Beyond a Girls' Night Out
By Erinn Bucklan for ColinCowieWeddings.com
Five genius bachelorette party ideas that skip the bars but still raise the bar-in a good way.
Male strippers and pub crawls can give bachelorette parties a bad name. If you're not the kind of girl who goes for those sorts of things, it may have been tempting to tell your BFFs to call it off entirely--until now.
Etiquette FYI: any friend can plan and attend this party. Unlike the bridal shower, a bachelorette party isn't restricted to those invited to your wedding. But to keep it manageable, it is best to keep this party to 10-20 max.
Here are five alternatives to stuffing bills down a beefcake's briefs or pounding shots decked in a veil.
SURF'S UP
Are your girls game for a weekend jaunt? (It's a great option when you're bringing a group together from different parts of the country.) Why not entice them to jump on planes and meet at an all-female surf camp?
Quite a few venues (we're talking about Chica Brava in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua; Surf Sister in British Columbia; Northwest Women's Surf Camps in Oregon; Surf Diva in La Jolla, CA and Swell Women in Maui, Hawaii) offer weekend-long surf lesson packages that also include accommodations, meals and other activities. Before taking the plunge, what's better for girl-bonding than riding the waves together?
OHM YES
Or keep your luggage at home and arrange a mini-wellness event that includes the requisite private yoga session at your abode. Karen Lindenberg, who practices "deep, honest, vinyasa" at her Seattle-based Phyzz Yoga studio, specializes in teaching wedding-related parties with different degrees of experience.
"It is the utmost importance to have a teacher who is easily able to adapt instruction to suit students' different ability levels." She bills about $150 an hour--and will bring everything from mats to music to your home.
Another etiquette tip: the bride shouldn't have to contribute to paying for the activities at her bachelorette party. It is okay for the hostess to ask the other guests to pitch in for the cost of the affair. Surprise the guests with monogrammed yoga mats, such as these from My Custom Yoga Mat, as party favors to thank them for their contribution.
SLEEPOVER PARTY!
You're never too old for a good, old-fashioned sleep-over party. So gather the ladies and stay at a hotel that feels like the most luxurious home-away-from-home: one with an in-house restaurant, gym, spa, the works.
Take the Wauwinet Inn in Nantucket, Mass, for example, with its mere 32 rooms. You and the girls can book spa appointments at their Spa By The Sea, then grab cocktails and dinner at its restaurant, Topper's. A girls'-night-in has never been so satisfying.
WHAT'S COOKIN'
All this girl power in one room can certainly make one more than a bit peckish. So consider a night that revolves around a catered meal--cooked by a personal chef at your home. Integrating the dinner's prep into your night's activities can be a real blast--minus the drag of dirtying any well-manicured hands!
Celebrity chef Devin Alexander, author of a steady stream of calorie-cutting cookbooks (like I Can't Believe It's Not Fattening) advises getting referrals to insure you get a qualified culinary master. Or think about giving the pro some direction: "See if they can make some of your fave recipes," suggests Alexander, host of FitTV's Healthy Decadence and chef on NBC's The Biggest Loser.
SAY, SPA-AAAH
Who can say no to hours of pampering? Why not organize a spa party at a day spa that can accommodate large groups or even hire a couple of masseuses and few manicurists to come to a private residence.
Pick your favorite local haunt and ask the manager if they do house calls or log onto online directories like PuurSpa for listings in your area.
These alternatives to a strip-tease just may be harder to resist.
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