How to Host the Perfect Galentine's Day Brunch, From a Delicious Menu to Décor

Galentine's Day is dedicated to celebrating friendships, and it's the perfect excuse to show your best pals some extra love. This holiday can be celebrated any time in February, on whichever day suits you and your friends best. Whether going all out or keeping it low-key, there are countless ways to make the day special. One of our favorite ways to celebrate is by hosting a brunch. It's a relaxed and intimate way to bring everyone together. Plus, it's an easy way to enjoy delicious food, bubbly drinks, and quality time with your close friends.

A Galentine's Day brunch party isn't like any other brunch you have hosted before, and we're here to help you make it unforgettable. Before you send out those invites, there are a few key details to consider to ensure your celebration is a hit. From floral arrangements to crafting the perfect menu, we've got you covered with all the inspiration you'll need for a memorable and delicious day.

Send Invitations

When planning your brunch party, be mindful of how many guests you invite, ensuring you have enough space to comfortably accommodate everyone. We recommend keeping it around five guests so you can all sit around the table with ease. Hosting your event on a Saturday or Sunday morning is key, as it falls outside of regular work hours. Hosting it during the week could make it difficult for some guests to attend.

Once you have assembled your guest list, send a text or email before the party with information on the date, time, address, attire, and reply information. If you have time to send paper invitations, do so—but digital invitations are an efficient way to invite a group and make it simple to communicate all the details.

Plan Your Brunch Menu

For a brunch party, the menu is everything—and with a celebration like Galentine's, there must be themed dishes to commence it. Preparing a majority of the food the night before your brunch party is crucial. For hot items like pancakes or french toast, you can prep the batter and fixings the night before and store them in the refrigerator so that you can prepare it quickly and serve it while it's hot. Hosting parties like this involves preparation and judgment on what makes the most sense to create ease when serving your guests.

Food

To lean into the Galentine's Day theme, think hearts, red and pink hues, cupid bows, and florals—lots of them. Thankfully, brunch can be much simpler to prepare than a traditional multi-course dinner party. The ultimate brunch menu involves both a sweet and savory main course option.

For a sweet option, consider making puff pastry waffle hearts that are stuffed with chocolate hazelnut spread and topped with fresh strawberries and warm maple syrup, or heart-shaped pancakes with a chocolate drizzle and fresh raspberries. For a savory option, consider making perfectly glazed maple bacon, a spinach and Gruyere quiche, or a ham and cheese strata. Quiche and breakfast casseroles are a good option for brunch parties because they can be made the day before and warmed up before serving.

In addition to main course options, plate fresh fruit and place them between the dishes for guests to enjoy throughout the meal. For a festive pre-brunch treat, consider baking blueberry scones—or swap out the blueberries for raspberries to add a pop of festive red color. Scones are perfect for pairing with breakfast tea and coffee.

Beverages

Serve breakfast teas such as green, black, or Earl Grey, and have a full hot pot of coffee ready to go when your guests arrive. Display milk, cream, and sugar for guests to add to their hot beverages.

It wouldn't be brunch without mimosas or a pretty pink cocktail like our Lilet rose cocktail, shown above. Or, try our batched pineapple raspberry Bellini. Our recipe yields six to eight servings and comes together in just 15 minutes. It features fresh, puréed raspberries, pineapple juice, seltzer water, and brut sparkling wine. It is absolutely delicious and has a beautiful, vibrant pink hue. It's a hybrid cocktail of the classic Italian Bellini and a French martini.

Create Your Décor

Once you have planned out your menu, you can officially move on to the decorations that will pull this party all together. A little goes a long way with celebrations like Galentine's Day. Hosting a brunch like this is a big gesture of love and friendship in itself, so don't stress about going overboard with the decorations. Simple, homemade symbols of love can have a big impact.

As the main event, make a one-of-a-kind tissue paper wall art. You will only need a few materials to pull this charming décor off: tissue paper pom-poms, floral wire, and removable adhesive wall hooks. Adorn the rest of the room with pink, red, and white balloons to fill the space with even more color.

For rooms with windows, try our crayon hearts with waxed paper; the sunlight will gleam beautifully through them. This DIY craft entails coloring the wax paper with crayon shavings by melting them with an iron. It requires just a few materials, and the odds are you already have all of them. The outcome is incredible and your guests will be so impressed.

Set Up Your Tablescape

A few days out from your brunch party, begin collecting the table décor items and servingware that you want to use in your tablescape. It's never a bad idea to stage the table before the party to ensure the setup looks how you envisioned it and that all the servingware fits on the table.

For the table décor, you want it to be minimal. Use the dishes you spent time making to do most of the heavy lifting. Place a pink or white tablecloth down and two flower vases on either end of the table. If you can, choose vases that aren't too tall so they don't block your guests' vision. Curate a simple floral arrangement with one of the radiant blooms we share below.

Design Your Place Setting

Personalizing each place setting is a charming and thoughtful way to show your guests extra love. To keep it functional, make sure every setting includes silverware, a napkin, drinkware, and a dish for the meal. For an added touch, neatly fold the napkin and place it on top of the plate for a polished, inviting look.

Heartfelt Place Cards

Place cards make a beautiful and personalized addition to your place setting. Get creative with the name cards at each seat of the table with these pipe-cleaner kiss cards. To create the kiss, form fluffy pipe cleaners into the shape of a kiss, then attach the lips to the cardstock with craft glue.

Under the pipe-cleaner kiss, write the name of your guest so they know where to sit, and inside the card, write a heartfelt message to your Galentine.

Floral Arrangements

While red roses may be the go-to floral for a romantic gesture this time of year, there are an array of florals that symbolize and celebrate friendship. When deciding on which florals you're going to display at your Galentines brunch, think outside the box of tight red roses and more towards bigger, brighter blooms.

For Galentine's brunch, why not go bold? Center the table around radiant blooms like sunflowers or pink and yellow tulips. Both florals symbolize friendship and happiness while looking incredible as centerpieces. Choose a vase in your favor and place a couple of bouquets on the table. You can even add a bouquet in the bathroom or near the front door as your guests enter for a pop of color and fresh fragrance.

Add Ambience

Ambience sets the tone of the party, and by now, your space is filled with beautiful décor and the delicious aromas of a perfect brunch—but the one thing still missing is the music. Before your party, curate a playlist of your favorite music and make sure to include crowd-pleaser songs that you know your guests will love. The secret to a great playlist? Make sure it flows effortlessly, so you don't have to worry about skipping over songs.