Alright! Time for the bachelorette party recap. I’m breaking down the trip I planned for my sister Stephanie’s bachelorette party in Fort Lauderdale, FL.
When we were talking about where she wanted to go, her only requirements were a beach setting that was fun and not too expensive. She also wanted to be able to spend time with everyone, and not be out at bars for everything. So, Fort Lauderdale it was!
Due to the number of people going (ended up being 13 total), we knew we needed to rent a house. We also wanted to have our own pool. The one we originally booked actually ended up canceling on us in July, so I had to scramble to find a new one. It actually ended up being perfect, and I’m glad it worked out the way it did. Everything happens for a reason! I can’t find the house on the rental site anymore, but here’s the address in case you want to do some investigating.
This is going to be a long one, but there’s a lot of detail and fun photos ahead!
Thursday
Our flight was at 5am, which is obviously not ideal for me, but we didn’t want to waste the day. So, the whole group (minus two!) was at PIT International bright and early. We had a quick layover in Charlotte before arriving in sunny Florida. The Uber situation at the airport was less than ideal. We had several cancel on a group of five because they couldn’t fit all our luggage, so make sure to account for that. When the third one came, we threw everything in the car so fast and sat with suitcases on our laps. He was NOT happy with us…
My plan upon arrival was to go to the store to get groceries and alcohol, while the rest of the group decorated. A coworker told me about a company called Shipt, that she used to get groceries and alcohol delivered on her bachelorette party. So, during the layover, I signed up and placed an alcohol order. The guy was at our house waiting for us when we arrived. He helped carry everything in. It was amazing. Shipt does have monthly fee, but the first two weeks are free and the delivery fee was only $7! I would have never been able to Uber to a grocery and liquor store for $7. Also, they text you if something you ordered isn’t available and give you options to replace it. The level of service is unmatched, and I highly recommend if it’s available in your area. (I canceled when I got back to Pitt because only like two stores in the area participated.)
After a quick house tour, which you can see on my IG story highlights, and picking rooms, the group was on decoration duty. I wanted to get everything set up so we could show Steph and spend the rest of the day having fun. So, basically I locked her in the bedroom putting together the welcome bags I made, while everyone’s lungs were burning in the living room because of how many balloons and pool floats we had.
Pin the Junk on the Hunk | Bride Hair Clip
The priorities for decorations were a backdrop for photos, pool floats and a few other small touches. I didn’t want to waste money on small stuff that didn’t make a big impact and that weren’t really going to get used. Also, we had to be smart with the decor because we were flying. Steph also didn’t want matching shirts, a lot of penis décor, a sash or basically anything stereotypical, so we kept it modest.
I DIYed the welcome bags. It included an itinerary, eye mask, Chapstick, scrunchie and ring pop. I ordered the itinerary off Etsy, and it was super cute and easy to edit. Rather than making the welcome bags an “Oh Shit Kit,” we did a communal station that had basically everything that we’d ever need. That way, we saved money and then people didn’t waste things they didn’t need.
Itinerary | Bag, mask, lip balm, and ring pop from the Dollar Store
After we showed Steph the décor and told her what the weekend plans were, everyone was pretty eager to get in our suits and lay out by the pool. We placed another Shipt order for breakfast foods, snacks and essentials like cups, and waited for pizza to arrive for lunch.
For dinner, I had a fajita bar catered. The company I used was also amazing. The fajita package came with salad, everything you need to build your own fajitas and assorted deserts. I would recommend selecting a few people less than you actually had because we ended up with a full extra pan of food, even after late night snacking.
Funny story about the balloons… It was supposed to say “Bach & Boujee” rather than “Bride & Boujee” so when we were trying to hang them we didn’t understand why they gave us the wrong letters, and basically had to play a word puzzle to figure it out! LOL
After dinner, we got ready for a night out. Everyone was ready for pics and pregaming around nine. We stomped around to JLo and got a little loose before calling Ubers around 11:30pm.
(I honestly wouldn’t recommend the heels. They are so cute, but they made my toes numb within minutes. Steph bought the same pair, and took a few pics in them, then changed. She actually ended up throwing them out!)
Balloon garland | Fringe background
We headed downtown to America’s Backyard. I read really good reviews on it, and it seemed like a fun outdoor bar. We were surprised when we arrived to see the bar practically empty. There was maybeeeee 15 people there. The bouncers told us that no one really goes out on Thursdays in September??
Panicked, my friend Laura and I went out looking for a place on the street with more people. After unsuccessfully finding a new spot, we got texts to come back to America’s Backyard because it was actually a ton of fun.
The music was great and another big group of girls showed up. We all just wanted to hang out with each other, so we ended up running around the bar like we owned it and even did some bar dancing. Lol
Friday
We were up bright and early for a pole dancing class! After a quick breakfast, we called Ubers for Exotic Workouts, which was about 30 mins from our house. Pulling up, I did not know what to expect since we were in a little strip mall, but it ended up being the best time, and so funny!
We did the two hour class, and in reality, probably could have only done the one. We got a little bit of a late start waiting for everyone to get there, and then at the end we had our instructor show us a dance – which was amazing.
After class, our plan was to quickly change and head to the beach, which was about a block away from our house. Unfortunately, when we got there, it was so windy that it was causing a sandstorm, that actually hurt. So, we headed back to the house to hang by the pool.
For dinner, I went to pick up Chick-Fil-A catering. We didn’t have a large enough order for them to deliver. After we ate, we got ready for the big night out! We had VIP bottle service at Sway Nightclub.
When I was trying to book, it was nearly impossible to get ahold of them. I had three people DMing them on IG, calling the number in their bio, commenting on their photos and calling. Finally I slid into the DMs of one of the bartenders that was tagged in their photos, who directed me to the IG of one of the bottle service girls, and I finally got ahold of someone. For the number of people we had, we needed to order at least three bottles. However, because of all the trouble we had getting ahold of them, they gave us one for free.
Steph’s dress is a House of CB dupe!
Sway has a photographer taking pics, and he wouldn’t let us take a group photo unless she wore the Sway hat. We couldn’t stop laughing at these photos.
Since they were open until 4 am, we didn’t get there until about 12/12:30 am, which ended up being the perfect time to arrive. Club night ended up being everyone’s favorite night.
Saturday
We woke up a little later on Saturday after our big night out. We wanted to spend the whole day on the beach, but again, the sandstorm kept us at the house by the pool. Everyone wore black suits and Steph was in white.
I was actually down for the count most of the day. My body apparently doesn’t like when I pretend to be 21 again drinking Tito’s all night. I was really hungover with an upset stomach so I spent parts of the day napping on the couch. Everyone else got pretty lit out by the pool with all the White Claws and beer we ordered the day before.
Sunglasses | Head Scarf | Sarong | Suit is old from Target
Everyone except Steph and I had a 6am flight Sunday morning, so we wanted to keep Saturday evening pretty low-key. Plus, everyone was getting pretty tired at this point. We had dinner reservations at Italian restaurant Louie Bossi, in Las Olas. It had amazing reviews online and was recommended by three different people as one of the best restaurants in Fort Lauderdale.
When we arrived for our 9pm reservations the place was packed. It was hard of us to all find room to stand together in the front while we waited for our table. We got a seat in the back, which had this really cool almost Alice in Wonderland vibe. One table was inside a large bird cage. Our table was a little tight for 13 people. They said they accommodated large parties, but we really needed another table to all be comfortable. This was just the beginning to less than stellar service.
Now, I can be understanding… It’s a busy Saturday night and you have a 13 top. I used to be a server for four years. BUT there isn’t really any excuse for issues we had. We ordered several bottles of wine to share with the table. We didn’t get our drinks until 9:45pm. Our waitress also forgot a few people’s drinks, which took another 20 mins. We had to keep asking for more water (which was just in bottles) and bread, which we never received.
Everyone was getting pretty hangry at this point. When we finally got our food, some peoples’ were cold. Steph had two Caesar salads that came out without dressing. I then remembered that Steph’s friend from work had contacted the restaurant and paid for a bottle of champagne to come to the table for the toast, to which we hasn’t received yet. So, I was texting her and she called to restaurant, and they said they forgot. That really should have been the first thing we received.
When someone complained to our server, she was less than sympathetic and said we should have told her about the food being cold sooner. Honestly, everyone was so hungry at point that no one wanted to wait for a new meal.
Then, Steph actually got up and complained to the manager. He told her that one bottle of champagne wasn’t really enough for the whole table to enjoy and we should probably get more. ?!?!?!??! It was supposed to just be for a toast and the gesture, not for the whole table to enjoy a full glass. Finally, they brought out a couple comped bottles of champagne, and Steph had also let them know that my birthday was on Monday, so we both got desserts with big sparkles, which was also comped, but really it was too little, too late.
The bottles of champagne went unopened because we were ready to go. I would probably go back, because of the atmosphere and the food was good, but I was less than impressed with the service and the sympathy from the staff, and would never go back with a large party.
After that, we decided to go to a place called American Social, which my friend Laura and I had been to a few years prior. It was so jammed packed that we couldn’t all stand together, so we decided it wasn’t really our scene. I was a little bit shocked at how hard it was to find another spot to plop. We heard that Las Olas was the spot with all the bars and restaurants, but it seemed like the restaurants were starting to die down at this point, and there wasn’t really like a strip of bars like we thought.
There were a few restaurants mixed in with a lot of stores, which were closed. We were anticipating it to be like Southside or Penn Ave in Pitt. We landed on a spot called The Balcony. There was a big booth in the back for all of us to chill in. We played 1-25 and lap dances were given 3 hours before everyone had to leave for the airport. We headed home around 1:30am because we had to pack and clean up.
The weekend was so much fun, and left us with so many laughs. Steph, I hope you had the most amazing time. Love you!!
xx,
Nicole