The Ultimate Bachelorette Party Planning Guide
If you feel overwhelmed by planning a bachelorette party, then you’re in the right place. This is THE guide — from start to finish — on how to plan a bachelorette party. We’re going to walk you through guest list, budgeting, meals, decorating, and everything in between so that you can get back to celebrating with your bachelorettes.
Before you start planning, we recommend consulting the bride and putting together a planning spreadsheet, so that you have all of your plans in one place. The bachelorette activities, location, theme, and budget should all be based around what the bride wants to do, what her hobbies are, and what she enjoys doing. This weekend is allll about celebrating the bride and having fun!
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So, without further ado, here’s Our Ultimate Guide to Planning a Bachelorette Party:
Before Planning
Consult the Bride
Before planning the bachelorette, ask the bride
If she has an idea of when she wants the bachelorette to take place.
If she has any activities she would like to include.
How wild she would like the weekend to be.
If there are any boundaries she would like to set beforehand about invite list, activities, alcohol, etc.
How much of the weekend she would like to be a surprise.
Make a Planning Spreadsheet
Before going into any planning, we recommend making a spreadsheet that contains the guest list, itinerary, budget, and meal plan. This makes sure that all of your plans are centralized, and if you make it in something like Google Sheets, you can easily share it with the rest of the invitees. We made a spreadsheet template for you that does all the heavy lifting so you can focus on the party!
1. Choose A Guest List
Before setting a date or location, figure out how many people you will be inviting so you can pick dates, book accommodations, and plan activities accordingly. Your bachelorette guest list should start with the people in the bridal party, and any other friends or family members the bride wants to invite. Get their names, emails, and phone numbers so you can easily contact them.
A good rule of thumb for bachelorette attendees should is that your guests should be:
From your closest circle of friends.
People that you would be comfortable having around for a majority of the bachelorette activities.
Invited to your wedding.
Guest List FAQs:
Most of the costs for bachelorette parties come from travel expenses. If you can opt for something local, you may be able to do more!
2. Select A Location
Decide if the bachelorette party will be local (within a short road trip), or a destination. When selecting your location, consider the types of activities that can be done during the time of year.
Local vs. Destination Bachelorette Party
Most of the time, local bachelorettes will be less expensive because guests won’t have to pay for flights or expensive accommodations, and it’s more likely that all of the guests will be able to attend. Choosing a local party also means that more of the budget can be used for activities, rather than getting to the location. You would be surprised by how many fun activities you can do without traveling far.
Destination bachelorettes can be a great excuse to treat yourselves, and head to a place that you haven’t been before. Some of the best destinations are tropical, or have a great night life.
Bachelorette Location Ideas:
Traditionally, the bachelorettes split the bride’s costs for the bachelorette party. The exception is typically flights or travel expenses.
3. Set A Rough Budget
Before consulting the guests do some research on the big group costs like accommodations, travel expenses, meals, big activities, and swag. This doesn’t have to be an exact number yet, but knowing roughly how much the weekend will cost will help the invitees plan ahead. We even made a free bachelorette budget template for you, that you can get here.
How to Plan a Bachelorette Without Breaking the Bank
While the national average for bachelorette parties is around $500, we’ve been to some amazing parties that have been well under $200/person for a whole extended weekend. We’ll talk more about that later, but here’s a few of our best tips:
Opt for a local bachelorette party. The biggest bachelorette expenses are travel-related, so you can actually do more if you stay within a few hour’s drive of your location.
Ask for payments along the way. Since some things like activities and accommodations have to be booked ahead of time, split the bill as you go instead of asking for a lump sum at the end. This makes sure the financial burden of all the bookings isn’t on you, and it gives a payment plan option for the guests.
Consider making some of the activities optional if you have a very event-packed weekend.
Look at AirBnBs instead of booking individual hotel rooms.
Note: Traditionally, the bachelorettes split the bride’s costs for the bachelorette party. The exception is typically flights or travel expenses.
Bachelorette Budget FAQs:
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4. Choose A Date
Doodle Poll is a game changer for managing multiple schedules and finding an open date for the bachelorette party that works for everyone. It allows you to pick a range of dates, and then have the rest of the guests vote on which dates work for them. You can send the link through your group chat, and have a date picked out by the group in minutes.
Pro Tip: When you reach out to the invite list, include the rough budget per person, and have everyone introduce themselves in the chat with a photo + name. This breaks the tension of a new group chat, and gets everyone excited for the party.
Sometimes, since everyone will already be in one location, the best time to have a bachelorette is within the week of the wedding. However, that can sometimes feel overwhelming for the bride because of all of the other events that happen in the month leading up to the wedding. Just keep open communication as you look at dates, and find a solution that works for everyone, especially the bride.
Bachelorette Date FAQs:
If your bridesmaids live out of town, sometimes the best time to have a bach party is the week of the wedding while everyone is one place.
5. Book Accommodations
Once you have the date set and have your RSVPs, book where you will be staying for your trip. We recommend booking an AirBnB or VRBO over booking individual hotel rooms. This makes it easier to have a shared space to play games, cook meals, and hang out. You can also look for places with pools or hot tubs, which is a great downtime activity that doesn’t cost anything extra.
Another option for accommodations is to stay at someone’s house or vacation rental. It can be a lot of fun to have a big sleepover with all of your bachelorettes. Just be courteous of people’s spaces if you are planning on getting a little rowdy.
As mentioned before, consider getting payments from the guests for the accommodations and pre-booked events up front, so that you aren’t fronting all of the costs by yourself.
6. Pick A Theme
Themes are totally optional for bachelorette parties, but it can be a fun addition to the party. The theme can range from a full-on “Baches Be Crazy” or “Let’s Get Naughti-cul” to something simple that includes the bride’s interests or her name. The theme can help you pick decor or activities later on.
If you’re stuck thinking of activities or themes, start with activities that you know the bride already likes as well as things you know about her personality:
Favorite movies
Favorite food
Hobbies
Wedding colors
Energy level (extraverted or introverted)
Outfit style
Favorite places
Her bucket list
Favorite vacation
Bachelorette Theme FAQs:
Popular Bachelorette Themes
Unconventional Bachelorette Themes
At the bare minimum, have one big event that feels like a treat to the bride. That could be anything from going dancing, to heading to a theme park, to a spa day, to hitting the town.
7. Plan the Activities
For weekend bachelorettes, we recommend having a good mix of activities that vary in how much energy and time they take. Spread out some of the big events, and have smaller games and downtime in between. When brainstorming the big activities, start with the bride’s hobbies, personality traits, and interests.
At the bare minimum, have one big event that feels like a treat to the bride. That could be anything from going dancing, to heading to a theme park, to a spa day, to hitting the town. Downtime can be a great time to hang by the pool, prep meals, watch movies, head to the spa, or just relax and share funny stories about the bride.
Bachelorette activities fall into about six categories: games, gifts, high-energy events, low-energy events, meals/drinks, lounging.
Bach Activity Ideas:
8. Set An Itinerary
When planning your itinerary, space out the activities so that guests have time to rest in between. We love having a night out, and a night in, giving time to recover from the bigger events. Account for meals and drinks, which can also be a great time to relax and hang out, or can be a whole event.
For a Friday-Sunday bachelorette weekend, we recommend something like this:
Friday Night: Arrive, Smaller Activity and Games
Saturday Morning/Afternoon: Lounge, Low Key Games, Gifts
Saturday Evening: Big Activity
Saturday Night: Night Out
Sunday Morning: Sleep In, Brunch, Pack Up
For a Thursday-Sunday bachelorette weekend, this is what we recommend:
Thursday Night: Arrive, Smaller Activity and Games
Friday: Day Out, Medium Activity, Games, Gifts, Fun Night In
Saturday Morning/Afternoon: Lounge, Low Key Games,
Saturday Evening: Big Activity/Night Out
Sunday Morning: Sleep In, Brunch, Pack Up
Pro Tip: Send out a fun invite to the guests to get them excited for the bachelorette activities. (check out our pre-designed invites + itineraries here) If you want to go the extra mile, give them a recommended packing list, especially if you want them to wear something specific for the night out. (You don’t have to give the bride the itinerary if you want to surprise her, but definitely give her a recommended packing list).
Bach Itinerary FAQs:
9. Get A Gift for the Bride
Traditionally, every bachelorette brings a small gift for the bride. The most common gift is lingerie, though the bride or host may request that guests bring something different, go in together on a larger gift, or bring nothing at all.
A fun (and budget-friendly) gift option is a “panty drop”, where each girl brings a different pair of underwear, instead of a whole set.
When picking lingerie, here’s a few things we recommend:
Pick the bride’s style, not yours.
Don’t get white, unless you are specifically asked to bring white. (She probably already has a lot of white)
Look for accessory items she might not have have, and that she will use a lot, like robes, cute shorts or pajamas, or bralettes.
Gift FAQs:
10. Meal Plan
A day or two before the bachelorette, pick up groceries and snacks for the party. If you are the main planner, this is a great thing to assign to another member of the party. Make sure to keep receipts so you can add it to the final budget.
What should be on your grocery list:
Breakfast food
Lunch food (depending on your itinerary)
Snack items
Hydrating drinks + water
Drinks
Groceries for a dinner in
Pro tip: Choose swag or goodie bags that the bachelorette attendees will love and use again.
Get the Free Bach Budget Calculator
11. Decorate
We recommend choosing just a couple of areas in your space to decorate. Don’t go overboard with the decorations — we’ve found that less is more when it comes to bachelorette decor. Guests don’t necessarily want to be overwhelmed by pink and — *ahem* eggplants — everywhere. A few cheeky pieces of decor, a photo wall, swag, and a cute banner with the theme is typically more than enough.
Pro tip: Choose swag or goodie bags that the bachelorette attendees will love and use again. If you’ve been to a few bachelorette parties, you know that the cheap swag adds up and just gets thrown away.
What to include for bachelorette party decor:
Photo Wall
Banner with the theme or hashtag
Food table
Guest Swag / Goodies
Drink/cup area
Bride sash or shirt
12. Party Time
This step is self explanatory. Have fun!! Enjoy the work you put into the weekend, celebrate the bride-to-be, and have a great time!
Party FAQs:
As long as the party cost was communicated beforehand, there shouldn’t be any surprises or hurt feelings.
13. Settle Up
At the end of the bachelorette weekend, total up the cost of all of the group activities, meals, and accommodations, and then divide that amount by the number of attendees minus the bride. Use Venmo or some other check splitting app to make transferring money super easy. (Our Bach Budget Template does this math for you!) Make sure to keep track of everything that is spent for the weekend, and be able to show the final cost breakdown.
You don’t have to split costs that were purchased individually like meals or snacks, gifts, or individual travel expenses.
As long as the party cost was communicated beforehand, there shouldn’t be any surprises or hurt feelings. Try having one to three people pay for the shared purchases like meals, decor, groceries, and group lodging because it’s easier to split up later if there are only a couple people to reimburse. If multiple people paid for things, you might consider our Bach Planner Spreadsheet — this allows you to track who overpaid, and who still owes.
If someone has a card that gets them cash back or miles, then it could be worth it to have them cover all the expenses, and be reimbursed at the end.
Alrighty! That should have been absolutely everything you could need to plan a bachelorette party. We have tons of resources to get you started on your bachelorette party, and take the stress out of planning. As a bonus, here’s a couple other things you might want to check out before you start planning:
Bachelorette FAQs
get the bachelorette planning spreadsheet
Get your plans all in one place:
Check in with the bride.
Brainstorm your plans.
Gather your guest list.
Find a date that works for everyone in minutes!
Plan your itinerary.
Pick a theme, track your bookings, and design your party.
Nail down your budget.
Grocery list AND packing list.
Settle up the bill in seconds
BONUS🎉: printable PDF planning checklist
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