Maybe your significant other is stuck on a business trip
OR
Maybe you don't have a significant other at all (me!)
OR
Maybe you want to just spend a day in early to mid February with your gals...
How do you host that get-together without seeming like a bunch of man haters who are bitter? You throw the happiest, peppiest Galentines Day anyone's ever seen. You get the pink balloons, you send out cute little e-vites, and decorate to the max.
The precursor to all of this is watching Parks and Recreation season 2, episode 16, appropriately titled Galentines Day. There's several episodes celebrating this now annual holiday but this is the start of a legacy. Leslie Knope gets her girl gang together for brunch and gives them all cute goody bags filled with flower pens, mosiac portraits of each of them made out of their favorite soda and a 500 page essay on why they're each such awesome individuals and thus the heart of Galentines Day was revealed.
The key is celebrating each of your wonderful female friendships rather than just owning your singledom. So now that we've got the reason for the season down let's break in down into some easy steps that can be done in your order of convenience
1) Decorate to the max
Really lean into the cheesy, corniness of Valentines Day. Buy a giant stuffed animal if you really feel it, get the giant pink foil balloons, deck out your dining room in crepe paper. If you go all out, your guests will feel it too.
2) Send out your invites
Typically I think of Galentines Day as a brunch event, so I would pick around 11 am but that's totally flexible. Send out a cute e-vite or make a real invitation to send old school mail to make it a little more special. There's an app to make your own e-vites or you can get invitations printed like a Christmas card at your local photo center even!
3) The food!!
The food makes the event in my book. If you go the brunch route don't be afraid of going full Leslie Knope and getting a waffle bar set up with mimosas or a bloody mary bar too! Some red velvet cupcakes or some strawberries would add that Valentines Day feel as well!
4) Reaffirm your girls!
The entire point of Galentines Day is to celebrate your gals! Write them words of affirmation and let them know why they're some of your best girls. Treat them with little gift masks - they don't need to be expensive, even just some face masks and wine will do! If physical gifts aren't practical for you, just giving the gift of your love and friendship is more than enough! I hold onto written affirmations for years and read them anytime I'm having a rough day. It's the perfect galentines gift.