Fun Ways to Celebrate Galentine's Day + Free Printables - Lifeway Women (2024)

Valentine’s Day can be a day with all the feels … love, longing, giddiness, sadness, joy, or grief. It is a national day to celebrate love but like any other holiday, it can be joyful or painful depending on someone’s circ*mstances. February 15 has often been called “Singleness Awareness Day” for those without a significant other, but even if we do not have a “love” on Valentine’s Day, we can still express love no matter the situation. There are no bounds to how much love we can express, and there are no bounds on how many lonely people there are in the world who need love. As 1 John 4:7 says, “let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God” (CSB). God’s love and His love through us is limitless!

As we are almost a year into our pandemic world, we need to love more than ever and in new and innovative ways. Instead of letting Valentine’s Day shine a glaring light on being “unloved” or “unchosen,” let’s reverse it to shine God’s love on others. An old Journey song called “Ask the Lonely” has wonderfully wise lyrics to it. (That’s right, ‘80s music actually can bring some wisdom at times.) I listen to this song when I begin to feel sorry for myself because I am still single. It says, “When you’re feeling love’s unfair, you just ask the lonely. When you’re lost in deep despair, you just ask the lonely.”1 As lonely as we may feel sometimes, we are not truly alone if we know Christ. And I believe there is always someone more lonely than I may feel who would be blessed by some expression of love from me, by some kindness like a smile or a frosty doughnut or a bunch of wildflowers.

Many single women are taking back Valentine’s Day by calling it Galentine’s Day and celebrating with their friends. Do you celebrate this day? If so, who are the women you celebrate with? Girlfriends, church groups, college friends, coworkers? Our team of girlfriends at Lifeway Women have listed some of the ways we have celebrated Galentine’s day. And it’s not just for single women. Dating and married women can also join in the fun to love our friends in creative, fun ways. We need that now more than ever. We have listed some of our ideas below in case you’d like to try any out. We’d also love to hear about your ideas here on the blog.

Do you exchange gifts (I like toffee!) or make and exchange old fashioned valentines with doily inserts? Will it be a mix this year of virtual and in-person celebrations? We can’t wait to hear about the ways you’ve celebrated in the past and all the ideas you have for this year. Here are some of ours:

  1. Send floral arrangements to friends or drop off a handmade bouquet at a friend’s door.
  2. Invite them to a Nailed It (like the TV show) party. Send invitations beforehand with grocery lists and Zoom in to see how the items turned out.
  3. Send a crafty friend a cheese making kit.
  4. Send cards—just a simple, handwritten note about how grateful you are to have her as a friend and what you like about her. It’s easy, inexpensive, and the kind of thing she will treasure for a long time.
  5. Breakfast for dinner (if you can have an in-person gathering!).
  6. Homemade cards or throwback cheesy valentines from the grocery store! Enjoy the nostalgia of classroom Valentine’s Day parties.
  7. If your friends live near you, you can’t go wrong with a porch drop off of some yummy treats.
  8. Gift a succulent or other small house plant. Since a lot of us are home all the time now, you can help make someone’s space more bright and homey with plants!
  9. Have a small party with your closest girlfriends with games and brunch.
  10. Put together little baggies of candy hearts and cards and deliver them to widows and widowers at local nursing homes or independent living centers.
  11. Do the same as above for a widow’s or grief share group at your church.

The possibilities are endless! Whatever you decide to do, spread love this Valentine’s/Galentine’s day. We want you to know that your girlfriends at Lifeway Women love you and are thankful for you. Your greatest Love, your good God sees you and your heart and your longings. He is faithful! Happy Galentine’s Day!

Ready to get Galentine’s Day started?We created some fun printables and Zoom backgrounds (or computer wallpapers) to help you celebrate!

Use these Zoom backgrounds to help you “decorate” for your virtual Galentine parties!Click the images below to save them to your computer. For information and instructions on enabling virtual backgrounds on Zoomclick here.

Want to let your gal pals know you’re thinking of them? We’ve created some fun post cards you can drop in the mail to let your friends know how much you appreciate them!

To download these cute Lifeway Women valentines, click on any of the images below for aprintable PDF! Then, simply cut out your valentines, add a note to the back of the card (on the left side), write their address on the right side of the card, add a stamp, and drop some encouragement in the mail this Galentine’s Day!

Fun Ways to Celebrate Galentine's Day + Free Printables - Lifeway Women (7)

Paige Clayton is the Author Relations Specialist for Lifeway Women and also leads their destination events. She led the women’s events team for LIfeway for 14 years and recently shifted roles so she can spend less time traveling, and more time pursuing licensure as a professional counselor. She is currently a master’s level professional counselor at Lantern Lane Farm in Mt. Juliet, TN. In her spare time, she is a fun aunt to four young adult nieces. Paige is mom to her Instagram-posing dog Ruby and loves singing, being outdoors, and spending time with her friends and family.

1. Journey “Ask the Lonely,” Two of a Kind, Disc 2, No. 3, 1983.

Fun Ways to Celebrate Galentine's Day + Free Printables - Lifeway Women (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret Cupid for Galentines Day? ›

Secret Valentine or Secret Cupid is just like Secret Santa. You and your friends write down your names and throw all the papers into a hat, a basket, a pan, whatever. Then each of you draws a name and gets a gift for that person. It's important that no one knows who drew who.

How do you celebrate Galentines Day? ›

This day, as the name suggests, is usually dedicated to honoring friendships between women. You get to spend it however you like with your galentines—by going out, taking a trip, enjoying a cozy night at home, or simply showering each other with gifts and affection the same way you would a partner.

What is the bro version of Galentine? ›

What Is Malentine's Day? Malentine's day is a day for men to meet up and celebrate their amazing friendship. It is a happy, celebratory day, the male equivalent of Galentine's day.

Is Cupid A Boy or a girl? ›

For the Romans, the character of Cupid was always a cherubic little boy who followed his mother's wishes to make people fall in love.

What is a fun fact about Galentines Day? ›

Fun Fact: Galentine's Day was created by Leslie Knope, the Parks and Recreation fictional main character. She invented the holiday as a tribute to her close girlfriends.

Do you give gifts on Galentines Day? ›

Whether you have a sweetheart or not, Galentine's Day is a great occasion to celebrate the female friendships in your life. The best Galentine's Day gifts will show how much you care and make each of your friends feel appreciated. Best of all, you don't have to spend big to treat your gals to something sweet.

What is a Galentine slang? ›

Just as one can be someone's valentine on Valentine's Day, so one can be a galentine on Galentine's Day, e.g., “Will you be my galentine?” As such, a galentine is a playful, affectionate term for a close friend.

What color do you wear on Galentines Day? ›

A pink and red printed dress is the perfect choice for a Galentine's Day celebration. The playful combination of pink and red is both feminine and fun, making it the perfect choice for a day spent with your besties.

What do you put in a Galentines day basket? ›

Throw an effortlessly delicious Galentine's Day party with a snack board of small bites and treats with meat and cheese , nuts , chocolates , and sweets . And of course, don't forget their favorite wines! They'll love digging into the Valentine's Day Charcuterie & Chocolate Gift Box with Wine.

How to host a Galentines brunch? ›

For a Galentine's brunch, you can bring food items like cute snacks, desserts (topped with heart sprinkles, of course), healthy meals, drink mixers or mocktails. You can also bring handmade cards or gifts for each of your friends, and of course you have to bring your love!

Is Galentines Day only for singles? ›

It doesn't matter if you're in a committed relationship, happily single or in a complicated "situationship," you're free to celebrate Galentine's Day with your friends. But as the name would suggest, it is meant to celebrate women and their friendships with each other.

What does secret Cupid mean? ›

Secret Cupid is essentially Secret Santa for Valentine's Day. We are randomly assigned one person in our group and we exchange presents on Valentine's Day. It is always so much fun and I recommend everyone play Secret Cupid with their friends.

What is secret Cupid? ›

It's just a Valentine's Day version of Secret Santa, but it's the perfect way for single friends and family to give and get Valentine's Day Gifts.

What does Cupid have to do with Valentine? ›

What began as a Christian feast day honoring two or three early Christian martyrs – the original “Valentines” – is now associated with flocks of winged cherubic Cupids, whose innocuous-looking bows and arrows symbolize gentle romance instead of death-dealing war.

Why is Cupid the symbol for Valentine day? ›

As the god of love, Cupid has come to be associated with Valentine's Day, which is believed to have originally been a pagan holiday which became Christianised. In ancient Rome people worshipped the god of love - Eros or the Romans' Cupid.

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