TL;DR
Galentine's Day is February 13, and the best plans are the ones everyone can actually make. Here are fourteen ideas in three bands — five free ones at home, five outings under ₹1,000 a head, and four that work entirely online for friends in different cities — with honest costs and who each one suits. Our own product is number eleven, described like everything else. For the words to send with any of these, 64 Galentine's Day messages are sorted by who they're for.
The plan everyone shows up to
The biggest Galentine's failure isn't a boring plan. It's the elaborate one that gets cancelled. Someone has a work deadline, someone's in a different city now, someone's sister is getting married that weekend. The group chat goes from "OMG yes" to "can we do next week?" in four hours.
So the filter for every idea below: does it work if only half the group can come? A brunch survives two dropouts. A booked escape room for six does not.
February 13 also sits inside Valentine week, so restaurants are busy and prices climb toward the 14th. Plan the 13th early, or plan at home.
Five free ideas at home
1. The potluck brunch. Everyone brings one dish — the Punjabi friend brings parathas, the Bengali friend brings mishti, someone inevitably brings only juice. At one flat, on a Saturday. Cost: around ₹150–₹200 a head in ingredients. Suits: every group.
2. The throwback sleepover. Mattresses on the floor, a list of the movies you watched in college, face masks, and the strict rule that nobody checks their work email. Cost: snacks. Suits: groups who met in a hostel or PG.
3. "Most likely to" awards night. Everyone writes one title for every other friend — most likely to cry at a reel, most likely to say "five minutes" and arrive in fifty — and you read them out one by one. Cost: paper and pens. Suits: groups with a sense of humour and no fragile egos.
4. A friendship-bracelet session. Buy a ₹200 kit of beads and thread for the whole group and make each other's bracelets. Everyone leaves wearing one. Cost: ₹40–₹60 a head. Suits: the crafty and the nostalgic.
5. A letters night. Each friend writes a short letter to every other friend, sealed, to be opened only after you've left. Cost: a pad of paper. Suits: close groups; it gets emotional, plan for tissues.
Five outings under ₹1,000 a head
6. Brunch out, booked early. A café you've all been meaning to try, booked a week ahead for the 13th. Cost: ₹500–₹900 a head in most metros. Tip: lunch on a weekday is cheaper than Saturday brunch.
7. A pottery or painting class. Many studios in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi and Pune run group classes. Cost: ₹700–₹1,000 a head. Suits: groups that want to make something together.
8. A street-food crawl. Pick a neighbourhood — Chandni Chowk, Mohammed Ali Road, VV Puram — and walk it with a ₹300 budget each. Cost: ₹300–₹500. Suits: the foodies.
9. A matinee and a dessert stop. The cheapest show of the day, then the dessert place everyone's been posting about. Cost: ₹400–₹700. Suits: groups where someone always wants to watch the new release.
10. A sunrise or sunset spot. The lake, the beach, the fort, the terrace café — somewhere you can sit for two hours without being asked to order more. Cost: travel plus chai. Suits: groups who'd rather talk than do.
Four that work entirely online
11. One link for the whole group. This is where Lovely sits — details below. ₹59 total, not per head.
12. A video-call brunch. Same time, everyone cooks the same simple dish in their own kitchen, camera on. Cost: ingredients. Suits: groups scattered across cities or countries.
13. The same dessert, delivered. Order each friend the same dessert to her door at the same hour, then eat it together on a call. Cost: ₹200–₹400 a head. Suits: the friend who has moved to Hyderabad and misses everyone.
14. A shared playlist. Everyone adds three songs that remind them of the group. Play it on the call, keep it forever. Cost: free.
Idea number eleven, properly explained
The Happy Galentine's Day template is a single page the whole squad opens from one link. It's styled Y2K — pink gingham, bubble letters, spinning chrome stars — and it has four scenes:
- The intro. "ladies, it's feb 13th… happy galentine's — to my girls, my chaos, my people", signed by you.
- The fortune teller. The folded-paper game from school. They pick a colour (pink, lime, butter, sky), then a number, and the paper pumps open to reveal a fortune you've written. Defaults include "you'll still be gossiping with me at 80" and "our girls' trip happens this year. for real this time." Choose three to eight.
- The squad. Every friend is a charm on a bracelet — heart, star, flower, cherry, butterfly, moon — with her photo and name. Tap a charm and her "most likely to" award appears. Two to six friends.
- The pinky promise. They drag one pinky to hook the other and it seals: "besties forever. no take-backs."
To build it:
- Collect one photo of each friend — the funnier the better.
- Write the "most likely to" titles. This is idea three, done digitally; borrow from the awards night if you're doing both.
- Write your fortunes. Inside jokes are the whole point.
- Pay ₹59 once (UPI works) and drop the link in the group chat at breakfast on February 13.
"Galentine's is the rare occasion where one person makes something for six," says Lovely's founder. "The cost divides by the group and the arguments about who got which charm multiply. That's a very good trade."
Honest comparison: the page isn't a substitute for being together. If you can do the potluck or the sleepover, do that and send the link the morning of as the invitation. Where it wins is the scattered group — three in India, one in Dubai, one in London — that hasn't been in the same room since the last wedding.
Mix and match
Most groups do best with one online thing and one in-person thing: the link in the morning, the brunch at noon, or the playlist on the night of the sleepover. If someone can't come, the online part means she's still in it.
And if the girls' squad is really one best friend, the ideas shrink nicely — just-because surprises for your best friend ranks sixteen, and the Valentine week calendar shows where February 13 sits among the other seven days. For a bigger gift budget, the friendship day gift ideas list carries over well.
What NOT to do
- Don't plan something only the richest friend can afford. Galentine's is for everyone in the group.
- Don't make it about who has a valentine. No "single girls' club" framing unless every single girl has asked for it.
- Don't leave anyone out of the group plan. If there's a smaller inner circle, celebrate that separately and quietly.
- Don't book the 14th by accident. That's a different day, with different prices.
- Don't let planning become the friendship's job. Rotate who organises it each year.
Frequently asked questions
What do you do on Galentine's Day?
Anything that puts your female friends at the centre for a day — a brunch, a sleepover, a movie marathon, a small gift exchange, or a video call if you are in different cities. Galentine's Day is February 13, and the best plans are low-effort enough that everyone actually shows up.
What are cheap Galentine's Day ideas?
A potluck brunch at someone's flat, a sleepover with a throwback movie list, a DIY friendship-bracelet session or a "most likely to" awards night all cost almost nothing. Splitting snacks and chai across the group keeps it under ₹200 a head.
How do I celebrate Galentine's Day long distance?
Schedule a video-call brunch, send a shared playlist, order each friend the same dessert to her door, or send one link that the whole group opens together. Lovely's Happy Galentine's Day template has a fortune teller, the squad as bracelet charms and a pinky promise — ₹59 for the group.
What is a good Galentine's Day gift for friends?
Something small and specific to each friend rather than one expensive item: her favourite snack, a charm that matches her personality, a handwritten note with her "most likely to" title. Galentine's gifts are about attention, not budget.
Can married women or women in relationships celebrate Galentine's?
Absolutely. Galentine's Day is about female friendship, not relationship status. In fact, friends who are married or in relationships often value it most, because it is a guilt-free day carved out just for the girls.