How To Throw An Epic Bachelorette Party!

#letsgetgrose

My very best friend Ellen is getting married, and as her maid of honor, I threw the bachelorette party. Watch the highlight video I made from the weekend of celebration. If you’re wondering about the hashtag… Ellen’s future last name is Grose… hence the epic bachelorette hashtags. See more of the photos from our weekend on #letsgetgrose #ellensgrosebachelorette and #lekasletsloose

I love you bud, can’t wait to stand by your side in two weeks!!!!

Here are a few tips for all you maid of honor’s out there:

Make the BRIDE stand out

When you go out to dinner, coordinate with all the bridesmaids to wear all black, and tell the bride to wear all white. Of course, you must outfit her with a sash and crown too;) If you are going to the beach, lake, river, ect. Make sure she has as special floatie, her own cup to drink from, and some “bride” tattoos.

Keep some things a surprise 

Don’t tell her everything. Keep her on her toes for the weekend/night. It’s ok to embarrass her, just a little;) We surprise Ellen with a giant inflatable penis that we had floating down next to our party barge boat when we went to the lake. It got a few good laughs.

Do something competitive

Since I am a barre3 instructor, and since the bachelorette party was in Bend, I taught a private barre3 class to all the bridesmaids at the studio where I teach! A little soreness never hurt anyone… right guys?!;)

Get outside

We went for a hike in the morning, floated the river, and spent an entire day on a party barge boat/jet skis at Cove Palisades. All these activities kept us off our phones (especially the water ones) and it gave us all a chance to bond before the wedding (even though 6 of us have been friends since kindergarten). I think everyone went home feeling refreshed from the opportunity to disengage for a weekend.

Create a laughable scavenger

Here is the one I came up with that we attempted to accomplish. We actually ended up accomplishing about 10/15 as you can see in the video!

*Need photo of video proof of all of the below items!

Scavenger hunt:

1.Find someone with the same wedding date or anniversary

2. Get someone so sing along with you, record the video

3. Kiss a bartender

4. Go up to someone at the bar and say, “I’ll have whatever he’s havin'”

5. Tell someone your 2-minute life story and then get them to tell you theirs

6. Pluck someone’s beard hair

7. Take a photo with another bachelor or bachelorette party

8. Take a photo with a “Nolan” (The groom’s name)

9. Get someone totally random to take a photo with the bride and post it to their Instagram using our bachelorette hashtag #letsgetgrose

10. Record a couple giving you their best marriage advice

11. Get 5 people to buy the bride drinks (don’t have to be alcoholic)

12. Get someone to serenade the bride

13. Take a photo with someone whose been married over 30 years

14. Get someone to give you an article of their clothing

15. Go up to someone and say #letsgetgrose

This girl was part of the bachelorette party sitting behind us at dinner. Come to find out, she is getting married on the exact same day as Ellen!!!

Relax a little

Have some down time where you can just chill with the bride and talk marriage excitement and wedding details. Ask the bride what she is most excited for in marriage, and what she is most excited for on the wedding day!

Decorate everything

Decorations are a must. You gotta decorate the house/Airbnb/rental/campsite wherever you are staying for the night or weekend. I did lots of balloons, tattos that said “bridesmaid, bride, taken, xoxo,” banners, crowns, and a few penis things here and there cause you guys have to. Below you can shop some of my favorite decor/fun bachelorette things!

Shop bachelorette supplies:

Make a playlist

Make a Spotify playlist of some of the bride’s favorite songs, classic wedding songs, ect.

Take lots of photos / video

Capturing the weekend will make it all the more memorable and cherishable for the bride.

Get a Costco membership and expect to invest a little extra in your bride

Shopping for 15 people for 3 nights and 4 days is tough… estimating the cost for it is tougher. Costco was a lifesaver for this bachelorette! Even if you divide up the cost of the bachelorette among the bridesmaids, you WILL end up spending significantly more than everyone else. Just be prepared for that, as there are many hidden costs that will come up throughout the weekend.

Praise the bride

Tell her she looks incredible, give her some wedding/marriage encouragement, and offer help/support in any way you can!