Planning a Kick-A$$ Bachelorette Party...Done!

My feet are still recovering from MOH K's Bachelorette party this past Saturday. While all things went extremely well, my nerves are definitely still rebuilding themselves after they were barely holding together dealing with the COMPLETELY anal-retentive, control-freak bridesmaid that helped me plan it. I mean it, I had one nerve left and it was stretched and yanked as far as possible without breaking. The only thing that kept me from jumping across the table at her was making sure my sis was having the best time ever. Luckily my love for her is stronger than even the most obnoxious person in the world!

So anyway, the party started at my place. Mr. S was AMAZING and helped me clean the whole house during the week before the party. He left for a few hours while us ladies were there, and when he came home after we left, he even cleaned up after us. AWWWW I got a good one!

Pin the Lips on the Hunk Game - Amazon

We started with some drinks and snacks, played "Pin the Lips on the Hunk" and jammed to some tunes. From there we went to have dinner, more drinks, and open gifts at J. Gardella's in downtown Grand Rapids. After they opened up our space to all the patrons (45 minutes earlier than they were supposed to) we walked down to another popular bar McFadden's. After telling them about our experience at the last place, they gave us the VIP section and a bottle of champagne FREE! We ended up hanging out until 1 a.m., and  the bride-to-be had an awesome time.

From there we went home, and 6 of the guests stayed at my place. Mr. S, once again, was on as host and made all the beds, made us frozen pizzas, and played "DJ" as we all wound down and passed out. The next morning, he even made breakfast for everyone!

Now that I've successfully planned and hosted my first bachelorette party, I thought I'd give a few tips on what worked, and what didn't. Some of these really could go for any type of party you host:

• DO let others help! Fellow bridesmaids and other guests will offer to help with anything you need. Take them up on it. You have enough to do.
• DO keep it simple! There are so many fun games, themes and gift ideas out there, but you don't need to do them all. Especially if you are planning to do a lot yourself, for example: making the food instead of buying it the store. Pick a couple simple dishes, a couple signature drinks, and a dessert. Going all out sounds like a great party, but trust me, know one will care if you don't have 50 options of everything.
• DO have a few frozen pizzas in the freezer if you are having anyone stay over. A bunch of girls coming down from a buzz can only think of one thing, and that's greasy food. Trust me, you won't be sorry.
• DON'T let people sleep on an air mattress unless you KNOW for a fact that it won't deflate. I had 2 people (the bride-to-be and her 4-months pregnant friend) sleeping on an air mattress, and by morning they were pretty much sleeping on the hardwood floor. Not a good thing...
• DO plan ahead and have transportation figured out before the party. I live and work downtown, so I coordinated a few of us who aren't big drinkers to drive and drop other people off at the bar, then park at my work (which is only a few blocks away). Then we were able to quickly walk the gifts, supplies, and decorations back to our cars while the rest of the guests walked to another bar. Also DO put everything in the trunk, not in the backseat. You are just asking some homeless guy to break your window and take it all.
• DO have a plan for breakfast the next morning. Again, this is if you have people stay over at your house. We asked everyone to bring some type of breakfast goodie. Mr. S made us scrambled eggs, toast and smoky links. Hungover girls will want breakfast, I guarantee it.
• DON'T expect everything to go exactly as planned. Nothing ever does. You have to be "fluid", otherwise everyone will sense your mood. Go with the flow and just focus on everyone having fun.
•  DON'T get trashed. I know it's a bachelorette party. And you are probably the maid of honor if you are hosting and planning it. But your main goal is to keep the bride happy and off the floor. I had a couple glasses of wine at the house, but had water the rest of the night. This may sound boring to you (and I'm not a big drinker anyway), but I was glad I did because I needed my head on straight to make sure things didn't ever get out of hand. I still danced, laughed, and had an awesome time.
• DO pick one fun game for everyone to participate in. But just one. You won't have time for more if you are planning on going out for the night as well. We played the "Panty Game" in which each guest brings a pair of panties in their own style that they would wear. We pinned them on a clothesline. The bride then had to guess who brought each one. We went through 5 rounds and she finally got them all right. Everyone had fun with it, and it got all the guests laughing and throwing panties at each other. Success.
• DO clean up as the night goes on. I know the last thing you want to do is step away from the party for a few minutes, but I did it every so often just to dump things out and throw things away after they were used. This made cleanup the next day so much easier. Also, DON'T let anyone dump anything in your sink. Mr. S had to unclog the drain because someone put some sort of paper in the sink that didn't have the disposal. No biggie, but a pain in the butt that could have been prevented if I had put the trash out in the main area so it was more visible.

That's all I can think of at this point. Hopefully these tips can help you plan the perfect KICK-A$$ party for any event! And remember to have fun! This was probably the only bachelorette party I will ever host, and I'm sure it will be memorable to everyone who was there. It sure will be to me :)

Happy planning!
Miss Spaghetti