Tips For a Fabulous Galentine’s Day Party

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner. But while you’re getting ready for Valentine’s Day, don’t forget to spread the love with your friends!

This guide will help you put together a fabulous party in honor of the best day of the year to celebrate you and your besties—Galentine’s Day.

What is Galentine’s Day?

You probably already know what Valentine’s Day is—every February 14, people all over express their affection for their loved ones, particularly their romantic partners.

Galentine’s Day is a similar concept, but, as the name implies, focuses mainly on female friendships. This unofficial holiday is typically celebrated on the 13th, and its origins can actually be traced to the popular NBC TV show Parks and Rec. The show’s star, Leslie Knope (played by Amy Poehler), celebrated it with her female coworkers as a way to celebrate female empowerment. (Interestingly enough, this isn’t the first unofficial holiday that started on a TV show—Friendsgiving, a fun take on Thanksgiving, originated on the TV show Friends.)

Galentine’s Day has grown from a sitcom episode to a fun day to get together with your gal pals over food, drinks, or other activities and celebrate sisterhood.

Celebrating Galentine’s Day

If Galentine’s Day sounds like something you’d like to celebrate, the good news is, there are no rules. If you’re not sure how to celebrate, here are some steps to keep in mind as you plan:

• Make a guest list. Most celebrate with their female friends, so invite your bffs, sisters, cousins, mom, grandma, nieces—any of the ladies in your life you’d like to have fun with.
• Choose a day and time. Work and school schedules could make it difficult to actually celebrate on February 13th, so choose a weekend or weeknight close to Galentine’s Day that works for you and your friends.
• Choose an activity. Make sure it’s something everyone will enjoy. For example, you might want to skip a boozy brunch or trip to a bar if you’re going to have kids in attendance or you have friends who don’t drink.
• Plan the menu. Your party will likely include some food, so take some time to plan a menu that works with your theme. Keep allergies and food preferences of your guests in mind, too.
• Invite your guests. You can send formal invitations, messages on social media, or just a friendly text or phone call. Make sure you include all relevant details; if you’re going to be going out, for example, make sure they know where so your guests can dress appropriately.

Galentine’s Day party ideas

The fun part of planning a Galentine’s Day party is coming up with party ideas. Here are some ideas for a happy Galentine’s Day party:

Host a brunch

Who doesn’t love brunch? Host a fun brunch that includes tasty breakfast-style foods like waffles, frittatas, fruits, cinnamon rolls, and more. You can even take it up a notch and make heart-shaped foods or have a pink and red food theme and serve strawberries, pink lemonade or juice, and heart-shaped foods.

Have a sleepover

If you have a group of friends with open schedules, consider hosting a throwback slumber party! Tell your friends to bring their pillows and sleeping bags and host a Galentine’s sleepover complete with your favorite movies, pizza, games, and late-night talking sessions.

Do a self-care day

You and your friends can treat yourselves to a day of pampering with some self-care. Book a spa day and book a group session for a treatment like manicures or pedicures, massages, and facials. You can even do an at-home spa day with mani pedis or homemade facials.

Decorate sugar cookies

This activity is perfect for women of all ages. Make a batch of sugar cookies in Valentine’s Day themed shapes, such as hearts, lips, and X’s and Os. Make or purchase frosting and sprinkles and host an afternoon of sugar cookie decorating. Provide plates or containers for everyone to take some home.

Host a gift-exchange

A gift exchange is another fun idea for a Galentine’s Day party, especially if you and your guests are single or aren’t expecting Valentine’s Day gifts. Set a dollar limit and make sure to communicate it beforehand. You can also choose a gift theme; for example, you can have everyone bring accessories, nail polish or makeup, or a game to exchange.

Have a themed potluck dinner

A Galentine’s-themed dinner is another fun idea for a party with your besties. Assign a food to everyone, such as sides, drinks, or a dessert, and get together for a dinner together. You can make it fun by having everyone dress up in a theme, such as glam, Barbie, black and white, or anything you and your friends would enjoy.

Game night

Get your free Galentine's Day game: Download Now

Bring everyone together for a game night! You can play classic party games like charades, Apples to Apples, Cards Against Humanity, Truth or Dare, and your other favorite games. You can also ask your guests to bring a game they like, and take turns playing a few. Be sure to serve snacks and drinks.

Not sure what game to play? Download this card for a fun Galentine’s Day-themed Scattergories game! Here's how to play:

1. Print out enough copies for every guest to have their own paper. Make sure everyone has a pen or pencil.
2. Pick any letter of the alphabet, and make sure everyone knows what was chosen.
3. Set a timer for one minute. During this minute, everyone must think of one word for each category that starts with the letter you chose. For example, if you picked the letter S, your answer for the "sweet treat" category could be "Snickers bar." Try to think out of the box!
4. After one minute is up, everyone will share their answers. If any players wrote down the same answer for a category, they must cross it out. If any players have an answer that nobody else chose, they get a point for each unique answer.
5. The player with the most points wins!

Special touches for the perfect Galentine’s Day party

Adding some special touches to your party with decorations, music, and food will help make it a memorable time for everyone:

Galentine’s Day decor

• Make a balloon arch with red, white, and pink balloons (or your favorite colors!)
• Decorate with heart-shaped mylar balloons
• If you’re serving a meal or food, use heart-shaped plates and serving dishes
• Create centerpieces with bouquets of flowers (real or artificial)
• Make a photo backdrop with streamers, props, and signs so everyone can remember the event
• Smart lighting with red or pink bulbs

Set the theme with music

No Galentine’s Day party is complete without a playlist of some of your favorite songs. Look up ideas for playlists online. Some must-have songs for any Galentine’s playlist include Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, RESPECT, or songs from some of your favorite or popular female artists, like Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, Beyonce, or Lady Gaga, to name just a few.

Have fun with food

There’s no limit to what you can do with Galentine’s Day party foods and drinks! Some fun ideas to set the theme include:

• Mocktails with sprinkles around the rim
• Red or pink snacks. Many brands will include special Valentine’s Day mixes of popular treats, like M&Ms and jelly beans
• Serve heart-shaped foods, like pretzels or pizzas. You can also easily transform sandwiches, pancakes, or waffles into shapes with cookie cutters.

Send guests home with favors

Favors are a fun way to thank your guests for coming to your party and give them a little something to remember the great time you had! Favors don’t need to be elaborate or fancy. Some ideas include:

• Galentine’s Day card
• Polaroid pics from your party
• Treats like cookies, popcorn, or candy in a festive takeout container

Make a festive first impression

You can set the stage for a fun night the moment your friends ring the doorbell with doorbell chimes for your Vivint doorbell camera.

Doorbell chimes are chimes you can customize based on holiday. Instead of playing the regular doorbell chime, a fun and festive chime will play for all to hear. For your Galentine’s Day party, you can download the following chimes from February 9, 2024 through February 15, 2025:

• 😍 Falling in love
• 🏹 Love is in the air
• 🐳 You’re whaley awesome
• 🧸 You’re the beary best
• 🌹 You rose to the top
• 💞 From our hearts to yours
• 💎 You’re a gem

Using your Galentine’s Day chime is simple. Just follow these easy steps:

• Open up the Vivint app
• Tap on Cameras at the bottom of the screen
• Hit the Settings icon in the top right corner of the screen
• Click on your doorbell camera
• Scroll down to Chimes and pick your favorite

You and your visitors will feel the love every time someone rings your doorbell! Don’t have a Vivint doorbell yet? Getting started is easy; just give us a call and start customizing your system today.