Stag(ette) or Forget About It!

In the U.K., they call them stag (men) and hen (ladies) parties. I think it's similar in Canada, eh? What I am referring to is a bachelor/bachelorette party. The ever on the ball Mr. Swan already has his planned...sigh. I, on the other hand, am struggling with whether or not to even have one.

I am not sure if I'd like to have the tradtional wild night on the town. I'm in my early 30's and now start to get crabby at around 1am (yes, I know...boo!). Also being me, I just have to have some standards:


1) No stripper - I did it once, and it was fun. I'm not sure if I'm ready for repeat performances.


2) I do want to be able to remember the evening the next day.


3) Since I love food, I'd love to have a meal thrown in there somewhere.


4) I do struggle with how relaxing I want the outing to be because I do want to chill out a bit with my homegirls.


One day while reading Daily Candy, which I hardly read enough, I came across what I would love for bachelorette party:

Soho House NY's Pretty Party. The evening is for up to ten people and includes cocktails, dinner (with wine), two half-hour spa treatments for each person and our own exclusive space from 6pm-12am. Sounds like a plan to me! The only problem is well..this is Soho House, which is a very exclusive place in NYC's Meatpacking District (it's actually members' only club except for certain opportunities to rent out its space such as this one), and it will not come for cheap. I just can't ask my friends to drop a couple benjamins on a night out even though this sounds absolutely fabulous.


I'm still thinking about trying to find a way to incorporate food, maybe a spa thing, maybe some dancing, maybe something else (like a mechanical bull !!) into a nice evening with my friends. I'm also open to the idea of not having a bachelorette party at all. I'll live. I know I'm being a bad bride again, but sue me.


Any suggestions out there? What was the most fun bachelor(ette) party you've ever been to?

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