After months of planning, my sister’s bachelorette weekend was a success and I’m so excited to share all the details! As her maid of honor, I wanted to make sure this weekend was stress free, filled with thoughtful details and of course, FUN! I shared all of our bachelorette party outfits last week and today, I am breaking down step by step on how to plan a bachelorette weekend and all the tips and tricks I’ve learned through the years as a planner and guest!
HOW TO PLAN A BACHELORETTE WEEKEND
SET THE GUEST LIST
First step on how to plan your bachelorette weekend is how many guests! The number of people attending will definitely determine the next big steps in planning from location to activities to cost. Whether you choose to keep it small with just the bridal party or go larger with other friends and family, make sure to focus on the people who will bring good energy and of course, be excited to celebrate the bride!
CHOOSE THE BACHELORETTE PARTY LOCATION
Once you determine guest count, next step is picking where to go! For my sister’s bachelorette party weekend, her friend Cate’s family graciously let us stay at their vacation home on Kiawah Island, South Carolina. Located about a hour from Charleston, this was a great destination location as the guests were coming from mainly the Midwest and East Coast.
When choosing a location it’s important to find a place that is equal flying or driving distance for most of the guests. Other important factors? Weather during that time of year, distance to grocery stores and restaurants, types of house rentals, etc.
PICK A BACHELORETTE PARTY THEME
One of the hardest things of planning for me was narrowing down a theme! We went through a few classic themes but when I saw someone on TikTok share “Aperitivo Before The Altar” as an idea, I knew that would be the perfect theme to expand on! My sister is going to Italy for her honeymoon so thought it was a great tie-in.
Some key elements that brought the theme to life? An Aperol Spritz and Negroni cocktail bar, an Italian dinner at the house, custom branding and all of us girls colorfully dressed for our night out!
CREATE A DETAILED ITINERARY
To get everyone excited, I sent out a detailed itinerary about three months before that broke down every detail they needed to know for the weekend. I used this Etsy template and then personalized on Canva with my own images and colors. Some highlights in the itinerary included a mood board, outfit ideas for each activity and even a link to playlists to add songs to before the weekend! I also shared a Google Doc for everyone to add their addresses, flight info, sizes, Venmo handles and any allergies so I had that all in one place.
BACHELORETTE WEEKEND ACTIVITIES
When planning your weekend activities, I think it’s important to make sure not to overwhelm the schedule. There were a few key activities that were set and then everything else was flexible. This allowed to leave room to shift things if needed and most importantly, spend quality time together. Here were the key activities I planned for our group that would be great at any destination bachelorette party!
Pajama Party and Movie Night
For the first night, guests were arriving at different times throughout the evening so we kept things casual and more about catching up with everyone. I gifted everyone matching pajamas so we could have an old school sleepover with an adult twist. There was a make your own cocktail bar that included all the ingredients to make your own Aperol Spritzes with Santa Margherita Prosecco, Negronis with Gray Whale Gin and of course Espresso Martinis. For food, I created a giant charcuterie board for everyone to graze on and then ordered pizza from La Tela Pizzeria.
The rest of the night we just hung out, opened the goodie bags and played some rom com movie trivia. A chill and classic girls night to kick off the weekend!
Private Yoga Class
The next morning, I hired a private yoga instructor from The Sanctuary to teach a beach yoga class. It was such a relaxing way to start the day before spending the rest of the day at the house.
Dinner and Night Out in Charleston
For our big night out, I hired a party bus to drive us over to Charleston. One of our favorite parts of the night, also helped alleviate stress on how to get home later in the evening. Once in Charleston, I hired a local photographer Emma Hill to snap some group photos. I highly recommend doing this so you don’t have to worry about group photos the rest of the weekend. Loved seeing everyone’s Spritz-inspired looks come together!
After our photos, we had an amazing dinner at Basic Kitchen (one of my Charleston favorites!). They were great about putting together a prix-fixe group dinner together for all of us. The restaurant is also in an easy location to going out so we could easily walk to the bars. We ended up at Henry’s On The Market which was so fun with the rooftop and live music.
Recovery Morning
After a late night out, I set up a recovery station for everyone to refuel with. Lancome face masks, Advil, LiquidIV, collagen eye masks and of course, breakfast sandwiches. A fun way to recap the night and ease into the day!
Pool Day and Games
The rest of our day was spent enjoying the pool and sun and floating around! We played some favorite day drinking games like flip cup and highly recommend for some competition and laughs.
Private Chef Dinner At Home
For our final night, I hired a private chef to come to the house and cook us an Italian dinner. The team at Rosemary & Rye did such an amazing job and was my favorite night of the weekend. Along with the amazing meal, I wanted to make sure to make it feel extra special. I rented tables, chairs and glassware and then added personal details to bring a true coastal Italian night to life! Some of those details included painting candlesticks with lemons and oranges, menus and place cards and lots of candles and florals to fill the table.
Lingerie Gifts and Question Game With Groom
Our last activity of the weekend was a lingerie shower where we each gifted her a piece or two for her honeymoon. We made her guess who gave it to her and after a few cocktails, had lots of laughs during this. We also video interviewed Kyle, my sister’s fiancé, before the weekend and had her guess the answers too which was hilarious.
GOODIE BAGS AND PERSONALIZED DETAILS
I think the easiest way to make any event feel special to create custom and personalized details. When planning, I was focused on these little details for the bachelorette weekend and I was so thrilled how everything came out! I also wanted to gift everyone things that they would use again and didn’t scream bridal or bachelorette party.
Monogrammed Totes
For the goodie bags, I worked with Sprinkled With Pink who sent over the cutest monogrammed jute tote bags for everyone. We also did these monogrammed pool bags that were great for packing at the end of the weekend.
Custom Sweatshirts
One of my favorite details was the custom sweatshirts I made with Heck Studios. She has sweatshirts you can buy already designed or you can do full custom logos as well. I did the package where we modified a design she already made and then did the printing as well through her.
Custom Matchbooks and Cups
One of the easiest ways to add personal details is through ordering personalized cups and matchbooks! I made the logo free on Canva and then used For Your Party to customize and order. The frosted cups too are great for reusing all weekend and then can take home after the event too!
Custom Signage
Like the itinerary I used, one of the easiest ways to bring professional personal details to an event is buying Etsy templates. I bought this one that I customized to create cocktail bar signs, menus for our dinner and then also place cards as well. I printed everything at Staples on white card stock and then packed it all in my suitcase!
“Aperitivo Before The Altar” Decor Details
Other details that brought the theme to life?
Custom Cookies from Libby & Lou Cookie Co.
Striped Straws and Orange Straws
Mylar Bags With Hangover Necessities
Shop more details from my Amazon Shop
SHOP THE DETAILS AND GUIDE TO PLANNING
Linking everything below I can to make shopping and planning easy! Hopefully you found this guide to planning a bachelorette weekend helpful for your next destination weekend!
