Galentine's Ideas at Home: A Night In With Your Friends

Galentine's Day is February 13, the day before Valentine's Day, and it is for friends. A night in usually works better than going out, because the restaurants are already booked for the following evening. The shape most people land on is simple: four or five people, one thing you made, several things you bought, and one activity that gives everyone something to do with their hands.

Where the day comes from

Galentine's Day started as a television plot. In a February 2010 episode of Parks and Recreation, the character Leslie Knope explains that every February 13 she hosts a brunch for her friends, and calls it Galentine's Day. The idea left the show almost immediately and turned into a real thing people put in their calendars. It has stayed friends only ever since, which is the whole point of it.

Pick the hour before you pick anything else

February 13 lands on a Saturday in 2027 and a Sunday in 2028, so those two years are easy. In a year when it falls midweek, decide early whether you are moving it to the closest weekend or keeping the date and starting at seven so people can come straight from work. Brunch is the original format and it still works, especially if half the group has plans the next day.

Four to six people is the size where one conversation still fits around a table. Beyond that it splits into two, which is fine for a party and less good for this. Ask by text, name the date and the start time, say what you are making, and tell people what to bring so nobody has to guess. Two lines is enough.

Make one thing, buy the rest

Cook one dish properly and let everything else come from a shop. A baked pasta, a big salad with something warm in it, or a soup with good bread beside it will all sit on a table for two hours without getting worse, which matters when people arrive at different times. Anything that needs plating in the final minute means you spend the first half hour in the kitchen instead of with your friends.

For the rest: cheese, olives, good chips, a bowl of clementines, and a cake you did not bake. Small layer cakes with berries on top photograph well and cut cleanly, and a bakery box means one fewer thing that can go wrong. If people offered to bring something, take them up on it and assign specific items rather than leaving it open.

What goes in the glasses

Something sparkling with pink in it covers most preferences. Sparkling water with grapefruit and a little grenadine, a pot of hibiscus tea served cold, or a hot chocolate station with marshmallows and a small jug of cream all work, and each one has an alcohol free version by default so nobody has to ask. Put it out where people can help themselves instead of taking orders all night.

The gift swap, if you do one

A gift swap is optional and it is much better with a rule. Set a low number, twenty dollars is plenty, and give it a category so the shopping is fun rather than stressful: something pink, something from a shop in your neighborhood, something you have owned and loved and want someone else to have. Everyone brings one, everyone leaves with one.

If you want the version where each person gets a real gift, that becomes a different kind of evening and a bigger budget. There are ideas in gifts for your sister and gifts for women who have everything that transfer directly to a friend.

One thing to do together

Pick a single activity rather than a schedule. The ones that work are the ones people can talk over: writing a card to each person in the room and reading them out, going through photos from the past year and picking the best one of each person, a nail bar with three colours and one person doing the painting, or a blind taste test of five grocery store chocolates with everyone guessing the price. Set it up before anyone arrives so it starts by itself.

Skip anything that needs a leader, needs teams, or needs to be explained twice. If you want a longer list of options for a group in pajamas, pajama party ideas covers hosting a bigger version of this, and cozy night in ideas covers the quieter one.

Flowers and the table

One bunch of tulips split between three small vases goes further down a table than a single arrangement in the middle, and it lets people see each other. Grocery store tulips in February are cheap and they open over the course of the evening. Candles, plates that do not match, and a stack of napkins is the rest of it. Nothing here needs to be bought new.

If people are staying

Say so on the invitation so anyone staying can bring a bag. Spare toothbrushes, a folded towel each, and clean pillowcases are the whole list. Everyone changing into pajamas after dinner also moves the night into its second half without anyone having to announce it, which is the same signal that starts an evening routine on an ordinary night.

Our sets are 100% cotton with no blends, designed in Victoria, British Columbia and made in small batches. They are sold as separates, so tops and pants are sized individually: tops are $48 CAD, pants are $68 CAD, sizing runs XXS to XXL, and shipping is free across Canada. The colourways are Love Letter, a garden floral, along with Raspberry and Moonmilk in stone, and they are all in the cotton pajamas collection. If the group wants to match, matching pajama sets for friends covers ordering across several sizes at once.

Common questions

What is Galentine's Day?

Galentine's Day is an unofficial holiday on February 13 for celebrating friendships between women. It came from a 2010 episode of Parks and Recreation, in which Leslie Knope hosts an annual brunch for her friends on the day before Valentine's Day. It is deliberately not romantic, and most people mark it with a meal, a small gift swap or a night in together.

When is Galentine's Day?

February 13 every year, the day before Valentine's Day. It falls on a Saturday in 2027, a Sunday in 2028 and a Tuesday in 2029. When the date lands midweek, many groups move the celebration to the nearest weekend rather than skipping it, since the original version is a brunch and that is easier on a Saturday.

What do you do on Galentine's Day?

Most people gather a small group of friends for a meal, either brunch in the daytime or dinner in the evening. Beyond the food, the common additions are a low budget gift swap with a theme, flowers, cards written to each person in the room, and one shared activity. Going out is possible, though restaurants that week are usually busy.

What do you do at a Galentine's party?

Eat, swap small gifts and do one thing together. A single activity works better than a full schedule: writing and reading cards, going through the year's photos, painting nails, or a blind taste test with everyone guessing. Keep the group to four to six people if you want one conversation rather than several, and set the activity up before anyone arrives.

What are good Galentine's food ideas?

Cook one dish that holds well on a table, such as a baked pasta, a substantial salad or a soup with good bread. Buy everything else: cheese, olives, clementines, chocolate and a cake from a bakery. Small layer cakes with berries cut cleanly and serve easily. If you are doing the brunch version, a frittata and a tray of pastries covers it.