Valentines is great and all but have you celebrated Galantines yet? For me this holiday was made known by Lesley Knope on Parks and Rec. She gathered her work ladies for a Bruch of waffles and girl talk and from that moment that was something I wanted to acknowledge. For the last three years I have gathered my ladies together for just that! Last weekend I hosted a handful of fabulous ladies in my home for the first time, rather than a restaurant. Today I am sharing some of my hostess tips for throwing your own fabulous Galentines!
Pick a theme:
While Brunch is popular theme for Galentines, there are a lot of options! The “subtheme” of my party was Sweet as Sugar. A brunch time and menu that incorporated a lot of sweet yummy elements including cookie decorating. If you aren’t into the brunch of it all other themes include, sleepover, sweet vs sexy, and chick flick movies. Inspiration is everywhere.
Plan a menu:
From 10-50 people you need to plan out a menu for your guests. I have the terrible southern lady habit of cooking for an army when there are only a handful of people coming. My brunch menu consisted of the following.
- Mini pancakes with raspberries
- Chick fila nuggets
- Bacon
- Mini donuts
- Mimosas
Aside from the brunch items I had other snack and dessert options available. A charcuterie board filled with sugary sweets. Including, rice crispy treats, sugar wafers, Jordan almonds, heart shaped candy and animal crackers. Then of course there were the normal party snacks; cheese and crackers, pretzels, chips and dip and a homemade cake. Like I said, I always buy way too much because I would always rather have too much left over then run out of something mid party!
Maybe as my party throwing continues I will learn from my over buying past.
Décor:
I knew I had the décor done up properly when more then one person walked into my house and said “it looks like valentines day threw up in here!” It was an easy look to achieve with a one order from amazon that considered of banners, wine bottle labels, balloons and heart shaped bowls.
Little touches:
I never rely on a party to just be people standing around talking, even though this often happens. I always have music playing softly in the background, for this event I simply said “Ok Google, play the Galentines day playlist” girly jams played for hours, everything from Shania Twain to Beyoncé. I also always provide one activity at least. For Galentines I had a sugar cookie decorating station and also a few games purchased from Etsy. I had three games like “name that movie, emoji translation and what’s on your phone?” Each winner was awarded a bottle of wine with the Galentines day label and another little add on like a candle, candy or mug. Lastly, I took great pride in my attention to detail in my décor from frozen heart ice cubes that featured flower petals to the candy conversation hearts that were in vases, bowls and available to everyone wherever you looked.
As a party thrower, I urge you to play into your strengths. Mine is the little details that add to the event, rather then the large scale or the homemade menu items. If you are a bomb cook, take this opportunity to show off! If you make the best smelling homemade candles, use this as a launch pad to get them out into the world. These moments make the gathering memorable and something that leaves guests wanting more.
I hope these tips are helpful to you in throwing your fabulous version of Galentines! If you need a little help, shoot me an email at Thedirtyblondestylist@gmail.com.
Happy Galentines day!
-MB
The Dirty Blonde Stylist 