Galentines Day – a “bestie” experience for gal pals

Rather than letting single life stop women from celebrating Valentine’s Day, groups of women are gathering up their “gal pals” to celebrate Galentine’s Day – a day for female friendship – instead.

“There are many more types of love than merely romance. Women have more financial freedom than ever in recorded history and are therefore unwilling to settle for unequal partnerships that don’t fulfil their need for emotional intimacy.”

So says Sarit Shull, special projects co-ordinator at Paramount Group, on why rather than celebrating Valentine’s Day this year, she and her friends are embracing their female friendships.

The term “Galentine’s Day” originated from the television programme Parks and Recreation. In a 2010 episode, the main character, Leslie Knope, explains that the holiday is celebrated on 13 February, the day before Valentine’s Day. The holiday’s main goal is to celebrate female friendships, which many women rely on so heavily. Since the holiday is so new, there’s no right or wrong way to celebrate it. It’s up to the group of friends to decide what feels right to celebrate their friendship.

Many people choose to pay tribute to Leslie Knope by hosting a waffle and cocktail brunch, as that’s what they do in the Galentine’s Day episode. But if breakfast foods aren’t your vibe, you could gather your gal pals for a happy hour; make a reservation at a fancy restaurant; co-ordinate a group mani-pedi appointment; or simply pop champagne and celebrate how great it is to be in a room full of your favourite people for a few hours.

Shull and her friends are getting together in true Galentine’s fashion and eating a “girl dinner”, which is an assortment of little snacks as popularised on TikTok, where girls put out a random assortment of food to please their fancy.

“The dress code is pyjamas and pearls,” said Shull. “In this way, we can all be comfy while embracing our fancy side. It’s just a fun time where we girls can get together and do whatever we want without the influence of any romantic partners.”

“Galentine’s Day gives me and my friends the chance to hang out with each other and celebrate us,” said an anonymous 23-year-old. “We dress up in pink or red and in our girliest attire, and we take ourselves out to a nice dinner that we would go on with a romantic partner. The only difference is that this is way more fun. We don’t have to dress up to impress anyone else – only ourselves. We can treat each other way better than any boyfriend we have had, so to celebrate with each other is the perfect way to spend our night.”

Similarly, 22-year-old mental health therapist Channing Haefner is getting together with her best friend and going to an all-girls movie premier for the new Bridget Jones film, Mad About the Boy.

Haefner said this event appealed to them because both she and her best friend recently had their hearts broken – late last year and early this year – so when they saw the film premier advertised as being for girls in a similar situation, they jumped at the chance to laugh, dress up, and be spoiled.

“It’s such a hard day. Especially because I’m a mental health therapist. For me, it’s important to show my patients that you don’t need validation from a man or flowers or chocolates. Just your girls. Nobody can ever make you feel as amazing as your girls do,” she said.

Haefner was also excited to share the new Bridget Jones experience with her bestie. “We both love the book – it taught me everything I know about love. Bridget Jones inspired us and taught us that female friendships are the best you will ever have, so instead of it being a miserable day, we get to spend it in such an empowering way especially because on this particular night, there will be a few hundred of us.”

It’s not only singles going out to celebrate Galentine’s Day. Another anonymous 24-year-old said that though she does have a boyfriend, she still wants to celebrate Galentine’s Day with her friends and is going to watch the new Bridget Jones movie with them on Saturday night.

“Valentine’s Day can be all about my boyfriend and spending time with him, but I also need to spend some time celebrating girl power with my friends,” she says.

Twenty-five-year-old marketing assistant Michaela Tobias decided that though some people in her friendship group have significant others, Galentine’s Day and celebrating female friendships is still important.

Tobias is having a whole group of girls in their early 20s come together for a mocktails and dessert night. Every girl has to bring a dessert as well as a small gift for a Galentine’s surprise swap.

“We’re all so busy with our lives, so to be able to have a night where it’s just us girls is something special,” she said, “Of course, having a label for it is helpful, as it just gives us an excuse to say that there are no boys allowed and we can have some good-old-fashioned fun with the girls.

“The night is going to be about all us girls,” Tobias said, “We’re just going to get together in whatever way makes us feel comfortable, eat some yummy desserts, drink some delicious drinks, and have a good old catch-up session.”

“We get to spoil each other in a way that sometimes a significant other can’t,” said Haefner. “I’m so excited just to be able to celebrate with my girls because nobody can make you feel as amazing as your girls do.”