Real Bride Taylor and her bachelorette party crew in downtown Minneapolis.
This past weekend was one for the books. After months of planning, my shower and bachelorette party came and went (way too quickly).
With one bridesmaid flying in from Georgia, and another prepping for a move to Missouri, I thought it would be best to combine the events into one fun-filled weekend. It also happened to be the weekend of my 25th birthday, so the timing could not have been better for me to celebrate with all of my favorite ladies.
We kicked off the festivities with a Friday night pool party at my future in-laws’ house. My fiancé, Sam, also opted to have his bachelor party this past weekend up north, so we had the house all to ourselves as we ate pizza, swam, and stayed up late playing games and watching movies (Bridesmaids, natch). It was an awesome old-fashioned sleepover, and my future mother- and sister-in-law did such a fabulous job with the food and drinks (cotton candy champagne cocktail, anyone?), party favors (glow sticks, tiaras!) and decorations—including a DIY photo backdrop!
Real Bride Taylor gets her bachelorette party started.
The next morning was my bridal shower, which my mom and sister appropriately themed “Hawaiian”—think: leis, posters of Hawaiian scenery, and plenty of pineapple accents—since Sam and I will be jetting off to the Big Island the Monday after our wedding. About 30 of my closest friends and family came together to enjoy a mimosa bar and brunch treats (Cocoa & Fig, my wedding cake baker, even provided cupcakes and macarons) while playing trivia games about Sam and me. I was nervous about opening gifts in front of everyone, so my sister/maid-of-honor had the brilliant idea to have my guests write down their favorite memory of me. Once she read the memory out loud, I had to guess who wrote it and then open their present. It was a fun way to reminiscence about my relationships with all of the women in attendance—and take some of the pressure off me! In addition to the memories, which we are going to compile into a book, everyone also filled a guest book with loving notes and marriage advice. It’s something I will treasure forever.
Real Bride Taylor's bridal shower.
The bachelorette party continued immediately following the shower. After we were all checked into W Minneapolis–The Foshay downtown, a hot pink limo (I kid you not) picked us up for a night on the town. We started with dinner at one of my favorite lakeside eateries, Cov, before barhopping around Lake Minnetonka to Maynard’s and Lord Fletcher’s. It was hard to tell which was attracting more stares—the pink limo or my gold sequin–covered dress from Rent the Runway!
Once we were dropped back off downtown, we ended the evening by hitting up a few more bars: City Works for cider flights, 508 for dancing, Crave for rooftop views, and finally Prohibition, where we all split a fishbowl before retiring to our suite for the night. Everything about the entire weekend was more than I could’ve hoped for, but one memory I will cherish forever is all of my best friends in the pink limo, dancing and belting out “I’ll Be There For You,” the theme song from my favorite show, Friends.
