Mustachian Bachelorette Party ideas?

[lifejoy]

Obviously bachelor/bachelorette parties can get expensive and overblown. I am planning my own event and I want it to be fun and memorable but not crazy $$$. I have also never been to a bachelorette party, so ideas from people that do not work for theknot.com would be much appreciated!

So far I'm thinking: go out for high tea in the afternoon ($12/each), go out for dinner ($x/each), and then hang out in my hotel room with a few bottles of wine and some snacks ($?). My dream party would involve a magician and pedicures... But I don't want me or my friends to go into the poor house. This is a destination wedding, we have all already spent a ton just to BE there.

Can't wait to hear your ideas, ya fun partiers!


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[JoyBlogette]

Following - my sister is getting married this year and I'll be planning her Bachelorette party.

I had some ideas for her:
-Spa night (at home) - face masks, pedicures, spa (cucumber or lemon) water and healthy snacks
-Beach day - day at the beach with a picnic lunch and maybe some volleyball or funny obstacle course type games
-Sleepover - traditional girls sleepover party - pjs, sleeping bags, bake cookies, pillow fight, the works
-Boat cruise or Rock Climbing - not sure about making this Mustashian

I went to a "High Tea" baby shower and it was really fun.  Wine tasting would be fun too.

[gillstone]

We had the same group of friends and neither of us really liked bars, clubs or loud places with lots of people.  Given that, it seemed silly to break it into two parties.  We put together a big weekend at a friend's cabin, got plastered and played a game of capture the flag that covered 20 acres and including some light crawling through marshes.  Then we got plastered again.  It was awesome and way cheaper than two separate parties. 

[lifejoy]

These ideas are awesome!! My friends and I are all flying in to Ottawa, so I want to make it that they don't have to bring much with them. Maybe high tea and a wine & cheese girl's night :)


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[Chranstronaut]

If you already have a nice hotel room, it would be pretty fun to have a party there.  But if you are taking any professional "bride getting ready" photos there the next day, it might get messy or some stuff can go missing (my friends would probably end up playing with/moving/hiding my "Day Of" stuff if excess alcohol was involved the night before).  Maybe hold it in a bridesmaid's room instead?

What about going to an arcade, laser tag or go karts if you want some excitement?  It might not pair as well with an afternoon tea, I suppose...

Rock climbing is probably not very Mustachian if you go to a gym.  For a non-destination wedding, I would highly suggest looking at renting a portable rock wall.  I did this as a kid for a birthday party; we got a reasonable deal for a few hours of rental with unlimited climbers (we knew the owners of the business, so I'm sure we got a VERY reduced rate-- regularly ~$200 an hour).  They set it up in the cul-de-sac in front of my parent's house and it was a hit!

[gildedbutterfly]

Hey, I've been lurking for about a year on the blog and in the forums, and you finally got me to register and post. Congrats! ;)

Back when I was in college, I used to bellydance for fun and some light competition. In my late 20s, I parlayed that into some extra dough by doing bachelorette parties. Basically, it went like this: I would meet up with the girls at their home or hotel room and give them a 1-2 hour bellydancing lesson. After that, they would go to a local Moroccan restaurant that had bellydancers and/or a club and practice their new moves. It was always a lot of fun and, compared to some other pursuits, it was relatively cheap: I usually charged ~$100-200 for the lesson (split amongst ~10-15 girls) and then they had dinner. That (or some variation on it) is an option; a quick Google search shows that this Turkish restaurant in Ottawa has bellydancers: http://www.topkapirestaurant.ca/events.php.

Not quite as Mustachian as having a picnic on the beach, but it'll likely be a fun and memorable night, and still not come out much more than what you'd pay to go out to dinner.

[birder]

I'm getting married this fall and we're planning a joint bachelor/bachelorette party. Basically, all of our friends are joining us for a camping trip to the mountains ~1.5 hours from where we live. There will be natural hot springs, hiking, rock climbing, adult beverages, campfires, and delicious potluck camp food. The cost per person will basically be a share of the gas (in our fuel-efficient Honda Fits, Priuses, and Subaru outbacks), plus a little more food and booze than we would consume in a normal weekend. I'm crazy excited about it.

If you're not into camping, an idea might be to do your own spa afternoon. My girlfriends and I do this on occasion when one of us needs a pick-me-up. If you really want mani-pedis, but don't want to break the bank, have people bring their favorite nail polishes and do your own/each others' in your hotel room. You probably already own some nail files and polish, and if you don't, a $4 bottle of polish is way cheaper than a trip to the salon. You can really splurge on bath salts to soak your feet and hands in pre-mani/pedi, or just buy epsom salts for cheap if you don't care about fancy fragrance.

[StarryC]

My dream party would involve a magician and pedicures.

I think the pedicures are totally doable.  Call around for a package deal.  I bet you can get pedicures for $20-$25 each someplace.  Bring a bottle or two of champagne and some glasses, and do that instead of tea if that is what you want.    Maybe plan those for about 3PM.  Then, instead of "dinner" hit a happy hour someplace.  You can probably each get a drink and enough food for $20. 

I don't think bachelorette parties are usually "night before wedding" anymore.  If possible, I'd try to have it be the week before so you don't have to deal with a hangover etc. on the wedding day! 

But if the plan really is the day before, I'd then plan that evening to be a spa night/ girls night in the room with an early bed time.  Get your favorite girly movie (Center Stage?  Step Up?  Pitch Perfect?  A wedding movie like Runaway Bride or Bride Wars or My Big Fat Greek Wedding?) Get some of the $1 masks and treatments that they have at Ulta and Walgreens.  (But, don't put new stuff on your skin the night before your wedding!)

If not the night before, I would look around for pole dancing fitness class (if belly dancing isn't your thing)!  A friend of mine did that for her bachelorette, and it was a total hit!

[lifejoy]

These are really great ideas! Thank you :)


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[lysistrata]

I have a huge group of friends (guys and gals) and a lot of us got married in the last three years, so I've been to/planned a lot of parties. We don't do expensive - if the whole night costs more than $30, folk won't come (I love my frugal friends :)) Here's some of the stuff we've done:

- for my party, we went to an old military fort in our city, dressed up to the nines, and had a "photo shoot". It was so much fun. Then we had a BBQ at one of my friends place, played some games, and did laser tag.
- Another friend, we had a party at her place, lots of silly games, and then headed out to see one of our friend's bands play ($10 cover charge).
- Another friend, another party at a friend's parent's place, with a pool + spa. Pool party! We had a guy come with wine for a tasting, and then another friend, who does D-vice parties, did a sex-toy demonstration. This was seriously so much fun.
- another friend we rented a hotel room in the city, everyone brought wine and cheese and nibbles to share, and then we went dancing at some local clubs.
- another friend we did high tea, games on the beach, and then a nice dinner and
- another friend, we did a scavenger hunt around our small town, and then a pole dancing class in my house, followed by nibbles and girlie movies.
- another friend, another scavenger hunt, archery at a friends' farm, then drinks, games at the farmhouse.

Most of these parties we've said "we'll finish in town" later, but then we usually don't bother - having too much fun at home. We keep it cheap by using the resources we have - people in the group suggesting cool ideas they can help with, like lending houses. We have some props we recycles, and heaps of low cost games (we even have our favourite - the question game). And it doesn't hurt that many of us are home brewers, so the alcohol is cheap, too.

[lifejoy]

I have a huge group of friends (guys and gals) and a lot of us got married in the last three years, so I've been to/planned a lot of parties. We don't do expensive - if the whole night costs more than $30, folk won't come (I love my frugal friends :)) Here's some of the stuff we've done:

- for my party, we went to an old military fort in our city, dressed up to the nines, and had a "photo shoot". It was so much fun. Then we had a BBQ at one of my friends place, played some games, and did laser tag.
- Another friend, we had a party at her place, lots of silly games, and then headed out to see one of our friend's bands play ($10 cover charge).
- Another friend, another party at a friend's parent's place, with a pool + spa. Pool party! We had a guy come with wine for a tasting, and then another friend, who does D-vice parties, did a sex-toy demonstration. This was seriously so much fun.
- another friend we rented a hotel room in the city, everyone brought wine and cheese and nibbles to share, and then we went dancing at some local clubs.
- another friend we did high tea, games on the beach, and then a nice dinner and
- another friend, we did a scavenger hunt around our small town, and then a pole dancing class in my house, followed by nibbles and girlie movies.
- another friend, another scavenger hunt, archery at a friends' farm, then drinks, games at the farmhouse.

Most of these parties we've said "we'll finish in town" later, but then we usually don't bother - having too much fun at home. We keep it cheap by using the resources we have - people in the group suggesting cool ideas they can help with, like lending houses. We have some props we recycles, and heaps of low cost games (we even have our favourite - the question game). And it doesn't hurt that many of us are home brewers, so the alcohol is cheap, too.

Holy guacamole. You have a swell bunch of friends!!! This gives me lots to work with :) I think it matters more who you're with than what you do :)


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[StarryC]

I forgot about the D-Vice/ "Pure Romance" parties.  These are like Avon parties.  If you want it to be "sexy" you could probably find someone to do one.  You would probably want to have some people with plans to buy SOMETHING. 

[KiwiMust]

I read about a bachelorette party where every person (except bride to be) was given an hour during the day which they had responsibility to provide entertainment. This meant they could spend as little or as much as they liked for their hour. Games, cupcake decorating, card tricks, breakfast, cooking class for lunch, manicures, the list is endless. If there were a lot of people (or a shorter time) you could partner up for the hour, or if there weren't many people, you could make the time longer. I thought it was a great idea and nice to find out what people's hidden talents are. It also meant that if people had other commitments they could pull out for a couple of hours and still take part in some of the day.

[Goldielocks]

Do something you would normally never do...  bungy jumping?  Swimming or skinny dipping at night?   Go on a  underwear raid to the groomsmens' areas..  See a punk show.

Yeah, I know, not really high tea with manicures, but you will remember it!

[lifejoy]

I read about a bachelorette party where every person (except bride to be) was given an hour during the day which they had responsibility to provide entertainment. This meant they could spend as little or as much as they liked for their hour. Games, cupcake decorating, card tricks, breakfast, cooking class for lunch, manicures, the list is endless. If there were a lot of people (or a shorter time) you could partner up for the hour, or if there weren't many people, you could make the time longer. I thought it was a great idea and nice to find out what people's hidden talents are. It also meant that if people had other commitments they could pull out for a couple of hours and still take part in some of the day.

That is SO COOL!


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[lifejoy]

So the result:

Pedicures with caffeine and pastries.
High tea.
Dinner and drinks (possibly order pizza into my hotel room!)
Dancing? Or dancing in my hotel room! What up!

The bank-breaker is pedicures, but damn if I don't want to be pampered the day before my wedding :) I've cut back on SO MANY THINGS that this one sits ok with me. But keep the ideas coming, because I'm the first in my friend group to get married and if I ever plan a bachelorette party for a friend of mine, I wanna knock her socks off!!!


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[lifejoy]

Oh, and we're all gonna wear floral and/or bright colours :D Except me, I'll be wearing a white little dress! And a crown. And a necklace that says bride-to-be :D

Also I made goodie bags. I am a crazy gifter so I get props for holding back but face punches for having goodie bags at all. Let me know if you have suggestions of things to add, but so far:
-pearl necklace (freshwater pearls from eBay, $2 each!)
-opi nail polish (on sale, $2 each!!)
-shoe insoles (eBay, $2 each)
-natural lip balm with SPF and red tint ($4 each but worth every penny)

Yep.



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[Zaga]

I didn't read the other replies, but i wanted to tell you about an extremely fun bachelorette party I helped organize once.

We all got out old formal dresses, mostly prom and bridesmaids dresses, and went mini golfing and on go carts.  Just silly, and a ton of fun!  Those old dresses usually don't get worn often, so it was nice to use them.  Another idea we had was to go formal bowling, maybe another time.

[JoyBlogette]

Back when I was in college, I used to bellydance for fun and some light competition. In my late 20s, I parlayed that into some extra dough by doing bachelorette parties. Basically, it went like this: I would meet up with the girls at their home or hotel room and give them a 1-2 hour bellydancing lesson. After that, they would go to a local Moroccan restaurant that had bellydancers and/or a club and practice their new moves.

LOVE this idea.  I plan on doing this for my sister's bachelorette party as she is a dancer and would love this.  THANK YOU!