Valentine's Day is the day of love. But who says it is only for your romantic partner? You can express your admiration and love towards your parents, siblings and even your friends. And who better than your girl gang, who is a constant source of support and moral boosting? Well, it is never too late to throw a cute and fun party for your girls to show them how much they mean to you.
With women finally accepting their girlhood, wholeheartedly, and wanting to show-off the cutesy things that truly make them happy, throwing a girl-coded Galentine's party is the thing to do this year. From pink, white and red themed everything, to ribbons, bows and candles, this year go all out for a fun yet quirky party.
Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.
Check out our handy guide to everything girly and party:
Bows and candles galore:
From candelabras to stems of wine glasses, typing a simple bow with pink or red ribbon can make your entire setting girl-coded. Having undergone a major transformation in the past few years, candles can instantly transform any setting into a cosy and comfy space. From hand-painted candles to metallic ones, place a variety of candles in varying shapes, textures and heights in the corner of the room to lend an ethereal glow. You can also place them in the centre of your table along the table runner or floral centrepiece.
Balloon fun:
Balloons have no age limit and make for a great photo op. Blow many balloon or fill them with Helium in shades of red and pink. Attach streamers with silver or gold ribbon and let them cascade from the balloon as they cluster around the ceiling.
Flowers:
No girly brunch, luncheon or sit-down dinner is complete without vases of white, pink, pastel yellow or red roses splattered across the room. Using a flower along, create a centrepiece using flowers in corresponding colours of your theme & intersperse then with filler flowers like baby’s breath & bows in silver, white or black ribbon.
Food
Cupcakes:
A girl-coded party without cupcakes? That can't be right. If you and your friends can't decorate, Instagram has many hacks that can help. Content creator Steph Carr (@stillbusybaking) shared that you can make heart-shaped cupcakes by melting pink-tinted buttercream icing and pouring it into a silicone mould. Then place a cupcake on it, upside down and freeze for about 20 mins. Once it sets, you can unmould it and it will be able to hold its shape due to the butter.
Fondant potatoes:
Potatoes are multi-purpose and when they are heart-shaped, they are 10x cuter and more delicious. Fondant potatoes make for the perfect appetizers for this day of love. Using cookie cutters, cut out hearts from potato slices. Sear them on both sides in a hot pan and then baste them in garlic and herbed butter. Sprinkle with flaky salt and serve with a mayonnaise and yoghurt dip.
Heart-y Salad:
Don't forget to get your greens in and have a side salad that will go perfectly with your meal of pizza, pasta and fries. To make this salad earn its place on your table, toss the green leafy veggies in a citrusy dressing. Then cut the tomates, cucumber and strawberries into heart shapes and add them to the salad. You can also add grapes that have been halfed, chopped nuts for the crunch and some grated cheese.
Macaroon tower:
An great meal has a dessert to wrap it up, sometimes even two. You won't go wrong with macaroons. Stacking them on a glass plate is cute, but to take this to the next level and have a showstopping moment to your party, make a macaroon tower, like content creator Kimberly Anne (@itskimtish). She created this by wrapping a styrofoam cone with silver foil. Then, using toothpicks, she skewer the macaroons all over the cone and added a pink bow on top. You can get bite-sized French desserts in the colours of your theme.
Beverages
Gin and jam co*cktail:
Quench the thirst with a special Galentine's Day co*cktail that is simple to whip up. Take some strawberry preserve or jam in a shaker and add a good glug of gin. Top it off with soda water and give it a good shake along with lots of ice. Using a strainer at the mouth of the shaker, pour it over some more ice and sip away.
Tart cherry juice with ginger ale:
For those whoaren't drinking alcohol, make the viral sleepy girl mocktail. While the drink that is being recreated on social media contains magnesium powder that induces sleep. However, you can skip this and the drink is still delicious. Pour one part tart cherry juice and top it off with ginger ale. You can also add sugar syrup to balance out the tartnes. Garnish with mint and a cherry.
Food galore
Pasta night:
Instead of stressing over what to make for the main event - the meal, invite your girl friends to show off their creativity and make handmade pasta. Laminate edible flowers or dyed pasta dough in heart shapes into the dough and roll it out to make Tagliatelle, ravioli or use the sheets to make a Lasagna. Make a simple sage and brown butter sauce, which will allow the designs to be the focus of the meal.
Make chocolate barks:
Chocolate is a Valentine’s Day essential. Melt milk and white or coloured chocolate, and get everyone from your girl gang together to go crazy and decorate their chocolate barks. Put out bowls of chopped nuts, a variety of sprinkles, edible glitter and more. Freeze them for an hour, minimum and then smash the barks once they set. These can also double up as takeaway gifts.
A movie night:
Planning a pyjama-themed party? There is no better way to wind down the night than with a movie marathon with your girls. Watch your favourite romantic movies such as Notting Hill, Runway Bride, 10 Things I Hate About You, Titanic, The Notebook, Me Before You, to name a few. Pop some popcorn in the microwave, grab some fizzy drinks and get comfy with pillows and blankets dotted around the television.
