Getting married is a milestone. And hosting a bachelorette party is one of the transitional #adulting events. Congratulations, you have now transitioned to a party girl who either enjoys partying at the sidelines or taking limelight in the center stage to becoming a responsible host covering all event logistics to make things possible. Add that to one of the hallmarks of Tita duties.
Image source: Giphy
It has been a couple of weeks since my cousin and I hosted our first ever Surprise Bachelorette Party Success Story. And that’s not the end of the story. This is not like a fairy tale that ends in ever after. Don’t get me wrong, we all went happy that night. But since our first bachelorette party is a success, the pressure to host another successful one that exceeds expectations is real. My cousin jokingly quip, “Tin, alam mo na gagagawin mo pag ako na ikakasal.”
I wish I’d get married first before she does.
There has been lots of bachelorette stories on the web. But seldom are there guide, hacks and tips in hosting a bachelorette party. For ladies who will host a bachelorette party but has no idea how, or where to outsource bachelorette party items. This post is for you. I will try to cover as many points as possible. Feel free to reach out if you have questions. *drum roll* Let the last fling before the ring series of events start!
1. Where to begin? Answer the 4 W’s first.
Who to invite:
What kind of bachelorette party:
Where to do it:
When:
My cousin and I took a long time to decide. Are we going to push through with our original plan of renting a hotel room and gathering all the girls? Shall we do it in Naga, where most of the girlfriends are located? Or in Manila, where we can carry out the plan efficiently? We weigh in on our pros and cons. We also laid down our available dates and started contacting Manila Secrets for our bachelorette party package. And once we iron out the basics…
2. We basked in the help of the girlfriends.
We made a core chat group and feed them information every now and then. They are then in charge to disseminate the information to the other friends (both Naga and Manila college friends.) We asked their flexible dates. We also asked if they prefer bridal shower style, afternoon teacup setup or nail spa session (that’s our bride-to-be thing). But since our cousin is only getting married once, and my cousin wanted the party to be wholesome, she wanted a bachelorette party with a stripper (I initially declined to hire a stripper). Thank God the girlfriends ride along. Our chat group be like…
Image source: Giphy
3. Theme
My cousin and I stopped at a roadblock when the bride’s sister asked us for the theme. This was after we made down payment for the venue already. How could we be so careless to let this one slip out? We were talking of the event motifs, we booked the party themed-venue with a dancing pole. Now how do we tell the people what to wear that should go with the theme? And we already brought props.
Ladies, it is alright if you are insisting on having a theme, like The Great Gatsby. But if you are like us who overlooked this simple matter, there’s a remedy. Just…
4. Dress to impress
My cousin instructed everyone to wear all black that says, “hell yeah I’m going to a stripper party!” The point is, we are only hosting a bachelorette party once. We discouraged everyone to come in their casual clothes. I, for one, is a rubber shoes type of girl, but wore heels for this event. The reason for the all-black attire? So that the bride to be would stand out in the picture taking.
5. Props
We wanted to buy all the penis stuffs we could get our hands on. But they’re expensive. So, we make do with what we have to do. We were able to score these penis and horny candies at Pleasure Place Ortigas. They also sell penis balloons and other penis stuff for giveaways, but these are all that we can afford. We added candies at the bottom to give the illusion that they are aplenty.
For other bachelorette party items, My Little Party Shop Manila is the go-to store for bachelorette items, and other themed parties. Most of them are not in stock when we brought ours. Hopefully, when it comes to yours, the items are already in stock. Oh, and speaking of items. We should talk about…
6. Budget.
To set the limits, my cousin asked me how much I was willing to spend for the party. And she agreed to shell out the same amount. (Note: nearing 5-digit range.) We shouldered all the pre-bachelorette party related expenses between the two of us because we are in constant communication. We also agreed that we will no longer buy a wedding gift since we are spending a lot already for the party. Well, what can I say, experience is the best gift, right.
Most importantly, do we let the guests shoulder portion of expenses?
Honestly, I don’t want any of the guest to shoulder. Who wants to attend a party that they also need to pay for? Some of the girl friends are willing to share. But what about the others? but we can’t shoulder everything so I agreed for the guests to shell a reasonable amount. Since we hired a stripper, we politely asked them if they are willing to shoulder the balance instead. We gave them the quotation sent by Manila Secrets that reflects the final bill to be settled. We sigh in relief when they agreed.
7. Penis cake
What’s a bachelorette party without a penis cake? We had a hard time finding a baker who does penis cakes. And Kink Cakes is out of the option. We went to their site and was horrified with their decors. Luckily, a friend recommended Sugar Cuddle. Don’t be fooled by the baker’s kid-friendly themes. She had lots of experience making adult cakes. This was her design and we chose it because it’s looks classy. My cousin suggested to put the text Cum to Charlie. Thus, our trending joke for the night. If you are from the North like I am, the baker will be glad to deliver the cake to your door.
8. Games, giveaways and other party accessories
Since we took most of the part in mounting the event, we tasked one of the girlfriends to prepare a few games for us.
Also, you might be surprised to know as I did, but All About Baking is not just all about baking. They sell party items by bulk and they are way cheaper than most party store items I visited. Case in point: I bought a manual balloon pump for only P65, which costs P90 at Toy Kingdom and P140 at Celebrations Party Central in Megamall. That’s a deal for me. If you ever found out a cheaper balloon pump, do tell.
I am so proud of our giveaways. Initially, we wanted to give out penis cupcakes, but they are costly and hard to transport. My cousin brought these tiny weenies at Kink Cakes. I think they costs P180 / 6 pcs. And oh, that card-sized card we attached, my cousin made it. She became an instant layout artist whiz via Canva.
We weren’t able to decorate the whole room like what we imagined. But hey, our go-to resources didn’t fail us. I hope you take delight in reading the guide, and find the links equally useful.
Hopefully, I’d be able to outsource an entirely new set of penis stuff and bring the stripper experience to a whole new level for the next bachelorette party. Now that I am done and out with bachelorette party preps, I wanted to hear a similar trail of thought from a guy’s POV preparing a stag party.
Your turn, boys.
