9 Ways to Celebrate Galentine’s Day at Your Community
Move over, Valentine's Day! Galentine's Day is the perfect way to acknowledge your residents.

Valentine’s Day?
Snooze. It’s been done to death. How many chalky conversation hearts does one actually need? (Zero. The answer is zero.)
Galentine’s Day, though? Sign me up!
The holiday, which takes place the day before Valentine’s Day, celebrates friendships, and female friends in particular. It was created on the show Parks and Recreation, and has taken the real world by storm. Not since Festivus has a TV show-created celebration captured the public’s attention and imagination. (Though, admittedly, the pickings are a little slim for imaginary holidays. We certainly don’t need to rush to have red weddings. And we definitely don’t need to look to a different show with Adam Scott and have waffle parties.)
Anyway, since Galentine’s Day is made up and still relatively new, there are no traditions or customs you have to follow, making it super customizable and perfect for property managers looking for something new to do with residents. Plus, since it’s the day before Valentine’s Day, you don’t have to worry about residents not attending events because they’re out to dinner or in the doghouse because they forgot to buy flowers. And though the day is primarily marketed to women, you should feel free to include all your residents in the fun!

Here are some suggestions for celebrating Galentine’s Day with your residents.
Offer brunch. There’s nothing like celebrating your pals—and your residents—with croissants and hashbrowns. You can have it premade and serve everyone, or you can bring in a chef to do a cooking demo.
Have a mocktail bar. Non-alcoholic wines are so hot right now. You can set up pitchers of a few different kinds or different kinds of mocktails for people to sample. Include fun garnishes, such as strawberries or colored sugar for the rims of the cups.
Have a cocktail bar. See above, but for the 21+ crowd. (I’ll be at both.)
Host a movie night. For Galentine’s Day, feature movies that focus on friendship, rather than romance. Like Bridesmaids. Or The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Or Thelma & Louise. (Look, I know that one doesn’t end well for the friends, but it does feature a young Brad Pitt, so…)
Take your residents on a hike or nature walk. I know it’s February, so this depends on the area/you and your residents’ tolerance for the cold.
Make friendship bracelets. Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour may be over, but we can still make and trade friendship bracelets! Get some fun beads and let your residents loose. Encourage people to trade with their neighbors and the on-site team.
Hire a fortune teller/tarot card reader. Not that I believe, of course. But still, if you want to tell me how rich I’ll be in the future I’ll totally play along. Uh, for fun. Your residents might have a blast with this one.
Volunteer or work together for charity. You can set up a trip to a local soup kitchen, animal shelter, or any other local organization and the residents can volunteer. Or you can set up a food drive or sandwich making at your own apartment community and donate the proceeds.
Host a fun fitness class. You can bring in an instructor and do a fun fitness class. Like puppy yoga. Or… well, actually you can’t top rolling around with little puppies. Do that one.
How are you going to be celebrating Galentine’s Day? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Send a tweet to @MHNOnline, or send me a message on LinkedIn.