Category Archives: Bachelorette Parties

Lingerie

All right, we’re going there, ladies. Lingerie for the shower. The first thing you’ll learn when you start shopping is that good lingerie—you know, the delicate kind with lace—is expensive. I mean, it can be really expensive. Bras can run your $60 easy. I think there are two gift approaches when going into a lingerie shower. Option 1: Team up with another guest to get the bride one really nice set, something she would never buy for herself and may very well use to seduce her husband (but don’t think about that part). Option 2: Go for a more affordable everyday item, something in cotton or jersey that’s cute and comfy and that she’ll wear all the time. This post addresses option one, though I’ve tried to keep things reasonable. Seductive and admittedly beautiful Agent Provocateur pieces will set you back $200 for one bra…not a proposition I’m personally willing to entertain.

To me, black and lace is the ultimate in classic sexy. It will never go out of style. This gorgeous Espirit set comes in at only $60 for the bra and panties, or swap out a chemise in the same pattern for $50.

Though black is the ultimate in sex appeal, every bride does need some wedding white.

 I love the intricate details on this Elle McPherson bra ($60) and panties ($34).

Or what about this bralette from Only Hearts, currently on sale for $40?

Want some color? I cannot get enough of these dotted bralettes and boyshorts from Madewell ($53 for a set).

Or this emerald lace set from Anthropologie at $44.

And I can’t help myself…elephants (for $65)! There’s even a bit of mesh to show a little skin for her guy.

Bachelorette Games: Bar Scavenger Hunt

If you’re planning a bar crawl for a bachelorette party, think about spicing the evening up with a scavenger hunt. This game is kind of a hybrid between a scavenger hunt and truth or dare (without the truth part). The idea is to compile a list that includes objects and people to find as well as challenges and dares, which can be very generic or specific to the bride or the bars you’re visiting. For example, is there a certain bouncer at the bar who always flirts with your group? Track him down and convince him to “sell tickets to the gun show.” A regular at the kareoke bar who can be counted on to belt Lady Gaga tunes? Score points if he chooses “Bad Romance.” You can work as a group to complete the list, split into teams or compete individually to finish the list first. Make sure you take a picture as you check each item off the list (for proof and posterity!). Here are some ideas to get you started, all of which I’ve kept very focused on the bachelorette:

  • Find a guy with the same name as the groom and get him to snap a picture with the bride. +1 for each guy you find.
  • Find a penny from the year the bride was born. +1
  • If the bride’s from out of state, meet someone from her home state. (+1) Add an extra point if he or she is from her home town.
  • If you’re in the bride’s home town, find people who went to the same high school/grade school as her. (+1) Add additional points if they were actually in her class.
  • Find another bachelorette or bachelor party. Ask the brides-to-be or bride- and groom-to-be to pose together. +1
  • Ask the bartender to come up with a special drink that is “the bride’s drink.” Then start talking the drink up around the bar and convince strangers to order it by name (i.e. I’ll have The Amanda). +1 for each person who orders it.
  • Designate “the bride’s song” for the night. Get the DJ to play it at each bar. All attendees must sing. +1 each time the song is played. Double points if they play it twice in the same bar! Triple points if you develop a choreographed dance that you all do to the song.
  • Find objects that unintentionally resemble the male anatomy…you know what! +1 each.
  • Collect marriage advice. Ask people to write their advice on a napkin. If you want this to get naughtier, change this to advice for the wedding night. Target really drunk people for the best answers. +1 for each napkin you collect.
  • Pick a distinctive characteristic about the groom. Maybe he has a mustache, red hair, or always wears a shirt from his favorite college team. Now hunt down groom look-alikes. The bride must approve your choice, then snap a picture for later comparison. +1 for each look-alike you find.
  • Collect a coaster from each bar or a napkin signed by the bartender. +1 each
  • The bride needs to be carried across the threshold into every bar. Try to recruit a stranger to do the job, but in a pinch someone in your group can carry her in. You only score +1 when a stranger does the job though!

You can modify this list to make the challenges more risque if your group is daring and be sure to add a few special touches that are particular to the bride. It’s a good idea to have a printed list to take to the bar so you can keep score as you go along. Create your own custom list or use this handy printable bar scavenger hunt form I created! Continue reading →

Tanks for Parties or Bridal Prep

The Wedding Chicks is a great bridal resource, but it also has a shop with some fairly adorable tees and tanks that would be perfect to wear while getting ready the day of the wedding or at a bachelorette party. I’ve compiled some of my favorite styles below and you can check out their totes, hankies and more here. The orders are custom and each tank set is available in a “bride,” “bridesmaid,” and “maid/matron of honor” option with different colors to choose from. Some can also be customized with names and dates. The tanks go for $24 apiece.

Vintage

Nautical

Paisley

But my absolute favorite? This cozy bridal sweatshirt, also available in bridesmaid and MOH options, at $48 each.

Design*Sponge City Guides

Planning a destination bachelorette party? In a city you’ve never visited? I’ve been there. But scouring travel sites and reading reviews on Yelp can get overwhelming and exhausting pretty fast. May I recommend Design*Sponge City Guides as a great starting place for curated food, shopping and entertainment recommendations? I love these guides because they’re written for a young female demographic by local writers. The recommendations tend to include vintage stores, cool cafes and off-the-beaten-track finds. They’re by no means extensive, but that’s what I like about them. You’ll get a good feel for the area and a baseline list to get you started. Need a B&B in Napa Valley? A bakery in Charleston to order some delicious cupcakes? Check out the full list of the guides here.


Q&A: Handling a Huge Guest List

Q: My bride wants to invite 20 people to her bachelorette party! What are my options for throwing a big party on a reasonable budget?

A: Accommodating a huge guest list is definitely a challenge, especially when you want to keep the cost low for both yourself and your guests. Here are a few party ideas that work well for large groups and won’t cause you to have a breakdown.

  • Host a girl’s night in at your house: The ultimate in easy party planning, throwing the party in your home or apartment will definitely lower your stress level. You can keep it simple with delivery or take on a home-cooked meal. The only downfall to hosting the party at your house is that you’re more likely to spend a lot of money yourself on food and drinks. Make the party a potluck and assign each guest a category: appetizers, side dishes, alcohol, mixers, desserts, or paper products. Then take on the main dish yourself. Turn it into an old-fashioned sleepover party complete with sleeping bags, truth or dare and kareoke.
  • Rent a house at a beach, mountain or lake: Everyone loves a getaway, and with this many people you’ll be grateful for the space of an entire house. If you add $5-$10 to the cost of the weekend per person, you can stock the kitchen with cereal, yogurt, and sandwich fixings to keep breakfasts and lunches easy. Sites like vrbo.com and Homeaway.com are great sources for vacation rental homes all over the country. A few words of advice: Finding a house that sleeps 20 people is going to be very difficult, so be sure guests know they may have to sleep on blow-up mattresses or couches. You’ll probably have to quote a lower number of guests to the property owner since many don’t want parties larger than the house actually sleeps. Be sure you’re going with a group of people you trust to leave the house in one piece—the last thing you want is an angry owner with your name on the agreement. As long as you know your group will clean up after themselves, go for it!
  • For the sporty bride: How about a kickball game and picnic at your local park? Some parks have rules against alcohol, but many are lenient if you don’t bring glass bottles or get too rowdy. Personalize “Team Bride” shirts with the guest’s names on the back (Old Navy has a tee that you could personalize yourself or this site will personalize them for you).
  • Bar crawl: Skip fancy dinners; bars are much simpler and better for big groups! Start with appetizers at a local brewery, then progress to cocktail lounges, dance clubs, kareoke bars, strip clubs—whatever best suits the group. Make sure you choose bars that are within walking distance of one another, or arrange for transportation in the form of designated drivers, taxis or a limo.

One of the hardest things to do with a big group, in my opinion, is have dinner at a restaurant. Here’s why: Continue reading →

Signature Drinks: Raspberry Mint Limonata Cocktail

No celebration is complete without specialty cocktails. For a bachelorette party or bridal shower, you can come up with a drink that honors the bride, or turn mixology into a theme and ask each guest to come prepared with a cocktail recipe to teach the group. This weekend while at a rooftop BBQ I tried a variation on a Tom Collins that would work beautifully at a summer bridal shower. It’s the perfect combination of sweet, minty, fruity and bubbly. All my favorite things! Here’s what you’ll need:

Gin (or substitute vodka if you don’t like gin)

Diet tonic water

San Pellegrino limonata

Raspberries

Mint

Ice

Mason jar (optional)

Fill glass halfway with ice. Muddle 3-4 mint leaves and raspberries together. If you don’t have a muddler, just rip the mint leaves into little bits and crush the raspberries before you drop them in. I added a few whole raspberries as well because they are pretty and yummy.

Add one shot gin, about half a can of limonata and top with diet tonic water. Stir and serve (preferably in giant Mason jar).

The limonata provides the sweetness, but it’s mellowed out by the tonic water. The mint is super-refreshing and you will knock yourself out trying to fish out the raspberries (which also give the drink its pretty pink color). If you don’t like gin, this would work just as well with a smooth vodka. Enjoy!

Bachelorette Party Favor: Mix CD

I entered adolescence in a very specific era: after cassette tapes but before mp3 players. We were the children of the “compact disc,” with our portable CD players and giant binders of CDs. Sure, there was a time when I had to queue up a tape if I wanted to record a song off the radio (God, that was hard! And you always missed the first two or three seconds of the song!), but when the mix CD came along? WOW! Let’s just say that high school was filled with CD exchanges and mixes specifically tailored to long road trips. In homage to the era of the mix CD, I decided to make one as a favor for Marisa’s bachelorette party. I emailed the attendees to ask for songs that reminded them of Marisa and then put together a mix.

I started off with songs that would remind us of specific events—when Justin and Marisa met, when he proposed, our girls’ weekend—and then added songs that I knew Marisa loved from different eras. I wanted to include a lot of “love” songs as well because I know sappy love songs annoy her, so I chose upbeat, peppy ones with the word “love” in the title. It turned into a ridiculous mix of songs, but they are all personal to her.

Then I bought some jewel cases and CDs (man, that took me back) and set about creating a CD cover. I am by no means a graphic designer, but I do know how to use InDesign, so I created my case there. I stuck with polka dots, typography and a color palette of pink, black and white, because I felt like I couldn’t screw that up. I bought some pretty polka-dot ribbon on sale at a local craft store. Ribbon can be expensive, so look out for deals! I needed almost 15 yards for 15 CDs—about a yard a CD. Then once we checked into the hotel, I left a CD on each pillow so the guests would find them when they arrived.