The month of love is officially here, and while Valentine’s Day isn’t going away anytime soon, there’s a new holiday you need to know about: Galentine’s Day.
In recent years, we’ve seen more and more people celebrating Galentine’s Day with their besties, from Michelle Obama who took to social media in 2020 to share her love for her pals, to the Kardashians who have celebrated the day in style surrounded by love-themed décor.
Whether you love or loathe Valentine’s Day, we bet this is a holiday you’ll want to get on board with. Here’s everything you need to know about Galentine’s Day, plus the surprising origin of this unofficial holiday that’s taken off around the world.
Galentine’s Day: History, Significance & Origin
A combination of ‘Valentines’ and ‘gals’, Galentine’s Day is all about celebrating the female friendships in your life and embracing the spirit of V day with your girls, regardless of whether you’re single or in a relationship.
A relatively new date in the calendar, the history of Galentine’s Day might surprise you, with its origins tracing back to TV comedy Parks and Recreation - yes, really!
Season two, episode 16 titled ‘Galentine’s Day’ shows fictional lead Leslie Knope (portrayed by Amy Poehler) celebrating the holiday with her friends. “It’s only the best day of the year,” Leslie says in the episode. “Every February 13th my lady friends and I leave our husbands and our boyfriends at home, and kick it breakfast style…. Ladies celebrating ladies.” We love it!
The episode aired in 2010, and thanks to Leslie, Galentine’s Day has become an unofficial holiday, celebrated amongst female friends worldwide.
Of course, you can show your love for your friends year-round, but Galentine’s Day offers the perfect opportunity to tell the ladies in your life just how much you appreciate them.
When is Galentine’s Day?
Galentine’s Day is an unofficial holiday that falls on the 13th February, the day before Valentine’s Day, every year. This year, it will take place on Tuesday 13th February 2024 so you’ve still got plenty of time to plan how you will celebrate the occasion with your besties.
How to Celebrate Galentine’s Day
When it comes to celebrating Galentine’s Day, there are no rules, and as it’s a fairly new occasion there aren’t any traditions either.
Celebrate like Leslie and her pals with a Valentine’s-inspired brunch or enjoy a movie night at home with your best girls. The options are endless!
While gifts aren’t necessary on Galentine’s, it is a great excuse to treat the ladies in your life and give them a token of appreciation.
If you’ve got a large group of girlfriends, consider playing Secret Cupid, aka the Secret Santa of Galentine’s Day. Just like with Secret Santa, put everyone’s name into a hat (or an online name generator) and set up a gift exchange with your besties. If you wish, you can set a theme for gifting like self-care essentials or love-themed gifts, or set a budget for Secret Cupid to keep costs low.
Remember: The day is all about coming together to champion female empowerment and show gratitude for your friends, so you don’t have to spend lots on a gift. A thoughtful token of appreciation in the form of their favourite chocolate or a bouquet of flowers is sure to be warmly received.
Galentine’s Gift and Flower Ideas
Parks & Recreation’s Leslie celebrates Galentine’s Day by gifting her friends each a bouquet of hand crocheted flower pens, a mosaic portrait, and a personalised 5,000 word essay on why they are so awesome.
While Leslie’s Galentine’s gifts are sweet in their own way, thankfully there are lots of other ways you can tell the women in your life how much you love them without spending your evenings crocheting flower pens!
Hampers
Consider hosting a brunch for your girls and decorating the table with flower bouquets they can take home, or gifting them hampers filled with their favourite treats. Appleyard’s pre-packed Valentine’s Hampers will certainly impress, featuring delicious chocolate truffles, prestigious champagne, plus self-care goodies including NEOM Organics’ candles and pillow mists.
Galentine's Flowers
When it comes to choosing the perfect Galentine’s Day bouquet, opt for an arrangement featuring your friend’s favourite flowers or treat them to a bouquet with meaning.
Appleyard’s Valentine’s Mixed Rose Bouquet features a colourful combination of peach, cerise, pink & hot orange roses. The latter is traditionally the colour of rose given to a friend who needs a little boost, while pink roses symbolise admiration, happiness and love. Appleyard’s Letterbox Candy Roses are also a great way to make their Galentine’s Day extra-special. While white roses are a symbol of innocence and purity, lilac roses signify a long and happy life. You can even pair the flowers with a bottle of fizz to toast the occasion.
Flower Subscription
Got a long distance bestie? Treat her to a beautiful bouquet of blooms or go one step further and set up a flower subscription on a plan of your choice, so you can remind her just how special she is month after month.
Here’s to the special women in our life - and here’s to a wonderful Galentine’s Day!
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