I gotta admit, I think bachelorette parties in your 40s are better than your 20s! Maybe it’s that you just don’t care to chat up cute boys in a bar or maybe you’re more excited to escape the daily grind, whether that be raising children, taking care of all the adult duties you’ve acquired over the years, or the demands of a high profile job. You simply get to spend some quality time catching up with your besties for the resties. Either way, I can’t recommend enough getting away for a weekend to hang with gal pals, ESPECIALLY as we get older and MOST definitely after a COVID year!
We rented a charming VRBO home in West Olive, MI. This house (click to access link) sat on several acres just outside downtown Holland. The backyard, pool, and outdoor living spaces were very nice and spacious. My only compliant is that it could have used more bathrooms, but with 14 women I’m not sure there ever would have been enough We came together to celebrate our dear friend Corinne Wentworth, who has graciously celebrated countless nuptials, births, promotions, etc. for her friends over the years. Now it was time to shower her with love. We had to delay this event due to Covid last year, but it was well worth the wait. Therefore, #wentworththewait was an appropriate # for the weekend.
Party Boxes
My girlfriend Jenny Henderson is an executive director at Indiana University and certified business coach by day, and a kick ass party planner and momma of 3 by night. We spent some time planning the weekend together and came up with some special gifts and events. One included welcome party boxes with goodies for all of the gals and bachelorette. I used my Cricut JOY to make “The Party” name tags for the top of the boxes and also to cut out the vinyl names for tumblers for each gal to drink their spirits out of for the weekend. AND as you can imagine, there was no lack of spirits consumed Although the bikini t-shirt has gained popularity in recent years, Corinne was the OG wearing one of these fabulous frocks over 10 years ago! It was only fitting we have them for this weekend. I found affordable bikini t-shirts for everyone on amazon, as well as these cute shades and scrunchies to pull together the final look. All this super fun swag was around $30/box, and all sourced from Amazon (which I thought was very reasonable!) I took a slow motion video of the party boxes below so you could see how we styled them. We also added the itinerary for the weekend for gals to reference. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention our balloon arch. I know you’ve seen these Pinterest worthy posts with balloon arches for every party under the sun in recent years. There are so many great companies locally and nationally now implementing these, which I think is wonderful. They add so much fun décor for an event. However, if you have to travel or are looking to throw a party on a budget, I have been able to learn how to construct these myself. The gals that arrived early helped me install the below arch in less than 30 minutes…. impressive I know. I didn’t think to set up a time lapse or tutorial on this process, but there will be more parties to come and I’ll be sure to document for PNL.
Dinner Party to Shower the Bride
Another benefit of bachelorette parties in your forties is a healthier slush fund from the participants 😉 Therefore, a fancy dinner party with a private chef, outdoor table scape, and a professional photographer to document the evening seemed appropriate! No one loves pictures more than the bride and has always been so thoughtful to take photos when we are all together to capture memories. One of the gals found a local photographer to come for an hour or so and it was well worth it. The below gallery is just a few of the shots from the evening. As for the table scape, we used the template from the invite with itinerary to curate a dinner menu. We even repurposed our party box labels for a seating chart. Finally, we added some table cloths, burlap table runners, and some florals to create a beautiful table scape. It could not have been a nicer evening to celebrate the bride with gifts.
Charcuterie Brunch
When planning the weekend, a friend recommend a local company that curates fabulous charcuterie board set ups in MI. We hired Late to the Lake to install a fabulous brunch spread, complete with a bloody mary and mimosa bar! The company we used in MI is called Late to the Lake, and I believe they will deliver to most areas along the lakeshore in MI. They can serve up to 800 so this would be a great option for small gatherings up to a large wedding.
Pool Party Time and Karaoke Night
These pictures need no introduction. My girlfriends are hilariously funny. Like slap your knee, pee your pants, SNL girl type funny. And I’m so.darn.lucky to have found them in my life. So I’ll say it again, take the trip, spend the time with your gal pals, you won’t regret it. We love you Corinne, you deserve all the love coming your way during this beautiful season of your life. Love you endlessly.
