This post was originally published on (02/11/19) and updated on (01/27/2020).
By Deirdre Reynolds
Galentine’s Day started as a sitcom gag nine years ago but is now a serious business. Happy Galentine’s Day, ladies!
Or to put it more simply: Give me some chocolate and nobody gets hurt.
Today marks the ninth annual international day of celebration of female friendship.
For those of us not exactly bracing for a tsunami of cards and gifts tomorrow, however, it’s fast becoming an international day of consolation too.
Observed each February 13, the unofficial holiday first started out as a gag on hit US TV show Parks & Recreation back in 2010.
Almost a decade on, however, Galentine’s Day has become a serious business.
Girly cards, flowers, and chocolates are just some of the traditional tokens of love already being targeted at “ladies celebrating ladies” just like Amy Poehler’s Golden Globe-winning comedy.
Last week, Dealz became the latest high street store to encourage female shoppers to put sisters before misters after launching a range of Galentine’s Day gifts, including a ‘Fave Babe’ mug and Bumble-BAE teddy bear.
“With February 14 generally focused on couples, Galentine’s Day is something every gal can get behind,” the store gushed — before urging lady customers to “celebrate the ‘glorious female goddesses’ in your life” with a €1.50 ceramic or cuddly toy.
As one of Ireland’s growing army of 1.2 million single women, it’s tempting to rubbish the day as a cheap marketing stunt, at best, and an attempt to cash in on single women’s loneliness on the most coupled-up day of the year, at worst.
Speaking to us from New York though, one leading relationship expert explained why she’s not against the rising trend for girl-on-girl gifting in principle.
“Female friendships are vitally important to our emotional well-being,” tells Susan Winter, the best-selling author of Breakup Triage: The Cure for Heartache. “It’s our female friends who are the constant in our lives, as they’re by our side through the ups and downs of our love life, career life, and personal life.
“Galentine’s Day serves as a reminder to always value and nurture those partnerships, never allowing them to wane due to career, dating, or family issues.”
“My profession deals with helping my clients establish and keep meaningful romantic partnerships; as such, conversations about their friends rarely come up in our sessions. However, I do encourage my single female clients to plan something fun for themselves on Valentine’s Day.” Wine-tasting events, sing-a-long movie screenings, and trash your ex parties are among nationwide events taking place this ‘Palentine’s Day’, as it’s also dubbed.
In Galway, for instance, Hyde Bar is hosting a special Galentine’s Day wine pairing event tonight. Elsewhere at Opium in Dublin, there’s a timely screening of 10 Things I Hate About You for those who aren’t feeling the Valentine’s buzz tomorrow. While on Friday, The Rocky Horror Picture Show anti-Valentine’s event at The Sugar Club on Friday night is ‘no pants and no partners necessary’.
Pants but no partner, I’ll be keeping it traditional by showering my best wing women with flowers, something that’s catching on according to one flower shop in the capital.
“There’s definitely a growth in female gifting,” says Fionnuala McAuley, creative director of Scarecrow Flowers in Sandymount.
“It’s only come about in the last three years really.
“The market’s definitely changing, so people aren’t as inclined to spend the big money on the roses as they were. Certainly, for the likes of Galentine’s Day, the spend would be much lower. I would expect a man to spend in and around €100-€120, and then a woman buying for a woman would be around about €30.
“For a man, he’ll come in and he’ll naturally look for the red roses, and if his wife doesn’t like the red roses, then he’ll go for the biggest bouquet that’s on the shop floor. Women will pick up much smaller flowers like freesia in a softer tone like white and baby pink — it’s dainty more so than it is a big bloom.
“It would only equate to a maximum of about 20% of business, but it’s lovely to see. It’s lovely just for women to be empowering women.”
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