5 IDEAS FOR HOSTING THE ULTIMATE GALENTINE'S DAY PARTY

In my opinion, Galentine’s Day is one of the best made up holidays ever, and it is right around the corner! It’s celebrated on February 13th, the day before every one’s most loved, or most despised, holiday of love. Say what you may, I just can’t help but enjoy the idea of what this holiday is based upon. I mean, why shouldn’t our dearest friendships be celebrated? Like the quote on the heart above, we should “be each others’ personal hype woman” !! Galentine’s Day is about community, togetherness, and women celebrating other WOMEN! And I happen to think that is pretty BADASSl! So in honor of all my fabulous sisters out there, I am sharing with you my 5 IDEAS FOR HOSTING THE ULTIMATE GALENTINE’S DAY PARTY! So grab a snack, pour yourself a glass of wine, and ENJOY!

1. MAKE FESTIVE SWEETS- The first thing you need for the ultimate Galentine’s Day Party is sweets!! I don’t know many woman that don’t enjoy a good sweet treat, and if I did, we probably wouldn’t be friends anyway hehe. All joking aside, food just brings everyone together!  I think it would be fun to do a specific theme or a brunch complete with waffle bar and bacon (which can also double as a Bloody Mary garnish, see #2) and have each of your guests bring a homemade dish!  Not only does that take the stress off the hostess, but it makes the party a little more personal!  And hey, don’t be ashamed to ask everyone for the recipe to their dish….we secretly enjoy that you love it that much!! For our get together we had ALL the sweets!! I made my Vanilla Butter Melt Away Cookies which I made extra festive by frosting with different shades of pink icing and adding heart shaped sprinkles!  Everything is better with sprinkles right?!  Our friend Chelsey from Creekmore Marketing brought a box of yummy donuts from North Lime Coffee & Donuts , a local donut shop in Lexington, and we also had the BEST gourmet sugar cookies from The Futile Gourmet ! Whatever food or sweet treats you decide to include is totally up to you, but your guests will definitely appreciate the thought!

2. TAKE YOUR COCKTAIL TO THE NEXT LEVEL- No Galentine’s Day is complete without a cocktail (or 2)! You could even go a little crazy and have each guest bring their favorite cocktail fixings to share with everyone!   Whether you decide to do a classic mimosa bar or give homage to your local roots, your friends will be thanking you!  Nicole from ShareLexKY made these super cute and festive Strawberry Gin & Tonic cocktails, she also has a full blog post sharing more details about our celebration here !! These fizzy pink cocktails were made with a local distilled gin from Castle & Key Distillery , which not only uses all locally sourced ingredients but whose master distiller is a female! Can I say GIRLPOWER?!  We are all about supporting other female entrepreneurs, so it made these pretty pink cocktails all the more special to enjoy!

3. HAVE A FUN BACKDROP + PROPS:  There’s one thing about girls that never fails….We like to take pictures!!! Pics or it didn’t happen, right?! Get your gal pals together for some serious Instagram-worthy photos that they’ll post about on every social media outlet possible.  But first, you’ll need the perfect backdrop. Jenny made this amazing bright, fun and flirty floral backdrop for our event, but you could also do something more simple!!  Grab a pair of scissors and an old sheet, and get creative!  I saw some really cute V-Day inspired banners at the dollar spot in Target that would be perfect!  And props……well props just make pictures more fun!  We used these heart shape signs but you could totally make your own too!  Channel your elementary school days and get out some good ole Elmers glue and construction paper.  The sky is the limit baby!

4. MAKE THE CUTEST PARTY FAVORS- party favors aren’t just for young children’s birthday parties!  You know us girls are all about cutesy little gifts! For our party favors, Jenny put together these awesome swag bags filled with an assortment of some of her favorite local vendors such as a giftcard to Savvy Salon & Spa, a bag of fresh coffee beans from Cherry Seed Coffee, the cutest pair of pearl earrings from Sash & Bow Boutique, self-love rose bath salts made in house by Creatures of Whim and a Wixology Candle Co candle in varying cocktail themed scents! But honestly, don’t feel like you have to go all out with the party favors and spend a ton of extra money on them. Get creative with it and think outside the box!  Even filling a festive bag with your favorite assortment of candies and a cheesy grade school paper valentine would be cute, and your friends will appreciate the thoughtful sentiment.

5. FRIENDS + GREAT CONVERSATION: Here is my Number ONE idea for hosting the ultimate Galentine’s Day Party: invite all of your lady friends!!  Whether its by text, email or a custom made invitation like these cute ones from Minted, your friends are sure to be super excited!  When you and all your gal pals get together, try to focus on really being present and fostering meaningful, fun conversations! You know, those conversations that can only be had between the best of friends. That may mean putting the phones away (except to take cute pictures of course) or even playing a game that allows you all to get to know one another even better!  Whatever you decide, know that this party is meant to celebrate community, togetherness, and most importantly your FRIENDSHIP and all that the beautiful Galentine’s Day holiday encompasses!

Cheers to all my gal pals!! I hope you enjoyed my 5 IDEAS FOR HOSTING THE ULTIMATE GALENTINE’S DAY PARTY! Be sure to tag me on social media @_samanthafletcher if you decide to host your own Galentine’s party, I would love to see the creative ideas you have to celebrate your nearest and dearest friendships!

Photography by Jen Folio

Our event was held at Jenny Hansen Lane’s beautiful studio in the Chevy Chase area of Lexington, KY. Thank you Jenny for graciously hosting us!

Special thanks to all the vendors who contributed to making our event beautiful : Wabi Sabi Threads, The Futile Gourment, Savvy Salon & Spa, Cherry Seed Coffee, Sash & Bow Boutique, Hunter Sherwood, Creatures of Whim, and Wixology Candle Co

VISIT THE PAGES OF SOME OF MY FAVORITE KY GAL PALS!

Tif Fanin | Bright on a Budget

Anna Kate Goshko | Project Stepmom

Jenny Hansen Lane | Jen Folio Photography

Porscha Coney | Porscha Lynette

Sarah Caton | Space, Place & Southern Grace

Nicole Gifford | Share Lex KY

HOLIDAY HOSTESS GIFT IDEA

We are right in the midst of the holiday hosting season with family get togethers, ugly sweater parties, work soirée, etc…which means we are all going to be on the hunt for the perfect hostess gift !  If you’re like me, I never like to go to an event empty handed.  After all, ’tis the season of giving right?!  So today, I’m teaming up with Zing Zang to share with you a simple, easy gift basket idea that is sure to impress any event hostess this holiday season! 

I think it is easy to get stumped when it comes to hostess gifts and fall into the trap of just grabbing a bottle of wine and calling it a day.  Not that I would ever turn my nose up at a bottle of wine...or prosecco in my case. But it’s more meaningful to get creative with your gift giving! So, my best piece of advice is to think outside the box when it comes to your hostess gift. That’s why I think this gift basket is always such a big hit! It’s simple + thoughtful and most importantly…useful!

Before I start looking for items to fill the basket with, I like to come up with an overall theme. This will help to make your gift basket more cohesive, and also keep you focused on specific items when shopping! For this particular basket, I decided to go with a Holiday Brunch theme, focusing on the ever-popular Bloody Mary! I found these individual cans of Bloody Mary Mix from Zing Zang, and knew they would be PERFECT for my gift basket! Not only are they just the right size, but they are also super convenient as well. The great thing about this particular Bloody Mary mix, is that it tastes amazing on its own OR mixed with your favorite vodka. So even if your hostess does not drink alcohol, they will still enjoy.

To put this gift basket together, all you have to do is find a pretty basket that fits your hostess’ home decor or style.  I found this lovely grey, modern metal basket that I thought would work perfectly. I then added a couple items that would aid in putting together the perfect holiday Bloody Mary including this beautiful marble cutting board, a jar of olives for a garnish, pretty gold-etched cocktail glasses, a pack of holiday kitchen towels, fun cocktail napkins and a festive set of wooden coasters.  And of course, you can’t forget the star of the show: the Zing Zang Bloody Mary Mix!

To put this gift basket together, all you have to do is find a pretty basket that fits your hostess’ home decor or style. I found this lovely grey, modern metal basket that I thought would work perfectly! I then added a couple items that would aid in putting together the perfect holiday Bloody Mary including this beautiful marble cutting board, a jar of olives for a garnish, pretty gold-etched cocktail glasses, a pack of holiday kitchen towels, fun cocktail napkins and a festive set of wooden coasters. And of course you can’t forget the star of the show: the Zing Zang Bloody Mary Mix!

Once I have everything together and arranged how I like, I added some fresh greens to make the basket a little more festive! Plus, they smell good! There you have it…a quick, and affordable hostess gift idea! I also think this particular gift basket would work perfect for the cook in your life or any fellow Bloody Mary lovers….like myself!!

Thank you to Zing Zang for sponsoring this post.  As always, all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.  Thank you to all of you for supporting the brands that help make Sam and Nate Blog possible.