How to Plan a Bachelorette Party & A Sample Bachelorette Weekend Itinerary
/Lately we have been seeing some incredible bachelorette parties on Instagram, but they seem somewhat unattainable. Guess what?! With the right planning and organization, you can have one of those bachelorette parties too - on any budget. Just follow my simple planning process and you will have an unforgettable bachelorette party weekend too!
I have been a Maid of Honor TWICE so I’ve attended and planned multiple bachelorette parties. I also regularly plan girls’ getaway trips. So, I have gotten really good at creating these incredible weekends. And I am going to share my entire system with you!
First things first, you will want to download my Complete Maid of Honor Manual & Workbook so that you have all of the worksheets that I will discuss below.
Grab a personalized MOH Binder along with your Workbook and get 10% off your entire order! Pick your fav and use code BESTMOHEVER at checkout!
Ok, let’s talk about the planning process!
Step 1: Get VERY clear on what the bride wants
This is a vital step that is skipped over by most MOHs - you might think you know what the bride wants. Or you have a clear idea of what you would want if you were her. Both of these are recipes for disaster. This weekend is NOT about you, or any of the other bridesmaids. If you want to plan another girl’s trip separate from this where you all have input, then do that. But this trip is 100% about what the bride wants. The first part of the “Bachelorette Party Vision, Vibe and Plans” Worksheet walks you through each of the questions that you need to ask the bride to get the details that you need to plan her perfect weekend.
Step 2: Pick the date & location
This part requires you to be very organized if you are going to get this done in a timely, drama-free manner. First you will propose the 3 possible dates that the bride gave you when you completed the first part Vision & Vibe worksheet to the rest of the bridesmaids. I recommend giving them a due date on when they need to respond by so you aren’t waiting around for their answers. Once you have everyone’s responses, you will fill them in on the table in the worksheet so you can tell the bride which weekend works best for most of the girls. You and the bride can then choose the official bachelorette party weekend date!
Once you have the date nailed down, it’s time to choose a location. The bride may already have a place in mind that she wants to go. If not, use the vibe that she requested to propose 3 possible bach party locations. You may want to include an idea of what the main activity would be for each place - for example “Spa Weekend in Palm Springs” or “Wine Tasting in Napa”, etc. If none of the first locations are speaking to her, propose 3 more. Do this until she finds the place that feels perfect!
Step 3: Pick the per person budget & the house
Once you have the location and dates nailed down, we can figure out your per person budget and the official bachelorette party pad! Once again, you will really want to use my worksheets in the Complete Maid of Honor Manual & Workbook to organize all of this so it isn’t just a flurry of texts and numbers. I have it laid out neatly in there so you can easily make these decisions. First you are going to INDIVIDUALLY text each girl to find out if the budget the bride proposed in the first part of the worksheet works for them or if they need it to be lower, or they are willing to spend a bit more. Once you have everyone’s budgets, you can work with the bride to come up with the official budget.
Once you have the budget, you can use my worksheet to help you come up with your nightly min and max budget for an Airbnb. Once you have that, I recommend finding 3 options within budget and proposing them to the bride. Repeat this process until you find the PERFECT bachelorette party pad! Have everyone Venmo you for the place first (so no one can back out after you’ve already paid) and book it!
Step 4: Create perfect itinerary for the weekend
Now it’s time to make a very specific plan for the weekend, including outfits, meals and activities. I have a sample itinerary for you in the workbook - you can use this as your guide to creating the perfect itinerary.
Be sure to make reservations for EVERYTHING before declaring your bachelorette party weekend itinerary final.
The weekend will fly by SO fast, the last thing you want to be doing is waiting around to be able to get into a restaurant or activity. The more organized you can be here, the better.
Step 5: Plan out meals, snacks, drinks and décor
Once you have created the perfect itinerary, you will know which meals need to be prepared at the house so you will want to assign a few girls to plan them out and make them. (See my sample itinerary in the workbook). Let them know a due date for when they need to get their grocery list to you so that you can fill in your meal planning worksheet and be ready to place your Instacart order before you arrive for the weekend. (You do NOT want to spend precious time wandering around a grocery store for hours.) You will also want to fill in a few snack and drink ideas so you are ready to go for the weekend. I like to complete the grocery order, then you can Venmo request everyone and split the bill!
As for décor, this will take some planning too! I recommend going for things that will fit in your suitcase - balloons, banners, etc. I have a worksheet to help you organize all of the décor so you don’t forget anything and you have it all planned out and ready to go!
Step 6: Have the best weekend ever with your besties!
For more bachelorette party planning tips & more detail on each of these steps, watch my video here:
Be sure you grab that Maid of Honor Manual & Workbook, if you haven’t already! It is seriously a lifesaver when it comes to planning out the bachelorette party. There are so many little details to keep track of, it just makes MOH life so much easier!
Also, if you haven’t already, be sure to check out my Maid of Honor Workshop Part 1 where I walk you through all of the duties, responsibilities and checklists so you can really take on your maid of honor role like a boss. It will make this process so much more enjoyable for both you and the bride!
I hope this is helpful! Please send it over to anyone else you might need it!
xo, Kyle