HotmailNew bachelorette parties are breaking tradition
 |
 TODAY Parents plea for return of missing daughter Nov. 14: It’s been nearly a month since Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington went missing from a rock concert. As police release new information, NBC’s Amy Robach sits down with Morgan’s parents, Dan and Gil Harrington. |
 | First person |
 |
Of course, some brides do prefer to pamper themselves closer to home. “She’s just not the partying type,” says Colleen Syron about her cousin Janine LaPine, for whom Colleen planned a surprise bachelorette party in Chicago last September. “And her maid of honor was her 18-year-old sister.” So Colleen hired the company mobileSPA to create an elegant at-home affair, with pedicures, facials and catered drinks and appetizers that all 13 ladies were excited about. The company customized everything based on Janine’s preferences (supplied by Colleen), even creating a signature pink “Janini-tini” raspberry cocktail, inspired by the bride’s favorite color and flavor.
A massage therapist herself, Andrea Lohman of Northport, NY, knew that spending time at a spa was one thing she did not want for her bachelorette party. Instead, Andrea and her pals hired Marc Weiss, the multitalented "DJ Chef," who’s been featured on Food Network and MTV, to spin tunes and host a festive cooking lesson at a friend’s home. “He brings his DJ equipment and all the food, so it’s pretty unique,” explains Andrea. She and Weiss had chosen a tropical theme for the night, so the ladies enjoyed margaritas while he played island and reggae music; then they all headed to the kitchen to prepare the meal: coconut-crusted chicken, salad with mango dressing, and chocolate-Kahlua-banana bread pudding. “It was a party atmosphere,” says Andrea, “but it was more of an intimate setting, so it was a wonderful way to catch up with my friends — people still talk about it.”
Katie Tuttle of San Rafael, CA, was also amazed at the lengths to which her close friends went for her bachelorette party in Lake Tahoe. Her matron of honor, Michelle Ghilotti Mandel, planned the perfect vintage ’50s theme weekend, and really got creative: elaborately decorating the rented vacation home in pink and black, and stocking it with period records and candy, personalized cups and napkins, and written messages from all the girls who could not attend. Michelle even created handmade invitations. (It was a talent she soon parlayed into a successful couture invitation business, Ghilotti Ink.) Katie was treated to a manicure and massage on Saturday before all the women, decked out in coordinating pink monogrammed shirts, boarded a party bus to the famed restaurant Garwoods, on the lake’s north shore. Gambling and dancing at nearby casinos and nightclubs rounded out the night.
When Katie woke up early Sunday morning, she sat on the deck writing thank-yous. "I wanted my friends to know right then how special it had been and how much I appreciated it," she says. “They really made me feel like an honored guest and took into account what I like for every detail.” Then, she laughs, “I saved everything and scrapbooked it all!”
This content originally appeared in Elegant Bride magazine. For more wedding tips, visit Brides.com
- Discuss Story On Newsvine
-
Rate Story:
View popularLowHigh - Instant Message
MORE FROM WEDDINGS |
 Weddings Section Front |
| Add Weddings headlines to your news reader: |
Sponsored links
Resource guide