Bachelorette Beach Weekend- Part I

Well, I'm happy to say that we survived the bachelorette beach weekend. There were zero causalities, although it may have been questionable for a few hours. Successful, but questionable. There was fun to be had by everyone. And in the end, the bride felt loved on and celebrated to the nth degree, and that's exactly what we had hoped for all weekend!

I was lucky enough to arrive the night before the mayhem began. The bride and I enjoyed one of my favorite Charleston delicacies, White Thai from Westbrook Brewery (thanks again, T!), and we got to catch up for a few hours in a quiet and quaint beach house. The next morning started off right with a quick run to Chick-Fil-A for our morning fuel, and then we were off to wherever the day would take us.

There's just something so fun about already being somewhere and awaiting the arrival of new, fun faces. It sort of felt like the Real World when the first two cast mates arrive and then get to anxiously wait for everyone to walk through the door for intros, hugs, cheers, "which room should I sleep in?", etc... And for the bride, the arrival of a sparkly (literally flashing lights and all) "Bride to Be" mug, mixed with her favorite adult beverage, was all it took to get her party started right and quickly.

There are a million little details that I could share with you, and I wish you'd care enough to read all of them so I could relive a bit of the festivities selfishly, but I wouldn't dare do that to y'all. You're welcome.

So, as you're probably painfully aware by now, I love me some lists and a list you shall get instead.

Without further ado, I bring you "Life Lessons from a Bachelorette Party":

• Weddings are really one of the rare moments in your life when all of the people you love most gather from near and far to celebrate with you. When else do you get to have so many different friend groups crash together quite like you do when you're getting married?  It's such a cool and rare experience. Soak it up!
• Meeting some of your friend's friends can be a cool experience. I mean, if the bride is already friends with you then she must have exceptional taste in humans, right? What I learned is this...ask to meet your friend's sooner rather than later. Chances are you may just end up loving them too and end up thinking "oh man, I can't believe I missed out on knowing you for the last ___ years!"
• When sending someone out to purchase coffee supplies for a house full of women, maybe send someone who actually drinks coffee. Sending a non-coffee drinker to the store is just setting that poor girl up to fail. On our two attempts, the first person came home with a tiny, instant coffee container, while the second showed up with whole beans. We tried to use the blender to grind the beans and I'm sure you can guess how that turned out. #epiccoffeefail #heywetried
• Cannon balls into a pool with your clothes on are still fun at any age.
• When the weather man says there's a 80% chance of rain all day he's a liar. Period. You can't keep the sun down when there's a pool party to be had!
• Sitting in a tiny living room with 8 girls still in their PJs can be some of the best entertainment for hours.
• Walking home from a concert in the rain and dark is a lot father than you think it's going to be. Be prepared with flip flops and your iPhone's GPS even if it is only a few blocks away.
• Pizza at 1am is always a fantastic idea.
• Watch out for slippery pot holes in gas station parking lots.
• Having a nurse amongst the group is always a bonus for splinter removal and random "does this look like I fell last night or is it a rash?" kind of scenarios. Hypothetically speaking, of course.
• Making sure the bride has the time of her life, but also lives to tell the tale can be a juggling act. When tempted to buy a bachelorette/bachelor party a round of shots, just say no. Just high five them or something, unless you want to be the one on damage control duty later. K, thanks.
• When asked by the band "when is a good time to give the bride a shout out and song dedication before she pukes?" a solid answer is "Um, yesterday".

And to keep this party going for one more day, tomorrow I'll share part II on how drastically bachelorette weekends vary between your 20's and 30's. I shall entitle it "You know you're old when..."