Holidays & Entertaining - Simply Stated Blogs

When you're in your late 20s, "Wedding Season" is really less of a season and more of a year-round thing. Someone always seems to be getting married! In my opinion, one of the most fun parts of the lead-up to the wedding is the Bachelorette Party. A veritable rite of passage in today's modern world, I've yet to meet a bride who hasn't had one in some form or another.

A bachelorette bash can take on many forms - from a casual dinner with your best girlfriends to a weekend-long Vegas blowout. Recently, I hosted something in between for a dear friend of mine who is getting married this fall. We're not really the Vegas types, so we focused on planning something that would be all about getting away from our daily routines and spending quality "girl time" together in a beautiful setting.

We wanted to do a weekend-long trip somewhere, so that it would be more than just a "girls night out" and more of a mini-vacation for everyone. The bride had very few requests for her "Bach" - her only wish was that we select somewhere to go that had a beach and a grill, so we could hang out all day at the beach and cookout at night under the stars. (Now those are demands I can get used to!)

It was a weekend we'll all remember for years to come - the perfect way to send my friend off into wedded bliss. So, without further ado...my Top Five Ways to Throw a Fabulous Bachelorette Bash:

1. Location: Pick somewhere that everyone can get to easily enough (most everyone in our group had no problem finding affordable flights to Florida). If at all possible, go somewhere that you've got a place to stay. We were fortunate enough to have my parents offer us their home in Florida for the weekend (thanks Mom and Dad!), and a car to borrow as well, which helped keep the cost of the trip very affordable. If you don't have a destination with a home you can stay at, consider staying in town and planning a host of activities you don't normally do, and having everyone sleep over at one person's place - without the husbands/kids/boyfriends.

2. Provisions: Shop for groceries ahead of time. I was able to get all the supplies before the girls arrived, which cut down on time spent running out for food and drinks once everyone got there. I stocked up at Costco - there are some amazing deals at wholesale clubs on quality wine, produce, and meat. We cooked a lot from scratch, which is always more delicious (and more economical) than eating prepared foods or going out to eat.

3. Going Out: Do one night out on the town so you can "show off the bride." We went to a really fun bar that had a salsa band playing that night, and then another one that actually has their own tradition when a bachelorette party comes in - they have the bride don an old wedding dress they keep on hand and dance around a little. Call ahead of time so they know you're coming, and you'll likely get the royal treatment - usually a round of cocktails and compliance with song/DJ requests.

4. Party Favors: Get the silly stuff. If you're splitting the cost across a big group of friends like ours, it doesn't cost that much per person to buy some fun bachelorette themed party favors that will keep you laughing and the bride surprised. We went to Bachelorette Superstore online for our goodies, and ended up with some great stuff. It was fun to have these special koozies at the beach to keep beers cold, and we made the bride wear this diamond ring shot glass out on the town, to name just a few.

5. Document It: Take lots of pictures! Weeks later, we're all still laughing about all the photos we took. We had about seven different people taking digital photos with different cameras, and once the weekend ended we had everyone upload their photos to Ofoto into one album. Now we can all order prints from any one person's photos, and also easily make a photo book for the bride as a post-bach gift.

Got any tips or sources you love for bachelorette parties? Have you ever hosted one? Learned a valuable lesson about hosting one? Share your comments here!

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