Bachelorette Party in Austin

My best friend, who just happens to be my cousin, is getting married in October and gave me the title of Maid of Honor. It's actually my first time filling that role, so this also made for the first bachelorette party that I've hosted.

Thankfully Amanda, the bride, had an amazing bridal party that helped me pull it all together, but it was a little intimidating planning a weekend for 13 people in a city I had never been.

Thankfully Austin, Texas is absolutely fantastic and made it easy for me to turn out a fabulous weekend! 

The bridal party arrived early which gave us a chance to kick off the weekend with cocktails at the Four Seasons Pool. 

After we finished up with happy hour, we organized Welcome Bags for all of the guests arriving the following day and stopped at a market near the hotel to stock up on snacks and booze. 

  We had a 7pm dinner reservation at Second Bar and Grill which is just a few blocks away from the hotel.

Our food and on draft rose was really good, but I didn't love the ambience (or location). After dinner we bar hopped along Rainey street which was a blast. Lots of awesome bars with tons of live music and a really low key, easy crowd. 

 

 

We turned in pretty early Thursday night, but that meant we were able to fit in a gym session come the morning. 

After the gym, we met for coffees and then walked to South Congress which is a must see section of the city. We had a blast popping into the really cute and cool shops along the way, and then snapping photos at the infamous blogger wall.

We took a "fasten" (they don't have uber in Austin, and this worked well for us while we were there) back to the hotel and freshened up for lunch at Bangers back on Rainey Street. 

Bangers was the perfect spot to spend the afternoon. We had the rest of the group meet us there, had tons of awesome local texas beers, and a delicious lunch. We sat outside at giant picnic benches and caught up with all of the girls.

After a few beers we sort of broke into this cool new hotel Van Zandt for a drink on their rooftop bar.

  

We got back to the hotel around 5pm, which gave everyone a little time to chill and get ready for the night. We met back in the lobby at 7:45 so that we could fit in a group picture before heading to dinner.

It was kind of a pain to get three cabs to stop for 5 minutes, but they complied and we got a super adorable picture, so  I think it was worth it.

For dinner we decided to do Guero's Taco Bar (the outside section) for dinner. We had $2 tacos from their little stand, cheap beers, and listened to an awesome local band. It was really good and perfect and easy for a big group. 

Our big activity for the night was a private karaoke room at The Highball - and thankfully we don't have too many pictures or videos to show for it! It was actually a blast, and we didn't want to leave our private room at 11:30 after our two hours of singing were up. We stayed and danced at their bar with yet another live band, and then made it back to the hotel a little after midnight. 

Saturday was our big activity day and our plan was to rent a pontoon boat for the day (with a driver) and hang on Lake Austin. We used Float On as our rental company and had an amazingly easy and fun experience (with a really cool driver).  

Lake Austin is beautiful and I loved checking out the real estate along the way. After the first hour of exploring we dockd up  hung around the lily pad for the entire afternoon.

 

We had Jimmy Johns bring party platters to the hotel in the morning before we left so we had lunch on the boat, listened to music, danced and had a blast. 

It was an absolutely awesome way to spend the day.

 We got back to the hotel around 4pm, and everyone needed to take a cool shower and a nap. Hanging in the sun all day caught up with everyone, but I was really impressed with everyone's ability to rally for the lingerie party that night. 

 

We upgraded one of the rooms to a suite so that we could have a space to hang and the bridesmaids came together to have a few fun games, cute decorations and groom video.

 

Amanda walked away with great gifts and we ended up having pizza delivered to the room before we went out on 6th street for our final hurrah.

  

Sixth street was awesome to see - but wild to be in! There was a UT game so everyone was out in full force, but we popped into a few bars, danced like college girls and then took pedal cabs back home! 

 

 

 My 9am flight showed up reallly early the next day, but it was nice to get home to my boys and have a day to chill before we start another wild week!

My 1st Wedding Shower

I went home this weekend to Chicago to celebrate my first wedding shower and I just couldn't wait until "Wedding Wednesday" to share all the pictures.

Saturday morning, all of my bridesmaids - except for my sister Hannah who is living and working in Mexico right now - came over to my house for a glass of champagne before the shower.
 

 

 

I'll be honest, it was very surreal to be the bride at the shower - on the drive over I started to get really nervous, not sure what I was supposed to do, etc... but it all came together without a hitch.

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The shower was hosted at a Country Club near my house in Chicago. I had actually looked at it as a possible venue for my actual wedding day, so it was nice to be able to incorporate the venue for the shower. The snow, fireplaces, and cozy interior made it the perfect location.

 

 

 The room that we had our lunch in was beautiful with passed appetizers, a bloody Mary bar, and lots of red and white wine to take away all of my nerves.



 

 The tables were decorated with DIY vases plastered with pictures of Joel and I throughout the years and the cutest jars filled with custom M&Ms.

 

 

 Lunch was served promptly at 12:30 - we had a salad course and an "Oscar Chicken" entree with a yummy sorbet dessert which was light, and girly, and I was thankful for the lack of cake temptation!

 

 After lunch, my bridesmaids and I sat in front of the room to open all of the generous gifts that my guests brought for Joel and I. Since we requested that most gifts be shipped directly to California, I was able to get the gift opening done in only half an hour.



  I felt spoiled by everyone's love, generosity, and attention, and had a seriously spectacular shower.

Wedding Wednesday

 My first wedding purchase was for my 5, soon to be bridemaids. I had been pinning lots of cute ideas when I stumbled upon these glasses. I liked the idea of festive champagne glasses to up the excitement level, but they were a little boring for me.

So, inset, this Kate Spade china.....

And a really great Etsy seller who was willing to do customizable glass work - and we've got the most adorable, personal champagne glasses ever!

After 48 hours the seller sent me over the picture of the finished product and I couldn't be happier with the outcome. I forwarded it to my mom for her to have a looksie too.


 The next morning I got a panicked call from my mom - the monograms were wrong.

The glasses above have the girls middle initial as the largest letter - which is incorrect. The most prominent letter should be the first inital of your last name. I had written the girls initials out in first, middle, last name order, just assuming the designer would understand - which obviously didn't happen. Both myself, and the seller, should have confirmed understanding - but, hindsight is 20/20.

Thankfully the seller was super understanding and was able to fix the glasses quickly and get them shipped out in under a week.

Major crisis averted!

My mom was a huge help getting them all wrapped up for the girls, so when they open the box they will have their glass, and a mini-bottle of Moet. I'm pre-writing this post, so I'll have to update with pictures of the ladies reactions!

Even though my first wedding purchase got a little hairy, I couldn't be happier with the way these glasses came out and I know my girls will love them too.