BACHELORETTE PARTY Wednesday!

Helloooo all! Today we are talking Bachelorette parties on the blog! In my opinion, one of the most exciting things that lead up to the actual wedding. Just a time to relax with the people you love the most. After talking to Kristin, we decided we would talk about my bachelorette party today, as Kristin's hasn't happened yet. I'll give you a hint about hers though ... there will be TWO! She can give you the details when they get here (and they're coming QUICK!)

So for mine! It all started one night when I was on iChat with Jayne and Lindey (you remember them, my MOH's!) They had planned a presentation for me and made slides for each destination that they had in mind. They narrowed it down to three: Put-In-Bay in Ohio, Traverse City for wine tasting, or down to Detroit for some fun. Now THIS was a tough choice for me. After seriously about 2 weeks of thought, I finally decided on Detroit. My #1 reason was that it was close enough to home so that people could come & go at their leisure. (I'm going to get honest here about Bachelorette parties... they are not always so much fun for everyone. I mean, yes, they are TOTALLY fun, but if you don't know all the girls involved, or aren't SUPER close to the bride but close enough to get invited, it's sometimes awkward to do a "stay the night" thing. I knew particularly that I would be inviting girls from work that I was close to, girls that I've been friends with for a long time who don't live around here anymore and don't know anyone, and then my hometown friends ... with a group that mixed I wanted everyone to just feel that they could come & go. And I think (hope!) it worked out well for all. Please don't think I'm anti-social or anti-fun because I said this, I hope people can relate!)

So anyways, Jayne started going head strong into planning. We finally decided on the following itinerary: Brunch, Photoshoot around Detroit (we got our own photographer for the day!), Tiger's Game, Dinner, Bar hop. Jayne had these seriously awesome invites made for the day on Etsy:

*my glorious instagram photo of it ...taken right from my fridge!*

Starting out with brunch was so much fun! Not only because they had bottomless mimosas, but it allowed for people like my friend Amy, who had a basically newborn baby, to come for a little bit. It was here where we did gifts, which I will not be posting any pictures of...I'll leave it to the imagination! We went to Dino's Lounge in Ferndale and shoutout to them for giving us seriously excellent service!

Next we headed down to Greektown Casino to get ready for our limo bus to pick us up for our photoshoot. This was where LINDEY totally surprised me, after she had told me that she wouldn't be able to make it. Craziest/best/coolest surprise of my life! 

We met our photographer, Jeff Snow, at the casino. He was actually Brandon's coworker at the time, but now has become way important for Smartwool out in Colorado, so we don't get to see him anymore! Serious thanks, cheers, props, to him for dealing with 20ish girls all afternoon! He was so rad. And another huge shoutout to his wife, Sara, who is equally awesome and let us borrow her husband all day. This is the point in the Bach where 1 thing went wrong, the limo bus was late. And then when it came it was pink! But it also couldn't take us on any highways? That bus company was a debacle. Here is Jayne with her itinerary. She had it down to a T. She is the best! She is also in mid-panic here.

*notice it says Easy's E's Final Countdown, with check marks for what everyone was doing. The girl has google docs in her back pocket*

*Jayne also made me this amazing sash that was double sided. this side in my wedding colors, the other in Tiger's colors. please help me convince her to start an ebay store*

We then started our glam photoshoot. This was seriously so fun. Riding around on the bus, blowing up inappropriate balloons, drinking champagne, singing, dancing, and just being crazy girls. We went to Tiger's Stadium, the old train station in downtown Detroit, the Heidleberg Project, and then we changed into our Tiger's gear and headed back to Tiger's stadium. It worked out perfectly because our next stop was the game! I loved our photoshoot and all the pictures that came of it. I mean seriously, doesn't Jeff Snow ROCK as a photog?! (and I'm only showing you a few of the MANY pics I got!) And how often in your life can you get someone to paparazzi you around like that? It was my time to be Kim Kardashian for a day (minus her behind). 

*there's about a million more AWESOME pics i'd be glad to show you if you've got the time*

At the Tiger's game all I'm thinking about is how I have to pee, so I'm rushing to the bathroom when a bunch of the girls found Fox Sports and told them what they were doing, so since the next day was Father's Day, they wanted us to record a segment for it! I'm not sure how I will ever top my shoutout to my dad on National television as a Father's Day gift in the future. I wonder if my mom still has it on DVR.... maybe I can just replay it for him again this year? ha!

*got this as a picture text the day it aired from someone. The best part of this was that B did not believe this story at all. And then BOOM, after about 1.5 hours of rain delay, there were me & my girls! What is even funnier is that I got like 3 emails (2 from students, 1 from a parent) telling me that they saw me on TV while they were eating dinner. ha!*

After shenanigans in the Tiger's Den and just a lil bit of watching the game, we finally found our way back to the hotel to change for dinner. We had a seriously yummy meal at Fountain Bistro. They were so awesome, they had a champagne toast ready for us and the waiter was fantastic. Then Jeff came BACK (I told you, he's amazing) and took some really sweet shots of us at night before we hit the town.

At this point, I can only tell you that we started out with a cute lil table at a cute little bar in the D and ended up in a tent somewhereeeeee else. At a point, Jayne was taking shots that people were buying me and throwing them out on the ground because I was just exhausted! ;-) And then thank you Kristin and Jayne for basically carrying me home and never once letting me take off my shoes in the dirty streets of Detroit, as badly as I wanted to. Greektown Casino was our safe lil abode for the night. And sleep was all I could ask for.

So seriously, it was one of the BEST days of my life. Jayne, you blew it out of the water with your planning. Everyone who helped her, you are the coolest. Everyone that came and went throughout the day ... you mean THE world to me. Shoutouts to Caitlin who came all the way from Florida! And hugeeee thanks/hugs to Jayne who planned everything AND came from St. Louis. And my surprise guest, Lindey Loo, who came from I think Tennessee! It's days like that when you realize, "Wow, I am so lucky to be where I am with who I've got" and I wouldn't change that for the world.

Hope this leaves you with some good ideas if you are planning/having a Bach! I'd love to help with any tips... I am a pretty BA theme party planner! XOXO, E 

*forgot to mention that B had his Bachelor party the same day...this is him & lindey the day after... if you're sleeping without a pillow, i'd say you had a little bit of fun*

**ALL bachelorette party pics courtesy of Jeff Snow ... if you're in Steamboat, CO... check him out! Can't thank you enough, Jeff!!!**