For the first time at my church we put together a Women’s Galentine’s Day Dinner. What exactly is Galentine’s Day about? Galentine’s Day is typically observed on February 13, the day before Valentine’s Day, Galentine’s Day celebrates platonic friendships, usually among women. It originated on the show Parks and Recreation.
A Galentine’s Day event is great for a group of friends looking for something to do for the holiday.
The women at my church hosted a Galentine’s Day Dinner to recognize each other and show love towards one another. For our Galentine’s Day dinner we included ice breakers, speed dating, a devotional, dinner, games and crafts. We gathered the men of the church to serve us during our Galentine’s Day dinner. This event was not only an opportunity for the women to spend quality time together but also the men. Read this blog on our Galentine’s Day experience as a church, which will include tips on how to host your very own Galentine’s Day event.
Date/Venue
Pick a date for your event. The date and venue for your event may depend on each other. You want to make sure the date convenient for majority of your guest. Keep in mind, your date may not be suitable for everyone. If you can choose a date and time way in advanced, it will allow for people to mark their calendars and make time for your event.
After deciding on having our church event on a Friday night, we reserved our venue. My pastor’s family owns a beautiful camp ground. We reserved the camp’s dining room for our Galentine’s event.
Budget
For this event we budgeted $300. To help stay within the budget we asked each lady to pay a $5 entry fee. This worked out perfectly.
We hired a local personal chef to cook our dinner. We estimated each meal to be about $4-6 a person.
For the crafts we were able to reuse a lot of material we already had, therefore saving money on having to buy new supplies.
Depending on how extravagant your event will be, you may consider requesting your guest to chip in with expenses. Make a detailed list of everything you need and the cost to determine if you will need help from others to stay within your budget.
Email/Sign Up List
A sign up sheet is very beneficial for organizing your event. A sign up will allow for you to gage the amount of people planning to attend. We sent out a mass email to all of the women and men within the church with details and an opportunity to sign up for the dinner. The sign up sheet also allowed for us to know if any women had dietary restrictions.
We had about 23 women attend our first Galentine’s Day Dinner.
Decorations
Decorating is the fun part! The theme for this event is obviously going to be Valentine colors and accessories. We used pink table clothes with red table runners, centerpieces, and silverware.
We included love themed bible verses in picture frames on each table, as well as on the wall.
See below images of our venue at the camp:
Menu
As a church we recently discovered a local personal chef that made amazing lasagna. After trying his lasagna we HAD to have it at our Galentine’s event. After deciding on Lasagna, everything else on the menu flowed easily.
Drinks: Mixed punch or water
Hors d’oeuvres: Macaroni and cheese balls, fried ravioli, pigs in a blanket, and potato wedges
Main Meal: Lasagna, house salad with dressing, and a side of bread
Dessert: Cookies, brownies, or mixed fruit
In the beginning as women were coming in and getting situated, the men (servers) were offering us drinks and hors d’oeuvres. When it was time, the men cleared plates to prepare to serve the main course, lasagna. Then the same for dessert.
Having the men serve us during our dinner allowed for us women to have more time for crafts and games. Also, it was just very refreshing not have to clean up after ourselves this time. The image below is of the wonderful men of the church who served us so graciously during the event.
Activity
In the beginning of the night we had an ice breaker, word search, and then a quick game of speed dating.
Right before dinner we had a devotional on the book of Ruth Ch 1 Verse 1-18.
We decided to have two crafts and a few games for the women to choose from after dinner. See craft ideas we came up with below.
Decorative Plates
Use fine tipped Sharpie and your oven to make a gorgeous heart plate/dish.
DIY Heart Coasters
These easy festive coasters are inexpensive and oh-so-easy to make as a Valentine’s Day craft.
Games
Charades, Jenga, UNO, and Apples to Apples
Thank You Gift
Everyone loves some type of souvenir to take home with them after such a great event. Give your guest something to take with them to remember the amazing time they just had. After our dinner event, roses were handed out to each lady as a thank you gift for coming.
I hope this blog inspired you to want to host your own Galentine’s Day event. This would be a perfect opportunity for you the engage with women you are yearning to grow closer to. For more event ideas check out the below links.
- How to Plan an Ugly Sweater Christmas Party - December 25, 2022
- HORRIFYING ADULT HALLOWEEN PARTY IDEAS - November 3, 2022
- 15 Event Ideas for Christian Men Groups - September 29, 2022