Bachelorette Party Recap

Can I just say how great it feels to have enough energy to host again? Zombie Baby is finally letting me do things, anything, something that doesn't involve my butt on the couch for hours at a time! I've already got a handful of events in my back pocket just waiting to get planned. Yes, yes, I know my energy might not last long, but I'm going to try :)

So, back to the reason we are here. I hosted a small Bachelorette Party for Carl's cousin's fiancee who also happens to be one of my very dear friends. She had already had her crazy last girl's night out on a weekend trip, but she wanted something low key that could include those that couldn't travel. Essentially, this was a quaint girls' night, which ended up being the perfect Saturday evening!

I'm not really into the typical Bachelorette type stuff, and neither is she. We're quite alike my "little sister" and I :) She wanted a simple, classy party. I opted to just have everyone meet at my house for a drink and some hors d'oerves before heading out to our favorite local sushi spot.

Since we were going out to dinner, I wanted to keep the eating at my house light. I went with:

• Chili Cheese Chip Dip (Served in the slow cooker in the kitchen with tortilla chips)
• Cheddar, Pepper Jack, Cracker and Grape Platter (served in the dining room)
• Chocolate Covered Strawberries

*Give your table dimension by varying heights of your platters- cake stands and upside down bowls are easy ways to get elevation.
*Wash and DRY DRY DRY your strawberries before dipping them in the chocolate to ensure the melted chocolate sticks well.

For Beverages, I also kept it simple

• Pre-made Pomegranate Martinis (on ice in the aluminum container)
  
• Sam Adam's Oktoberfest (on ice in the aluminum container)
• Wine
  
• Soda
• Ice Water

*I bought that tin last year for like $8 at Home Depot and it was worth every single penny. It makes keeping cold beverages on ice easy! Plus, it makes an adorable way to display them :)
*Using actual glassware and ceramic plates is an easy way to up the fancy factor. Looks better and more personal than plastic and paper.

Decorations were easy since I had just had the Cider Mill Crawl at my house the Sunday prior. The sunflowers were still looking good- talk about some worth-the-money fresh flowers- two events in one!
*Change the water daily and trim the stems every other day to make your fresh flowers last longer.
*Candlelight Candlelight Candlelight. (That's self explanatory)

As always, I tried to do as much ahead of time as possible, but other than cleaning this was all mostly gametime prepping. I made the chocolate covered strawberries just a few hours before go time and then put together the cheese platter and kept them in the fridge. The dip was started about an hour before guests were to arrive so it could get nice and melty and hot!

Surprisingly, with the 8 girls in attendance, all the dip was eaten and the chocolate covered strawberries...well, there was no trace they ever existed! Dinner was a huge success, I'm guessing, since we were at the restaurant for close to 3 hours! Thank goodness they weren't too busy that night or we might have gotten the evil eye from the staff.

Aaaand that's the recap. Have I inspired you to have some girl friends over? Don't let it be intimidating! Snacks + Drinks + Girls = Copious amounts of chatter and a good time!