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Bachelorette Parties Your Grandma Would Approve Of

More and more I’m hearing of brides who have absolutely no desire for a bachelorette party that consists solely of body shots and male dancers, and I have to agree with them. Personally, all I wanted to do was spend some quality time with close friends, sharing laughs and telling stories. This weekend, I attended a bachelorette party. I had a great time meeting new people and celebrating with the wife-to-be! While we ended the night out on the town, scandalous debauchery wasn’t the goal of the weekend.

Thirteen of us rented out a bed and breakfast for the weekend. Upon arrival Saturday afternoon, we were greeted with lovely welcome bags and a personalized apron for our cooking class at the inn that evening. We had the place to ourselves and after cocktail hour we enjoyed a 2 hour long interactive class where we made appetizers, dinner, and dessert. What a fabulous time chatting, munching, and laughing with some fantastic ladies! So, while we did end up going out for the evening Saturday night, the whole weekend was themed around cooking, not about men in thongs.

Bachelorette-Cooking-Class
{I didn’t get a photo of us, but you get the idea. Photo by Sabina Pierce for The New York Times}

Anyway, this inspired me to gather a couple other ideas for bachelorette parties that won’t make the husband-to-be nervous (well, at least less nervous than he’d be watching you being kidnapped by your bridesmaids, complete with fistfulls of dollars and phallic accessories).

1. Cooking Class: As I mentioned above, a wonderful way to mingle with old and new friends while learning some fun new recipes to cook!

2. Campout: I’m still insanely jealous that there is no desert by my house so that I can set up a teepee and campfire with my friends. How much fun does this look!?

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{photos by Erin Hearts Court; invitations by Wiley Valentine; styling by Bash and Yes, Please for Utterly Engaged}

3. Flower Arranging: I’m biased because it’s what we did at my bridal shower, but I absolutely loved it!

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{photos by Scott Clark via 100 Layer Cake}

4. Wine Tasting: An afternoon touring vineyards (with a designated bus driver!) is certain to encourage lots of girl talk and good times.

B-List-Wine-Tasting
{B-List 2009, photo courtesy of Junebug Weddings}

A pretty moleskine wine journal would make a fantastic favor too!

Moleskine-Wine-Journal
{journal via The Awesomer}

Bonus points if you get to stomp the grapes yourselves a la Lucy.

LucyGrapeStomp
{image found via The Carlton}

If one of these is the only thing you and your girls do, or if you decide to still spend some time out on the town afterwards, it’s just nice to know there are many options on how to celebrate. Planning a bachelorette party around something other than Chippendale’s dancers will not only be a blast, but will give you photos you won’t be embarrassed to show your grandmother!