The Engagement Party

A great way to announce the upcoming nuptials is with an engagement party. Traditionally, the parents of the bride hold this event a month or so after the couple announces their engagement. However, there are no set rules and they can be held at home, at a restaurant, or anywhere the host prefers. Engagement parties for the most part are intimate affairs of a casual nature. Their purpose is to give bride and groom an opportunity to meet each other’s family members and close friends. If the couple’s parents live far apart, it’s not uncommon for the groom’s family to hold a second engagement party. Typically gifts are not given. Invitations can be hand-written or even verbal. If you need to plan for food, include an RSVP.

The Bachelor/Bachelorette Party

The stereotypical bachelor party consisting of a wild night of drinking and strippers is giving way to more coordinated events. Although still quite popular, these parties are being replaced by guys getting together to watch a major sporting event either live or on TV, or to spend a week-end together skiing or fishing, or even by holding a poker tournament. Traditionally held the night before the wedding, this too is changing and these parties are being coordinated earlier, for reasons that don’t need to be explained. For a long time, the wedding shower was the ‘bride’s party.’ Bachelorette parties are a relative newcomer to the wedding scene and they, too are coordinated by the bridal party. Make no mistake; these parties can be just as wild as the bachelor parties. But they can also involve a simple, relaxing day at the spa.

The Wedding Shower

Wedding showers are great social events designed to give the soon-to-be couple the things they’ll need when they move into their new home together. It’s also a way to add to a bride’s trousseau. Many of today’s wedding showers are themed, and can be anything from a recipe shower to a camping shower in which the gifts would include things the couple could use on their camping adventures. Wedding showers should be held a few weeks before the wedding date and only those guests who have been invited to the wedding should be invited to the shower. Some women are lucky and end up having more than one wedding shower.

Rehearsal Dinner

This is a time to relax and get ready for the big day that lies ahead. Rehearsal dinners are generally for the bridal party only and they’re held immediately after the wedding rehearsal. They’re held early so all can rest up and they’re usually held at the home of the bride or groom’s parent or at a restaurant.

Related posts:

1. Bachelorette Party Ideas
2. Bachelor Party Ideas
3. How to Plan a Bridal Shower for a Second Marriage

Nightclub hopping is one of the most popular bachelorette party ideas.  These parties often start out with a dinner at an elegant restaurant followed by stops for drinks and dancing at some of the most popular nightclubs in town.  A good way to do this is to hire a limousine for the evening to drive all of the girls from destination to destination.  A limousine is a great idea for a number of reasons.  First it provides the opportunity for all the girls in the party to travel together for the evening plus it is also an elegant way to travel so it adds a sense of regality to the evening.  While all of those reasons are worthwhile perhaps the most important reason to hire a car for the night is to ensure that everyone arrives safely at their destination.  The girls in the bachelorette party will often create a veil for the bride to wear on the night of her bachelorette party.  The appearance of the veil doesn’t matter as long as long as it is obtrusive and calls a great deal of attention to the bride.   It’s also typical for this type of party to send the bride on a scavenger hunt on the night of her bachelorette party.  The other girls will usually get together ahead of time and create a list of activities for the bride to accomplish or objects to obtain.  This type of bachelorette party is a great way for the bride to enjoy a night of dinner, dancing and drinks with her friends.

Spa retreats are another popular bachelorette party idea.  For this party idea the bride to be and her friends get together at a spa where they can enjoy relaxing massages, facials, manicures, pedicures and other treatments while also making use of steam rooms, saunas and hot tubs.  In addition to all of the treatments available most spas also provide wonderful meals chosen from a menu of low fat dishes.  This type of bachelorette party offers the bride the chance to relax and connect with her friends while forgetting about all the stress involved with planning a wedding.  Many brides get too caught up in the minute details that they forget to enjoy the process of planning but a spa retreat bachelorette party is the perfect remedy for this situation. 

Still another popular bachelorette party idea that is a little more risqué is a night of exotic dancing lessons.  These types of parties are becoming increasingly popular especially as classes such as pole dance classes are beginning to spring up in popular health clubs.  For these parties the girls usually gather either at a private home or a dance studio and a professional dancer comes in to teach the girls about the art of seduction through exotic dance.  This can be a fun way for the girls to let loose and have fun and may inspire the bride to be to try out a few new moves on her wedding night. 

Another unique bachelorette party idea is for the maid of honor to host a movie night.  The host could make sure to rent plenty of movies that the girls will enjoy and stock up on movie theater style goodies or create her own menu of hors devours.  After the bride is married she will most likely make a lot of compromises in movie choices but her bachelorette party movie night could be her last chance to sit around with her friends watching tear-jerker or romantic movies.  This type of bachelorette party is just a fun way for the girl to get together to talk and have a good time together. 

The bachelorette party is a relatively new phenomenon but the idea is picking up steam and bachelorette parties are becoming more prevalent.   The bachelorette party does not have the same connotations as a bachelor party.  They are generally not seen as last nights of freedom but rather a night to bond with the girls. 

 

Related posts:

1. Bachelor Party Ideas
2. The Pre-Wedding Parties
3. Timetable for a Bridal Shower: When to Plan and What Time to Party?