideas that would work well as small gifts for your Galentine’s party.
I also have some Galentine printables in my Etsy shop that are perfect for Galentine’s Day gifts! Just tap the pictures below to check them out!
Free Printable Valentine’s Day Games Here!
Don’t forget to grab your free printable games! This is a 17-page instant download PDF! Just fill out the box below and hang on a few seconds – you’ll be immediately redirected to the download!
Galentine’s Day: A Way to Celebrate Your Best Girls
When I was in middle school, my girlfriends and I hated Valentine’s Day. Some years, we wore black as our boycott (no, we weren’t dramatic AT. ALL.). It kind of felt crappy when it seemed like everyone had a boyfriend or someone special and we felt left behind.
Thankfully, I’ve grown up (a little), and I’ve learned that even if you don’t have a special someone, YOU can make it a special day for someone else and celebrate all the special friends you DO have in your life.
And of course, every single of one of us has the love of God gushing over us and proven by giving us the best He had to offer – His only Son. Without a special someone or without, there is no one who can fill that void and need for love like Jesus. If nothing else, we can celebrate that for sure.
But as for Galentine’s Day – make it fun, make it whimsical, make if meaningful… just enjoy your time with your best gals.
If you try any of these ideas, I’d love to see them! Tag me on Instagram and I’ll share in my stories!
Other thoughts? I’d love to hear them! Leave a comment below!
And if you enjoyed this article, I’d be SO grateful if you pinned or shared.
Hi! The box to get the games are at the very end of the post! You’ll see a specific sign up box just for that! If you hit that item in the Table of Contents, it will bring you right to it… just scroll a little way past where you land!
Hi! The box to get the games are at the very end of the post! You’ll see a specific sign up box just for that! If you hit that item in the Table of Contents, it will bring you right to it… just scroll a little way past where you land!
would love the pdfs of the galenties games the printable ones
Hi! Just fill out the box at the very end of the post and you’ll be redirected to the download!
Looking for printable games
Hi! The box to get the games are at the very end of the post! You’ll see a specific sign up box just for that! If you hit that item in the Table of Contents, it will bring you right to it… just scroll a little way past where you land!
May I have the printable, please? Thank you. 💕
Hi! The box to get the games are at the very end of the post! You’ll see a specific sign up box just for that! If you hit that item in the Table of Contents, it will bring you right to it… just scroll a little way past where you land!