Organize like a Boss: Bachelor Party Edition!

Okay, you have the idea about what the groom wants to do for his bachelor party…but now what? If you’re anything like most groomsmen, the planning process can get a little hazy and blurry, induce excessive perspiration, and may even cause you to faint. That’s completely okay, because that’s what we’re for and here are some step-by-step instructions on how to execute your mission are listed below.

Confirm where and when with the groom. After the groom decides what he wants to do, figure out where you’ll be going and where you’re going to stay. If this is a one day activity, then obviously there’s no need for lodging decisions. Otherwise, figure out if you’re staying at a hotel, cabin, lake house, treehouse, yurt, cottage, etc. then specifically choose which hotel, cabin, lake house, treehouse, yurt, cottage, etc. it will be.

Approximate general expense. After you have the lodging nailed down, calculate the average cost it will be for everyone to stay there. Have a general sense of what everyone can afford and what everyone will want to pay. The bachelor should be covered in his costs for this, so divide his dollar amount across the groomsmen as well. Also, include any extra-excursion costs into the general total per each attendee. They’ll appreciate the heads up of what’s to come.

Pick a date. Unless you’re looking to plan this party on a super busy weekend in hopes of spicing up your trip with a bunch of tourists and/or children, try to book around major holidays and national events. Also, consider who out of the attendees has children and will need notice of the date as soon as possible to make sure their family life is in order before they retreat to the wilderness with no cell service for roughly 48-72 hours. DO NOT plan the party the night before the wedding!

Alert the troops. Send an email or round everyone up via conch shell horn and include the details of the party and/or trip. When translated into the male dialect, it should go somewhat like this;

TITLE (i.e. Brad’s Bachelor Party)

We’re doing (chosen activity), so bring (items necessary for chosen activity). We’re going on (date of departure) and coming back (date of return). Bring $(trip/activity expense estimation). 

Then maybe include something about getting your affairs in order before the trip, any flight details if you’ll be going somewhere exotic like Lake Tahoe, then finish it off with a nice photo of Brad (or whoever the groom is) last Halloween performing a full whip & nae nae in his Stormtrooper costume.  

Once you have everything in order, you’ll feel less panicked about logistics, and therefore, fully able to freely take part in all the hilarity and manly bonding that will ensue during the bachelor party. Just make sure to keep tabs on the groom (he will be needed shortly thereafter for the wedding ceremony and marriage to follow) and you’ll be golden. 

Party Like a Bachelor!

Throwing an awesome bachelor party comes like second nature to some groomsmen, but others struggle with ideas and how to execute them.  It can be a lot of pressure to make this the best party the groom has ever been too. The most important thing you need to take into consideration when deciding on the bachelor party plans is to think about what the bachelor wants to do. Every groom wants something different, so here are a few different ideas outside the norm of Vegas that we’ve come up with for a great party that won’t get any of the groomsmen in too much trouble, let alone on the groom.

Rent a lake house. Lake houses are probably the best choice for many reasons; they are inexpensive after splitting the cost between everyone, you can do water sports like ski or inner tube and you can literally do nothing at any time of the day. You can float around in the water with a beer or two, play ping pong on the cool patio by the water (assuming you have the options to rent a house with one of those—in which case you absolutely should) and BBQ every night if you want. You can go into town a couple of times, or you don’t have to go anywhere at all. There are also fun activities in most small lake towns, like parasailing or mini-golf, or regular golf if your groom is more into that sort of thing. You can also rent jet skis if you’re feeling the need for more sporty activities. This route is the most relaxing, easy, and cheap party to throw.

Camping. Usually I wouldn’t recommend camping to a bunch of guys looking to go party with their friend who’s about to sign a legally binding contract for life with their partner; this is like a trigger for men to do something crazy, as in some pre-marriage celebratory act of sanction. That being said; camping can be dangerous for this reason alone because it’s usually at least 90 miles from the nearest hospital and severely lacks cell phone service. BUT camping is also really fun because most men like being outside, eating with their hands, and shooting things with BB guns. If this sounds like your groom, then this is the trip for him. Instead of going straight tent camping though, it might be safer to stay in a cabin—running water can help with any sort of wound cleaning needed after someone pokes someone else in the eye with a stick during a fake sword fight.

Sports. Sports, yay! If your groom likes to be involved in physical activity instead of just hanging out (or maybe a mix of both, in which case you can go out to a fun bar after one of these excursions), you should organize one of the following activities: paintballing, baseball game, basketball game, golfing, snowboarding/skiing, Nerf ball fighting or really any other sport that he likes to do and the rest of the gang will be into. You can just throw one of these games in if you opt for one of the above activities also. Then, you all can chill and go to a cool bar or club after.  Or you can all go to a professional ball game of your choosing then go out after that. The possibilities are endless!

If you want to break away from the ordinary Vegas bachelor party and do something different than your groom will actually enjoy, with the least possibility for derailment or post-party groom/groomsmen shame, we hope you choose one of the ideas we’ve listed here. 

Next Tuesday we’ll go over how to make your bachelor party vision come to life, so stay tuned! 

COVID-19, just go away already, I'm ready for wedding season!

It’s been exactly one month since we coordinated our first wedding of the 2020 season and this Saturday would have marked our second, but sadly COVID-19 decided it had other plans. Now instead of planning weddings we are postponing them.

When the global pandemic first hit Washington State and hard, it happened right around the last few days of planning Christina + Shane’s wedding. News was happening rapidly and everything was constantly changing almost hour by hour. We had to have some really tough and emotional conversations. With only days from their wedding, our couple decided to move forward with their wedding, cutting down their guest count from 171 to 39 and that was no small feat, but luckily all of their friends and family members totally understood. We even set-up a live-stream of their wedding and reception for their family and friends to watch from all over the world.

Truth be told, I wear my heart on my sleeve and in this profession it can be a good thing. Yes, I get teary at a couple’s first look, but who wouldn’t. I get choked up when couples recite their vows and during a great toast. So on this wedding day, there were a lot of tears. Happy tears to see this beautiful bride walk down the aisle to the man of her dreams to the immediate feeling knowing that we did it and it was a true sense of relief. In all honesty, I truly felt this wedding wasn’t going to happen. With 3 days left to go, I held my breathe as the Governor held a press conference. By the end, the wedding would happen and that was the best phone call with Christina.

This has been the hardest time of my nearly 15-year wedding planning career. I have been tested over and over but I won’t let COVID take me or my company down. I have taken the stance not to dwell on the negative, but to focus on the positive and know that love will conquer all. It breaks my heart when I have serious and tough conversations with our couples and the future of their wedding. I have to really say all of my couples have been rock stars and so great to work with during this very difficult time.

What we just keep preaching to our couples is that they will still have the wedding they have been dreaming and planning and that just the date will change. I truly believe that has helped our couples in moving forward with new plans.

I have to be really grateful for technology and that we are still able to plan and design up plans, layouts and amazing designs with both our couples and our vendors.

Speaking of vendors, I really have to thank all of the amazing vendors with whom have just been incredible, whether it been a shoulder to lean on, ask advice, and just be incredible when it comes to working and accommodating our couples.

But not all hope is lost. As for Washington state, we are starting to see a glimmer of hope and the light at the end of the tunnel signaling that wedding season will be back and we will be ready when given the call.