Tag Archives: bachelorette party

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.

Lingerie Shower Invites

Finding invites for a lingerie shower can be a monotonous task of wading through pink and black, lipstick kisses and corsets. So, I’m always on the lookout for invitations that step outside that box and come off as classy and cute. Like these!

Simple and sweet, this invite makes lingerie modern. It’s not showy or fussy, and feels chic and clean.

As a woman who greatly appreciates detailed schedules, this is my kind of invite. It’s perfect for a packed bachelorette weekend, giving the guests a sneak peek when it arrives in the mail and a quick reference throughout the event. I love the personalized icons—they make the invite feel really special!

I fell in love as soon as I read the sweet little poem (incorporating the groom’s name) and saw the dainty pastel lingerie. This invite feels a bit Parisian to me with the flowing cursive and striped envelope liner (not included). J’adore!

Most of the “women in retro lingerie” invites really annoy me, but I think this one is the exception. It’s all in the execution. First, the woman looks chic with her messy bob, chandelier earrings and demure pose. She’s not trying to be sexy, she just is! And the pen-and-ink technique gives this more of a ’20s vibe, which I prefer to the ’50s pin-up look. The round corners are the perfect finishing touch.

Ok, maybe “cheers bitches” isn’t the definition of cute and classy, but how can you argue with a call to “libations and debauchery”? The typography is simple and the colors are customizable on this cheeky invite.

Bachelorette Games: Most Likely To…

This game can be hilarious and scandalous, but it won’t work for every bachelorette party. In order for the game to be effective, everyone in the group needs to know one another. If you’re bringing together different groups of friends (college, high school, work, etc), skip this one. This is also a good game to play midway through the night. Let’s say a few drinks in but before you head out to the club (or if you’re staying in, before things get sloppy and you start bringing up high school boyfriends or referencing incidents the bride maaaybe didn’t want mentioned…).

Anyway, here’s how to play.

Step 1. Have a couple drinks.

Step 2. Before the game, you’ll need a set of index cards and a pen. Everyone will need their own hand of cards with the names of each player on a card. So, if 7 girls are playing, each girl should hold seven cards, one for each of their fellow players and one with their own name. You can easily just scribble names on cards before you start, or if you want to get fancy, you could DIY a cool set of cards beforehand with colored paper, glitter, stickers, etc. It’s important that all the cards look the same from the back though so that no one will know which card you’re throwing down. Think deck of playing cards. Backs identical, fronts your call.

Step 3: Let the game begin! You can come up with your own idea of how to start: MOH first, bride first, youngest first. You choose. The first player presents a “Most Likely To…” situation, such as “Most Likely to Kiss a Total Stranger.” Then each player throws down the card of the person they think is “most likely to…” face down. The questioner gathers all the cards, flips them over and tallies them up. If you’re voted most likely, you drink and you also get to come up with the next scenario.

The results can be funny, sweet or revealing depending on the question. Part of the fun is just seeing who gets votes! Some scenarios will go almost exclusively to one player, but others will be split. Since you’re using the cards, you won’t know where the votes are coming from, which adds to the mystery. Unless you’re really sure your group can handle some darker questions, try to keep it friendly. For example, some groups would find “most likely to have a one-night stand” hilarious, but others would think it’s over the line. My advice is to use your judgment and steer the group away from stuff that might hurt feelings.

Here’s a list of Most Likely To… situations to get you thinking. Continue reading →

Savannah Bachelorette Night Out

We’re already enumerated the many benefits of Savannah as a bachelorette destination, but I wanted to share some of the specifics of our weekend for those who might be planning a trip. You can find details from our bridal shower in Forsyth Park here, including our shower theme and catering info. This time I’ll focus on our nighttime activities.

For our first night, Alyssa scheduled a ghost tour/bar crawl with Tara’s Tours, which turned out to be an awesome idea. It’s called Boos and Brews (though can I suggest Boos and Booze?) and it was easy to schedule a private tour just for our group, which I highly recommend. Marisa loves ghost tours (we’ve been on a few in St. Augustine that are wicked scary) and we loved that this one included lots of bar stops and encouraged beverages on the road. Our guide, Andrew (also known as Drew or Drewby) was fun and told us a good mix of tales, some about the history of Savannah dating back to the Civil War and some about events that had only happened in the past few years (including one horrific story about a demon child in the Marshall House…won’t be booking a room there!). He even shared some paranormal experiences he’d had himself in apartments in Savannah or on the tours. Don’t let that scare away the faint of heart though. The mood was really lighthearted and though I’m one of those people who closes their eyes during previews for horror films, I was perfectly fine on the tour. We passed lots of other ghost tours and got many envious stares at our light-up cups. Apparently not all tours are the drinking kind.

We also got to see a ton of Savannah and stop in at all kinds of bars. Our tour included McDonough’s (karaoke all night long), Hang Fire (the bathroom is particularly apropos to bachelorette parties here…just trust me on this one), 17Hundred90, and Moon River Brewery (where we toured the very spooky old hotel portion), to name a few. Afterward, we stopped in at Abe’s on Lincoln, which was another chill place with friendly bartenders. We’d all definitely recommend Tara’s Tours and Drew (seen above with the bachelorette herself)!


Our second night out, we decided to dress it up a little more. I’ve seen all kinds of costume themes for bachelorette parties (wigs, tiaras, penis wands) but one of the simplest things to do is have all the guests wear black and the bride wear white or a color (Marisa chose red). You can find her cute little veil here. We originally decided to throw in wigs as a theme too, but only a few girls got on board (see photographic evidence). Before going out we all gathered in the hotel suite to play The Fiancé Quiz and then we decided to hit River Street. This turned out to be a great balance between the two nights because the first night was more small dive bars, which fit our casual theme, and the second night we went to a rooftop bar (top of the Bohemian Hotel, highly recommended), a country Western bar with line dancing and bull riding, and a dance club (309 West). All of these bars were along River Street and our hotel was only a block away from our final stop, so we were able to keep our heels on for at least part of the night (backup flip-flops are a must because of the stairs and cobblestones!).

If you have specific questions about planning a bachelorette party in Savannah, leave them in the comments and I’ll reply!

Bachelorette Games: The Fiancé Quiz

I’ve done a lot of searching for bachelorette party games, and, to be honest, most seem pretty cheesy and I can’t imagine a group of grown women playing them. But there is one game I’ve played at a few parties that is always fun: The Fiancé Quiz. It’s similar to the Newlywed Game, but with only one member of the couple present. A few weeks before the party, compile a list of questions and send them to the groom-to-be with specific instructions not to mention it to his significant other. (I actually recommend putting this in the email header. One groom said he started reading my email aloud to his bride before realizing what is was and suddenly shutting up.)
The questions can range from simple, like “when is your anniversary” or “what was your first date” to scandalous, like “what’s the wildest place you’ve had sex.” I try to tailor it to the couple and always encourage the guy to throw in a few of his own (these can be some of the funniest because the guys get so specific).
I love this game because it’s usually really funny or sweet and it’s also a great way to get to know more about the couple. Chances are not all the guests will have been around when they met and some may not know the groom that well.
If you want to turn this into a drinking game (and who doesn’t), have the bride drink when she gets an answer wrong and all the guests drink when she gets one right!

Here’s a sample list of questions I’ve used in the past: Continue reading →

Invitations

Choosing invitations for Marisa’s bachelorette weekend turned out to be way more difficult than I expected. I didn’t think my criteria were too demanding. I wanted something classy and simple but fun. Marisa’s a graphic designer, so I knew the typography and design needed to be modern and clean. Little did I know that “modern” and “clean” don’t factor in to many of the invites on the market. Getting away from black and pink was almost impossible so we just embracing it in the end. But I didn’t want anything that overtly referenced lingerie or Sex in the City (you would be astonished at how overdone these themes are). Designers, there’s a niche here that’s under-represented in my opinion! Here are a few of my favorites that Alyssa and I tracked down after lots of searching and the invite we ultimately went with.

This one felt like a good balance between modern and vintage and the muted pink and black is subtle and still chic. It’s customizable but not custom, so the price is good. You can find it here on Wedding Paper Divas.

This one stole my heart. The chevron pattern feels so modern and the colors are tweaked toward gray and coral, which makes this invite feel sophisticated and unexpected. You’ll find these on Etsy and need to contact the designer directly for a personalized listing.


I loved that this one got away from pink and incorporated sparkle in a fresh way. The script feels hand drawn and the vibe is vintage modern. This listing is for a digital file and you can find it on Etsy as well.

Polka Dot Design is another good site if you’d rather set your own type rather than working with a designer. This invite is actually for a New Year’s party, but I thought it could easily be tweaked for a fancy bachelorette party.

If you’re going to go lingerie or kitsch, I think this is how to do it.The playbill lettering and ’50s pin-up balances perfectly with the cream paper and feels vintage without being busy.

This invite was our final choice. We loved the simple typography and the “All You Need Is Love” theme fit our bride perfectly. The hot pink seemed fresh with the crisp white instead of the black that I’d seen on so many other invites. Lisa from Blushface was also very easy to work with, responding quickly and sending us a few proofs until the invite looked just right. She also printed for us, which was something we were looking for.

In general, I recommend you shop around because prices can vary considerably. Print-on-demand sites like Wedding Paper Divas and Polka Dot Design are great for a budget and do have lots of options allowing for one-stop shopping and less time spent searching, but the templates aren’t completely customizable and I didn’t find very many designs that met my “clean and modern” criteria (the two sites I’ve mentioned were by far the best in that category). Designers can be more expensive, but not always. They also tend to have more interesting designs and will customize the invite to your needs. I found Etsy to be the best resource for this by far. Most of the designers on wedding website directories are looking for wedding invite orders, not smaller parties like showers and bachelorette weekends. Though I saw some amazing work, their clientele is focused on brides. Etsy invite designers were much more approachable for our purposes. Some designers provide printed files, but some don’t which means an extra expense. Alyssa and I used a board on Pinterest to display invites we liked all together, which helped to narrow our options and keep links at the ready for price comparison.

Please post links to invites you’ve found! I’m going to need ideas for the next time around…

Mission Bachelorette Party!

I’m fresh off Marisa’s bachelorette party in Savannah and it’s going to take me multiple posts to get through all the details, but I’ll start with the location and some of the resources we used. I could not have planned this weekend alone and was so lucky to have my co-maid of honor Alyssa to take on half the work. MOHs, I highly recommend recruiting help, especially for destination weekends! Since Alyssa and I could bounce ideas off each other, we didn’t have to bother our bride with details and questions and no one person had all the pressure.

Combination bachelorette party/bridal shower weekends are ideal for groups of friends that are spread out over the country. Since I grew up in Florida, went to college in North Carolina and now live in New York, weddings take me all over the East Coast, so travel has become a necessary part of these events. I’m not going to lie—it’s much more difficult to plan events from afar, but it’s possible! And may I strongly recommend Savannah, GA, for ladies in the South.

Here are some of the benefits:

  1. No open container laws. That’s right, ladies, when you order a drink in Savannah they’ll ask you if you’d like that in a to-go cup. Marisa got fun LED light cups for us to carry around the city, which served the dual purpose of looking awesome and helping us keep track of our group. You can find the cups here.
  2. Huge variety of bars and restaurants. Savannah really has something for everyone. We went to dive bars, karaoke bars, Western bars with bull-riding and line dancing, rooftop bars with live music and fire pits, and clubs with black lights and nonstop dancing. There are also good dining options for any budget. We were looking for the most affordable options and also had a huge group (15 girls) but were able to find low-priced dinners each night that didn’t require a reservation. Of course, you’re not going to get in to some of the most popular spots without calling ahead, but the city is packed with solid options if you’re willing to try something new.
  3. Very walkable. Savannah is a great walking city, so there’s no need for a designated driver and bar-hopping is simple. Make sure your hotel or house has a parking option though, as spots can be hard to come by on the street. My advice is to try to park your car when you arrive and only retrieve it when it’s time to leave.

Alyssa and I compared renting a house for the weekend with staying at a hotel and we ended up going with the hotel. There are definite pros and cons to each, but because of the size of our group, we decided that a hotel would be simpler (finding a house that sleeps 15 is difficult). If you have a group of 6-8, I think staying in a house would be ideal and recommend vrbo.com (Vacation Rental by Owner) as a great resource. We chose to stay at one of the many hotels along Bay Street, mostly for the great central location. We were only a block from River St. and City Market, areas that are rich in bars and restaurants.

We picked the Four Points by Sheraton because the price was right and booked two regular rooms and one “suite.” The hotel was clean and the staff friendly, but I wouldn’t recommend springing for the suite. While it was nice to have a living room for all the girls to gather in, the room wasn’t really any larger than the normal double rooms. There are lots of other hotels all along that strip in roughly the same price range and I think the area’s convenience makes it a good option, especially if your group plans to party a lot. If you’re looking for a more laid-back weekend, staying on one of the squares would be more picturesque and really put you right in the center of Savannah’s southern charms.
Posts to come on our bar crawl/ghost tour, bridal shower in Forsyth Park, favors, collaborative gifts, and more.