Planning a Bachelorette Party

When planning a bachelorette party, there are many things to keep in mind such as budget, location, and of course, the bride’s wishes. Read on to see how to plan the perfect bachelorette for your bestie!

Step 1: Determine Main Logistics of the Bachelorette Party

In the beginning stages of planning a bachelorette party, ask the bride for a guest list, location options, and dates that work for them.

Once you have that information, create a survey (through platforms like Google Forms or Survey Monkey) to collect information from the people on the guest list. You’ll want to know what their budgets are so that you can plan a finance-friendly party, what dates they are available, and where they are willing to go.

It is important to remember that you may not be able to make the bachelorette party work for everyone and that is ok! Pick the date that works for most people, then balance the location for the party with the budget that works for people. Propose the date, budget, and location to the bride and all guests to solidify these main details.

Step 2: Build Out the Bachelorette Party Theme

Some brides like to suggest themes based on their favorite things, and others like to be surprised! Ask your bride their preference – if they give you a theme, go with that; if not, brainstorm the bride’s favorite shows, activities, or other things they like. If you need suggestions, check out this post, or explore the “Bachelorette Party” tag on this site for more ideas.

Once you’ve decided on a theme, it’s time to look up decorations that fits into that theme. Generally speaking, you should buy decorations to hang on the wall or put around the place you’re staying; these make for cute photo ops!

Financially, you can either send each guest something to purchase for the party, or you can order it yourself and split the cost amongst the guests. Splitting the cost is logistically easier, but may not be feasible for you. This is completely up to personal preference!

The last piece of the puzzle is to figure out what the gifts are for the bride and guests. Typically these include a t-shirt (or tank top/sweatshirt depending on climate) for the bride and guests to wear, and some other cute, small items to use during the weekend (i.e., a water bottle, sunglasses, snack).

Step 3: Putting the Bachelorette Party all Together

The last big piece is putting together the itinerary for the trip. (Note: You will need everyone’s travel plans before creating the itinerary). This is highly dependent on people’s travel plans and how long the trip is, but assuming everyone is coming in Friday morning and leaving Sunday evening, here is typically what you should plan:

Friday

Casual activity (i.e. game night, movie) for the evening at the house/hotel since people likely do not want to go out after traveling.

Saturday

Activity out of the house for the morning (i.e. beach, exploring a city), another casual activity in the afternoon to relax from the morning (i.e. party games or wine and charcuterie), and going out for a nice dinner and partying at night.

Sunday

No real activities other than breakfast, packing, cleaning the vacation rental (if staying at one), and heading home.

Once the itinerary is done, share it out with the guests (and the bride if she wants to see it) and let them know what to pack.

Step 4: Enjoy!

Leading up to the party, make sure you have everything packed, confirm details with everyone, and get ready to have a great weekend! On the day of the party, head to the house/hotel early with some guests to decorate before the bride gets there, or send her out to grocery shop for the house – either way she gets to be surprised by the set up.

During the weekend, lead the bride and guests through the itinerary by telling them what to wear and what the next activity is, but also be prepared to be flexible. It rains on Saturday so you can’t go to the beach? Find an indoor activity nearby like shopping or an arcade. The bride is too tired to go out Saturday night? Grab ice cream, change into PJs, and watch a movie.

I hope this guide helped you with preparing for a perfect and fun bachelorette party! Just remember to have fun, stay within peoples’ means, and celebrate the bride to be.