Planning A Wedding For Dummies. Sarah Lizabeth Barker
Bachelorette bash
The bachelorette party is all about celebrating the bride with her bridesmaids and possibly close friends and family. I’m certain you have heard it’s the bride’s “last weekend of freedom.” Although some do still see it this way, the bachelorette party is a special weekend spent with your closest friends to celebrate your upcoming marriage.
The party or weekend is typically planned by your maid/matron of honor or bridesmaids. However, if they are not available to help in the planning, plan your own! Figure out something that you love to do. This party is all about you and what you love. If you love the spa, plan a spa getaway. If you love to hike, go to the mountains and trails.
The season may determine when you plan your bachelorette party, but it’s best to plan the event one to two months prior to your wedding day. If bridesmaids are traveling to your wedding, space the timing a little further out to give financial space between the cost of the bachelorette party and the wedding.
Speaking of cost, who pays for the bachelorette party? Traditionally, each bridesmaid will pay for their own expenses. Then you’ll find a price per person and the bridesmaids will split your cost. If the price per person is $200.00 and you have five bridesmaids, each bridesmaid will pay an additional $40.00 over their own cost to cover your costs. This is very generous but by no means expected.
Bachelorette trips are always packed full of custom items such as T-shirts, mugs, robes, and tumblers. This is the perfect time to embrace all the bride-to-be swag. A weekend away can be filled with fun activities touring the location. Make sure to book those excursions before your trip since you’ll typically have a higher number of people.
When you are planning the perfect get-a-way location, consider the financial expense that your bridal party will endure to be able to attend your weekend away. Remember that they will be taking on most of the financial responsibility. Make sure they are financially comfortable with taking on that expense when you consider the perfect trip.
Bachelor party
The bachelor party is all about celebrating the groom with his groomsmen and possibly close friends and family. Again, this is often referred to as the last “free” weekend prior to getting married. I am personally grateful that in recent years bachelor trips have evolved into more of a male bonding trip than the groom’s last chance to go crazy on the town. After all, you are engaged. One of the best man’s jobs is to make sure the groom doesn’t get too crazy on the bachelor trip.
Like the bachelorette party, the best man or group of groomsmen typically plan the getaway, but it’s fine if the groom wants to plan his own weekend away. It’s also nice to make sure that the groom’s trip costs are covered by the groomsmen. If the price per person is $200 and you have five groomsmen, then each groomsman will pay an additional $40 to cover the cost for the groom.
The groom should pick activities that he enjoys, such as a golf weekend, time on the lake, or a fishing trip. This is meant to be a weekend away spent with your groomsmen to get a little guy time. Plan activities that everyone can participate in and enjoy the company of your friends. Be thoughtful of minors if you do want to bar crawl.
Regarding timing, the bachelor party should take place one to two months prior to the wedding. There is no need to send formal invitations. Create the guest list and make sure to share that with your best man if he is planning the bachelor party. It’s common to invite friends who aren’t in the wedding. Reach out to your friends and get a sense of how many people will attend the bachelor party so that you can plan appropriately.
I would suggest renting a home share or resourcing a family or friend’s lake or beach house. If you do rent a home share, be sure that the host allows their space to be rented to a bachelor trip group. That has caused problems in the past for clients who didn’t disclose this when they booked and arrived to find that the host would not allow them to stay there.
The bachelor trip is a wonderful time for the groom to spend a little time away with his guy friends. Remember to have fun and enjoy your weekend but respect your bride-to-be. Although this may be referred to as your last night of freedom, when you put that ring on her finger, you already committed to be faithful to her. Whatever decisions you make, have fun!
Couple’s shower
A couple’s shower is a party where both people who are getting married attend. This is a wonderful way to bring people together on both sides to celebrate your marriage. The guest list is co-ed and more inclusive than just one of you hosting a shower. It also takes the pressure off one or the other because you attend the party together and the attention is on the happy couple.
This shower is often planned by the bridal party, parents, or close friends, but a couple can opt to plan their own. A couple’s shower can be a dinner party like the engagement party, or it could be held in a brunch setting. You may also consider a group activity. The great news is that there are lots of options and everything is fair game!
A couple’s shower should occur one to two months prior to your wedding. The host can be a person in your bridal party, parents, or a close family friend. The guest list is limitless regarding who you can invite, but the location of your shower might determine who can attend. If a relative or family friend is hosting your shower, consider a backyard BBQ. You can also rent an intimate event space or a location that offers a group activity, such as duckpin bowling; golf is also a favorite option.
Paper invitations are appropriate for your couple’s shower and should incorporate each of you. The invitation should include the title of the event, your names, date, time, location, RSVP information, and your registry. The RSVP date should be two weeks before the event and your host should collect the responses via phone or email.
Games are a shower tradition, and at a couple’s shower they can be themed to incorporate both of you, such as having your guests fill out a premade card that includes a list of items: Who is better at cooking? Who is better with their money? Who sleeps in? Your guest will answer each question and you’ll share the correct answer. Whoever gets the most answers correct wins a prize. This game always keeps the guests laughing as they wonder which one of you hits the snooze button fifteen times and which one wakes up as soon as you hear the alarm.
Bridal shower
A bridal shower is a party that honors the bride-to-be.