I’m not a huge fan of the term Galentine’s Day… it always came off as cheesy to me. However, I do LOVE celebrating Valentine’s Day with my gals, so I actually have a few fun ideas from over the past years for celebrating Valentine’s Day with your favorite ladies! Scroll on to see some of my favorite Galentine’s Day party ideas from over time.
Favorite Things Galentine’s Day Party
Have you ever been to a Favorite Things party? Basically, each guest brings a set number of their “favorite thing” and then there is a gift exchange at the party where each guest goes away with some new favorite things. There are many ways to host a favorite things party, but my three favorite ways were posted in my pink and red Galentine’s Day party post from last year.
Galentine’s Spa Day
Do you have any ladies in your circle that deserve a spa day like… WHOA? Yep, I’ve got a handful of ladies that come to mind myself! Enjoy a relaxed and decadent afternoon with your favorite friends with the Valentine’s Spa Day lunch that features cucumber sandwiches, champagne heart jello shots, DIY manicure kits, rose water hand towels, and rose bath salts. Get your free printable invites as well!
Love and Plaid Ladies Night
Celebrate the coziness of winter by incorporating plaid, cable knit, hot drinks, and your favorite friends for a ladies night complete with chocolate, valentine exchange, and crafting station. Also, set up a simple card station where your guests can apply lipstick, kiss a card, and create a sweet message for a loved one! Add some stamps and they can send out Valentine’s cards right from the party. It was super fun putting together our favorite winter items to create this plaid valentine’s day party.
Are you celebrating Galentine’s Day this year? If so, how? Share in the comments below!
I’m excited to shared that I was featured on the awesome, and hilarious, podcast Stacking Benjamins today with my tips on “Holiday Parties That Won’t Break the Bank.” Head on over to hear the holiday party tips I share while visiting Joe’s mom’s basement. Don’t forget to stay for Doug’s trivia!
If you have found my little blog via the podcast… welcome! I hope you stay for the party. 😉 Learn a little more about me and this corner of the internet on my ever growing “About Me” page. Learn more holiday tips below!
How to Throw an Affordable Holiday Party this Season:
Hosting a party needs to be fun for your guests, but it also needs to be fun for you as a host! When hosting a party becomes an obligation rather than a privilege, it sucks out the fun for everyone. When putting together a holiday soiree think about what is most important to you and ways you can decrease your stress.
Outsource what you hate!
My blog is all about finding affordable ways to celebrate life. However, there are times when where you need to save is less about saving money and more about saving sanity. This might have been something that has come with age, but I think it is really important to figure out what you need to outsource to make hosting an event enjoyable to you as well as your guests. When looking at a limited budget, think about outsourcing areas that really stress you out will go a long way to helping make for a successful event. For instance, if you hate cleaning, consider renting out a venue or hiring cleaners for your home. If cooking isn’t your jam, hire a catering company or order out. You can re-plate a lot of foods to make them look like a million bucks without all the stress of a day in the kitchen cooking. Order flowers from a florist rather than styling your own. A well placed gorgeous bouquet can do the job of decorating for a party without a lot of effort!
Limit options when it comes to beverages and food.
This will go a long way in cutting back stress, but also allow you to better stick to a budget.
Beverages: Guests don’t often need a multitude of beverage choices to enjoy a party.
Instead of investing in several bottles of different choices of red and white wines, pick a house favorite single red and single white wine to serve. Same with beer. Pick one or two favorites. Don’t worry about stocking up a full bar, instead, create one to two signature cocktails— punch bowls and batch cocktails are awesome ways to limit your expenses and keep yourself from having to tend bar all night long. Always serve non-alcoholic options as well, but again, limit the options. I always love to have a carafe of water elevated with fruit, mint, or cucumber as an affordable and refreshing non-alcoholic option. I generally estimate 1.5 drinks per person per hour for a dinner party event and 2 drinks per person per hour for a cocktail party event. Day-time events generally go with an estimation of 1 drink per hour.
Food: A few well selected food items can go over better than a bevvy of choices that aren’t well-thought out.
Cocktail Party: For a cocktail party event pick three to five appetizers and make sure there are around three to four pieces/servings per appetizer per person. Have them strategically placed around the room or passed out on trays. As a host this is a perfect excuse to make it around the room to see how everyone is doing without being pulled to stay for a long conversation with one guest. Put a tray in your hand and deliver food to your guests! (Check out these awesome holiday appetizers from some of my favorite blogs!)
Dinner Party: I am a big fan of large dinner parties with several courses, but when sticking to a budget I generally stick to a menu of 3 to 4 courses at most. (How to throw a Multi-Course Dinner Party)
Potluck: Potlucks are incredibly popular during the holiday season and I’m a BIG fan. The way to make potlucks more guest-friendly? Make sure you are upfront in the invitation that it is a potluck and what type of item you are expecting guests to bring. When guests do bring items to a potluck, don’t forget to have ways for them to label their foods so that your guests with allergies or food aversions can pick out items that fit their needs and tastes. (Free holiday potluck printables.)
Obviously, my blog is all about ‘crafting’ a great experience. I’m a HUGE fan of DIY. A great way to decrease the expense of a party is to DIY! But, when doing it yourself causes great stress, it is more important to allocate your funds in a way that will make the event enjoyable to your and your guests. Go ahead an purchase some pre-made appetizers or desserts. Put it on another plate and go! Limit the DIY projects to one or two even if you are a pro DIYer. The great thing about holiday party decor is that it is sort of already built in with your general holiday decor. Get more easy DIY projects and free printables from my “Natural Green and White Holiday Party.”
The holidays are seriously right around the corner and I am a little bit shocked. I still have my stocking stuffer gift guides coming to the blog and lots of holiday shopping that still needs to be done. YIKES! This weekend will likely be a big holiday party weekend and I was thrilled to be asked back to KATU’s Afternoon Live to share my last minute holiday party tips.
Here is my spot! Scroll below to look for links to some of the items discussed on this clip.
Holiday Party Tips
Below are some of the tips I shared in my segment and some great links to more tips, recipes, ideas, and DIYs. I also snapped a few behind the scene photos from yesterdays shoot and have shared them below.
Think of people’s schedules.
My favorite type of holiday party to host is an Open House style party so that people can come and go as they please and still make it to any other holiday obligations they may have. Brunch time parties, late afternoon, or early evening are great times for an Open House style party. Avoid dinner time as you would want to serve heavier foods and more people have plans during the holidays at dinner time.
The Holiday Party Decor Tips Segment Set-Up before rolling on screen!
Decorate with What You Have
Use items from your own holiday decor or that will coordinate with your holiday decor to decorate for your holiday party. Use natural elements such as garlands and rosemary Christmas trees as decoration as well. (See the Natural Green & White Holiday Party for more ideas.)
Pick a color scheme and use it throughout the party.
Pick a color scheme that coordinates with the holiday decor items you are using and extend that throughout the party to make everything look like it goes together. (Use balloons on stemless beverage-ware to make your glasses stand out and coordinate. This tip has been on a lot of party blogs, but I think the first place I saw it was over on Hostess with the Mostess – click for her tutorial on balloon dipped glasses!)
Create height at the food buffet.
Use platters and stands to create a food display at various heights. TIP: If you don’t have a lot of stands and platters fill a vase with holiday decor and set your platter on top. You can also make yourself an awesome (and inexpensive) cake stand with a glass, glue, and plate! (Check out my tutorial on EAT DRINK PRETTY for making your own cake stand.)
Serve bite sized appetizers and just refill your platters throughout the party.
This not only looks better but it is safer than letting food sit for several hours. Keep platters prepped and in the fridge or in the oven on warm setting so that you can easily replenish. If you are worried about spending the afternoon replenishing platters instead of engaging with your guests farm that chore out to family and friends who ask how they may help. (Check out my favorite holiday appetizers .)
The holiday bar set up before its TV debut!
Set up a Beverage Bar!
Don’t spend the entire party making your guests drinks. Set out a simple beverage bar or batch drink (punch bowls are totally back in style) and let guests serve themselves. For the holidays I recommend creating a Sparkling Wine bar with additions such as pomegranate seeds, sugared rosemary, sugared cranberries, and your favorite liquor. I love the Marrionberry Vodka from Wild Roots as a festive addition to a glass of sparkling wine. Pour 3/4 oz of Marrionberry Vodka into a glass and top (carefully, it will bubble!) with 5 oz of sparkling wine. Garnish with a sprig of sugared rosemary.
Yes, Give Party Favors.
Party favors are a way to extend your party in the memories of your guests. Give them something to enjoy after the party! My favorite holiday party favor ideas:
Set out little holiday bags or boxes for your guests to fill with sweets. BONUS: Now you won’t have a ton of leftover sweets from the party!
Give your guests a small bag of stocking stuffers. They can use the ones that they want or they can use them in stockings at home so that they don’t have to go out and buy as much. I’d LOVE for someone to do me the favor of getting some of that type of holiday shopping out of the way.
Give an ornament. Beautiful and small ornaments are a really lovely way for a guest to remember the party year after year.
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