Getting into a relationship can change your friendships. People feel left out, lonely, and like they’re always second choice. That doesn’t have to be the case.
1. Invite your friends to hang out with you and your boyfriend in a fun, relaxed group setting. There’s no better way to keep your friends after starting to date someone new than to make him their friend, too. Plan some fun things to do with everyone to break the ice and make sure your friends and your love feel comfortable, and can get to know each other. If you truly like your friends and your significant other, they should like each other.
2. Plan plenty of GNOs. Even though spending time with your significant other is great, we still need our girl time. Quality time with your girlfriends can be anything from a chill movie night to a girls’ trip to the Bahamas.
3. Make sure your friends feel comfortable expressing if they feel forgotten about. There’s nothing worse than the silent tension you feel when you know your friends are upset with you about something and they won’t talk to you about it. If your friends are feeling left out because of your new love, make sure they feel okay about letting you know and that when they do, you are understanding and work to show that you value their friendship.
4. Don’t mistake your friends’ missing you or acting weird for jealousy. When you’re drunk in love, it can be easy to think that everyone is jealous of what you have. However, it is way more likely that your friends are just happy for you, but miss spending time with you, and wrongly accusing them of being jealous will only make things worse. Communication is key!
5. Group dates. If you have friends that also have significant others, plan double or triple dates. The more the merrier! And who knows, maybe you’ll all get married and be going on couples cruises together one day.