Celebrate Natl. Girlfriends Day with a Girls' Night In
National Girlfriends Day is Aug. 1, and we've prepped the ultimate GNI guide with ideas for everything from hors d'oeuvres to drinks.
Friends
Every great party starts with an invitation. Why not ditch that annoying group text or Facebook event, and set a more stylish tone with a well-crafted online invitation? Paperless Post has a stunning assortment of customizable designs to choose from, including many free options, or you can create your own from scratch. Greenvelope is another chic invitation site, albeit a more expensive one.
Food
Some hostesses live to cook up a fantastic spread with each finger food better than the last, while others have their caterer on speed dial. Why not stick to homemade, but take the burden off the hostess, by holding a combination hors d'oeuvres potluck/recipe swap? Each lady can bring one great appetizer (or dessert) to share with the group, and send the recipe to the hostess ahead of time. Create a printed collection or a Pinterest board with each recipe to circulate during the party.
Prefer to DIY your canapes? Find inspiration in these gorgeous appetizer boards. We're obsessed!
Drinks
Who says mimosas are just for brunch? Set up a gorgeous mimosa bar with champagne and an assortment of juices like orange, cranberry, peach and lemonade, plus berries and citrus slices for garnish, and let the ladies create their own custom concoctions. Make sure to have plenty of Drinking Divas wine glasses on hand to up the cute quotient.
Add an assortment of flavored seltzers and mixers, a bottle of vodka, and a few types of beer, and your girls' night in bar is complete!
Tunes
Great music is crucial for a great party, and music services like Spotify are the perfect antidote to worrying over a playlist. Search for "girls night" and dozens of pre-made lists are at your fingertips. And with a home assistant like Alexa or Google or a Wi-Fi speaker system, you can skip songs without spilling your drink!
Activities
Swaps and exchanges are great ways for all the ladies to turn bad decisions good. For an apparel swap, have the girls bring in articles of clothing that never fit their bodies or lifestyles. Do a makeup exchange and let the ladies trade those unused lipsticks and eyeshadows that seemed bold, but were actually bad. One girl's trash is another girl's treasure!
You can also swap knowledge instead of things, by taking turns teaching the rest of the girls a helpful skill. Are you master at fake eyelashes? Share the love! Do you make the world's best dry martini? Help your sisters out! Knowledge is power, ladies.
No matter how you celebrate National Girlfriends Day, make sure you take a moment to tell all the ladies in your life how much you appreciate them!