Best Girls Night Out Ideas
Let’s be real, nothing beats a good girls night out! Whether you need a break from your corporate 9 to 5, a night away from your husband and kids to recharge and let loose or your girls around to nurse a broken heart and escape your dating life, you can always find an excuse to spend a night with your closest gal pals and organize a fun girls night out.
If you’re looking forward to dancing on bars and taking shots all night or prefer a chilled night in with a glass of wine and a movie, there is one thing that most ladies can agree on - organizing a girls night out is not as easy as it seems. We all want to spend time with our besties but sometimes schedules, family commitments and other unforeseen circumstances can make organizing a girls night harder than it should be.
To help you out, we have collated some of the best ever girls night out ideas that your friends are going to want to drop everything for. From how to plan and organize the night to the best ladies’ night theme ideas and the food and drink you can serve, we give you all the tools to throw the perfect girls night out!
How do you plan a girls night out?
It is no secret that planning a ladies’ night is stressful. If you've been tasked with hosting the next ladies’ night, there's no need to freak out. At the end of the day, you need to remember that everyone wants to come and as long as you’re surrounded by friends, everyone is going to have a great time regardless of the set up. That being said, there are some things that you can do to ensure the night goes off without a hitch and everyone is able to come and have a great time.
Guest List
The first thing you want to do is sort out your guest list. Hopefully, all your friends get along and this isn’t going to be an issue, you’ll just message your usual group chat and ask who is up for a girls night. However, in most groups there are the divas that make the guest list a bit more complicated than it needs to be.
If this is the case, you’re going to want to identify why the girls' night is happening. If it’s just a casual get together and catch up, we recommend that you just invite everyone and see who can come. However, if the girls night is for a specific event or person, you will want to cater the event around this person. For example, if Sophie has just broken up with her boyfriend/girlfriend but doesn’t get along with Claire, you’re probably not going to want to invite Claire to make Sophie as comfortable as possible.
The main aim with the guest list is to cater for as many people as possible. Hopefully, there are no rivalries within your friendship group and all the girls get along and enjoy each other's company. You don’t want anyone to feel left out so if you do feel the need to hand pick the guest list, make sure you create a dialogue so no girls feel upset.
Coordinate dates and times
Once the guest list is sorted, you need to pick a date and time for your girls night to happen. There are two ways that you can go about doing this. The first way is more ruthless as you simply send out the invitation saying this is the day we’re going to meet and this is the time we’re going to meet, if you can come, great, if not, we’ll see you at the next girls' night. This way you don’t give people the option to mess you around with specifics that are difficult to accommodate. However, it does mean that you run the risk of a majority of the group not being able to make it.
The second option is a more collaborative option to see which date and time work best for everyone. As everyone has different schedules and commitments, finding a time to schedule in your girls’ night can be difficult. If you choose this method, your date might be further down the line than you would have liked.
Choose a location
It is a good idea to plan where you’re going to have your girls night as early as possible as it will let everyone know the vibes of the night. For example, if you’re having it at home everyone will know that it is probably going to be a more casual evening and they could get away with wearing sweats and sneakers. On the other hand, if you’re planning on having it at a bar or fancy restaurant, people will know that the dress code is less casual so they will adapt.
It’s important to decide on a venue early on in the planning process. If you are a big group that will need to book somewhere that is able to accommodate you, you will want to do this as soon as possible to make sure you are not left disappointed.
Top fun girls night out ideas
There are a lot of different avenues that you can go down for a girls night out. Here are some of our best ideas for a ladies’ night event that your friends will be guaranteed to love.
1. Foodie Fun
Nothing brings friends together like food, so why not organize your girls night around it? Hosting a dinner is a great idea as you can catch up around the dinner table whilst enjoying a delicious meal. Whilst you could cater the evening yourself, this is often a stressful task so one of the best girls night dinner ideas is to hire a private chef.
Hiring a personal chef takes the pressure off your shoulders and adds an element of luxury to your night that your guests are likely not used to. This allows you to experience a night at the restaurant in the comfort of your home. It really is the best of both worlds!
Alternatively, you could host a cooking and tasting party. This is a great interactive activity which leaves you with a delicious meal at the end of it all. Booking a private chef to lead a cooking class in your kitchen is a fun activity that gets everyone involved, you really can’t go wrong.
2. Mixology and Wine Girls Night
Another brilliant idea for your girls night that your friends are guaranteed to love is a mixology and wine night. Nothing screams girls night like a bit of alcohol to get everyone in a great mood. Whilst wine tasting is a more sophisticated set up that has the potential to slowly descend into chaos, mixology is a great way to get everyone to participate and learn a new skill whilst getting tipsy and having a good time.
The best part about these boozy nights is that you don’t need to be a professional mixologist or sommelier, everything you need to know can be found on the internet. All you need to do is buy the alcohol and you’re ready to go. If you have any sober girls in your group, or even a pregnant girlfriend or two, you can always cater to them by making virgin cocktails, that way no one is left out and everyone can get involved.
3. Arts and Crafts Girls Night
Arts and crafts girls nights have become increasingly more popular in recent years. A crafting night is a great way to get everyone doing something. If you don’t fancy setting up your house as an art studio, there are establishments that cater to arts and crafts evenings for groups of friends. Many of the arts and crafts evenings available also offer wine alongside your artistic endeavors. The type of arts and crafts you partake in is up to you, from painting to pottery, just pick something that you think everyone will enjoy.
4. Girls Night Games
Games night is a classic that can be easily adapted to suit your friendship group. The first thing you’re going to want to do is establish teams. The best way to do this is just throw names in a hat and pick them out for each team. If you want to be a bit more competitive, pick two team captains and have them hand pick their team one by one.
The kinds of games you play at your girls games night is up to you. You could start off with more energetic games such as charades or pictionary and end the night with a more chilled out board game, or keep the intensity high or low throughout the entire night.
5. Relaxing Girls Night
Sometimes all you need after a busy week at work and home is a relaxing girls night. Hosting a ladies’ night at home might be what is called for. Getting all the girls around for a movie night, putting a chick flick on the big screen and eating ice cream straight from the tub is everyone’s idea of a great time!
If you want to branch out from the usual movie night but still keep it lowkey at home, you could set up an at-home spa night or even have a book club and host a more sophisticated night. At the end of the day, you know your girlfriends and you know what they are going to enjoy, so go off of that and your girls night is sure to be a success.
Best ladies’ night idea themes
One of the best ways to elevate a ladies’ night is with a theme. A theme can transform your usual ladies’ night into a new and more exciting party for your friends. Here are a few themes that are always winners:
Female Icons
Nothing is better than a group of strong women dressed up as other strong women. A female icon night never fails to impress and is always entertaining. When you walk in and see Ruth Bader Ginsberg already 5 tequila shots in, Beyonce chatting to Marylin Monroe and the Spice Girls in the corner, you know you’re in for a great night.
Throwback
A throwback night is always hilarious. The idea of a throwback night is that everyone in attendance dresses up and acts just like they did in high school. You’ll inevitably have a few ex-emo kids turn up, the couple of popular girls and the preppy kids all mixing in your living room.
This theme works best if your girlfriends are a group of girls that you’ve become friends with in adulthood as you’ll get a quick glimpse into who these women were when they were at school. However, even if you’ve known each other since high school, it’ll be a great walk down memory lane.
Potluck dinner
A potluck dinner is a good way to take the pressure off yourself when hosting a girls night at your house. Getting everyone to bring a dish will ensure you have plenty of food and creates a chilled out communal feel to the evening. However, if your friends aren’t the best cooks and you don’t want to do the usual boring ordering in, consider hiring a professional chef to cater your meal, which can create a similar vibe to a potluck dinner but with guaranteed great food.