Host a Chic Galentine's Day Party

Chic Galentine's Day Cocktail Party Table Spread

Forget the fancy dinner and stale chocolates; it's time to pop some rosé and celebrate the gal pals & besties that keep us sane!

I can't believe that Eric and I are celebrating our 10th Valentine's Day together this year! As they say, time flies... While I love being in love, and celebrating love, I don't actually love Valentine's Day. There's so much pressure to go out on a lavish date (usually to a restaurant that is overbooked and overpriced), which then leads to underwhelming service and disappointment. Nothing about that seems romantic to me. Instead, we like to stay in and enjoy a low-key date night with a special home-cooked meal, and sometimes a cheesy romantic comedy. I'll never forget our first one, when he made lobster and hash browns for me in his parent's kitchen. That's love! And that's why I married him :)

While I don't go wild over Valentine's Day, I do take the opportunity to celebrate my girl squad for Galentine's Day! (AKA, Valentine's Day with your gals.) We all have amazing women in our lives that are more than friends; the ones that are also mentors, therapists, cheerleaders, and ultimately our sisters. I love the idea of throwing a party to celebrate all the things that we love about each other, and to encourage us to continue growing empowering female relationships. There's nothing better than an afternoon of bubbly and good eats - except bubbly and good eats with your best friends!

I hope my little soiree inspires you to host your own Galentine's Day brunch or cocktail party with your BFFs. I made every single recipe myself, and promise they're easy to make, and even tastier to eat (Thanks to Pillsbury for the assist with the cake, LOL.)! Let me know what you think in the comments below, and share your celebrations with me on Instagram and Twitter; I'd love to see them!

Smoked Salmon Cucumber Bites

Serves 10

Ingredients

• 1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese - at room temp.
• 1 tsp. dried minced onion
• 1 tsp. dried minced garlic
• 1 tsp. poppy seeds
• 1 tsp. sesame seeds
• 1-2 tbsp. milk
• 2 large English cucumbers
• 8 oz. smoked salmon
• Capers
• Fresh dill

Instructions

1. Combine the cream cheese, dried minced onion, dried minced garlic, poppy seeds, and sesame seeds in a medium bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of milk and beat with an electric mixer until smooth. (If the mixture is too stiff, add the remaining tablespoon of milk.)
2. Slice the cucumbers crosswise into rounds. Spread each cucumber slice with some of the cream cheese mixture. Top with a small piece of smoked salmon and sprinkle with the capers and dill.

Cut watermelon chunks into heart shapes & toss with blue cheese and mint for a simple and festive Valentine's Day Salad

I Heart Watermelon Salad

Ingredients

• 6 large watermelon slices
• ¼ cup blue cheese crumbles
• 2 tbsp. fresh mint leaves
• ¼ tsp. salt
• Black pepper to taste
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• Balsamic vinegar glaze to drizzle
• Small heart-shaped cookie cutter

Instructions

1. Place watermelon slices on a cutting board and cut out heart shapes using a cookie cutter. (Avoid cutting into the rind.) Each slice should yield about 3 hearts.
2. Gently toss in a bowl with mint, blue cheese, salt, and a dash of pepper.
3. Arrange on a shallow serving plate, and drizzle with EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) and balsamic vinegar glaze. Serve immediately.

Strawberry Balsamic Baked Brie

Ingredients

• 1 (13 to 16 oz.) whole brie cheese with rind
• 3 tbsp. strawberry jam
• 2 ½ tsp. balsamic vinegar
• ½ cup sliced fresh strawberries
• 1 tbsp. sliced almonds
• 1 box Town House pretzel thins crackers

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the brie on a lined baking sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes or until the brie is soft (but not runny!)
2. While brie is baking, heat jam and balsamic vinegar in a small saucepan until thick and bubbly. Immediately remove from the stovetop.
3. Carefully transfer brie to a serving plate. Arrange sliced strawberries to completely cover the top of the brie, then drizzle with heated jam and vinegar mixture on top. Finish by sprinkling with almonds.

Fresh flowers for your chic Valentine's day party decor

Decorate your Valentine's Day buffet table with a darling, pink frosted cake

Add Pomegranate seeds to the bottom of your champagne flute for a sweet compliment to Chandon sparkling rose.

Party Favors

Mini Cupcakes

I usually like to send my guests home with a little gift to thank them for their company, and a sweet treat is both easy and fun. I found these adorable heart-shaped paper boxes in the dollar aisle at Target and didn't immediately know what to do with them, but it turns out they're just the right size for mini cupcakes! I used a gold marker to personalize a box for each girl and placed a heart-shaped doily underneath each cupcake to add a little girly glam. I finished by sprinkling red and pink sprinkles over each tiny treat. Besides putting a smile on my girlfriend's faces, I love how the boxes looked all stacked up next to each other on the table.

Little Love Notes

The art of communicating via handwritten notes seems to be a thing of the past. Back when I was in middle and high school, it was a pretty big thing. I vividly recall the sheer excitement of receiving a fresh and perfectly creased note from a friend in the middle of a class or in-between periods. Now we just sit around staring at a screen, waiting for our phones to ring or light up with the notification of a text message. Where's the emotion in that?

To properly celebrate this day of love and friendship, I think it's best done with a heartfelt message. Using cute mini fashion notebooks from Marshalls (just $1 each!), assign one book to each lady, and have every guest write down what she admires most about each woman in her book. At the end of the night, everyone will have a notebook full of loving and empowering messages to take home and cherish.

SHOP THIS PARTY

assistant // Kristen Saks, ET Events
photography // Karla Garcia, kgohhsnap