How to Plan a Bachelorette Party
WILD NIGHT OUT
If your weekend's all about debauchery, set the vibe by booking a hip hotel with a scene, and a pool with lounging beds and a DJ (W Hotels are a classic example). Look into what kind of nightlife a destination has to offer and whether it fits your style: are you into bar hopping, karaoke dives, sophisticated cocktail lounges, comp-friendly casinos, or pulsing mega-clubs?
If you're hitting the clubs, enlist the services of your hotel concierge to get on door lists, or book a night-on-the-town package through a service like bacheloretteexperts.com. You'll feel like rock stars when they lift the velvet ropes and beckon you in. (Packages vary, but often include admission, a certain number of drinks, and even limo services, and start at around $70 per person.)
Think through how you're going to get around; one popular approach is to splurge on a limo so that no one has to drive. This works best in cities like Miami where there's a cruising scene, and in others (Atlanta, L.A.) that are sprawling or short on cabs. Reconsider for, say, New York City, where cabs are easy to hail 24/7. And remember that a limo's hourly rate could wind up forcing you to choose between cutting a raging night short or going over budget.
Leave plenty of time for sleeping in the next morning, and make the pool your daytime headquarters so that everyone has a place to congregate; even better, rent a private poolside cabana. Consider fending off that hangover with mimosas at a rollicking drag-show brunch—in place of the classic strip-club outing. And if you get restless, you can inject some healthy competition into the weekend by bowling at an alley with a retro vibe like Lucky Strike Lanes.
Something Extra Sign up for a private pole-dancing or striptease class (not to worry, there's no nudity). You'll get some good laughs even as you learn some new moves. Find classes at bachelorettepartyfun.com and sfactor.com, the site for Sheila Kelly's S Factor studios.
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