Being a maid of honor has many responsibilities, but perhaps one of the most important one is to plan the Bachelorette party. There are many things I needed consider
- Budget
- Destination
- Activities
- Trip Length
Of course, it would be amazing to go on a trip of a lifetime, all expenses paid. But really, who has friends with unlimited budget? Maybe there is one or two people in a group that can spend $5k on a vacation, but most people have limited recourses, jobs, no vacation time, or mommy duties.
Weekend Getaway or More? Choosing the Length of Stay
Originally I wanted to take my sis on a cruise for about a week. However, all of her friends had more vacation limitations. Instead I decided that a weekend trip: Friday through Sunday would be the best choice. Most of her friends lived in the bay area, San Jose. So, I wanted to choose a location that would be a short plane ride away (and an affordable plane ride)
Hollywood
Los Angeles is a big city with many different areas to explore. Personally, living in Santa Monica, I would have loved to have the beach and Westside to share with everyone. However, it’s not the best “party area.” I wanted something that would be centrally located so that we wouldn’t have to sit in an hour or more traffic in each direction. Here’s a simple table I made to help (those not familiar with LA)
| City / Area | Type of People | Things to Do |
| Santa Monica / Malibu (West Side) | Healthier / Yoga Like | Beaches, Lounging |
| Downtown | Multi-cultural / hipster | Bars / Foodies |
| Hollywood | Tourists/ Actors | People Watching / Night Clubs |
| K-Town | Hipsters / Asians | KBBQ, late night grub |
| Beverly Hills | Bougie | Shopping |
| Echo Park | Hipsters | Dive Bars, Foodies |
| The Valley / Burbank | Suburbs | Universal City Walk/ Studios |
There are definitely more neighborhoods, and I’m being over the top stereotypical, but the generalization should help decide where to stay.
To complete the “LA experience” I decided to find a Hollywood Hills Mansion. Its where all the shows on E! channel film and it’s close enough to Universal Studios.
Budget
Here’s where it gets tricky. Some people can spend $100+ a night on accommodation. Some want to stay in a hostel. So to combat this, I decided that I could create a survey for all the guests so they could list the amount of money they would be willing to pay. The total amount of money per night would help decide on accommodation. For example, person A is willing to pay $100, person B is willing to pay $75, person C is willing to pay $20. For 3 guests, I have at least $200 a night, not including my share (and my sister’s share). In theory, I thought person C would get a smaller room, versus a person paying $100 a night.
Bargaining with Airbnb
Many people don’t know this, but you can contact Airbnb hosts and ask for a discount. Sometimes if there is a lot of vacancy, they can throw you a bone. One Home in Malibu offered me about $300 off a night.
Reasonable Fees per Night
- Basic House: $300-600
- Hotel room: $150-$400
- Mansion: $600+
Activities – Things to do during a Hen Party
There’s a long list of activities in Los Angeles for Bachelorette parties. For example, here are some of the items I was thinking about doing:
- Universal Studios
- Magic Mountain
- Spa Day (Korean Spa, Glen Ivy, Burke Williams)
- Beach Lounging
- Surf or Paddle Board Lessons
- Food Classes
- Comedy Shows
- Concerts
- Hiking (Griffith Observatory, Hollywood Sign, etc)
- Broadway Show
- Strip Club
- Burlesque Club
- Night Clubs
- Bars / Cocktail Bars
- Museums
In the end it all comes down to what the Bride loves to do. Does she like the outdoors or is she a homebody?
Getting Around in LA
Having a group of 5 or more requires at least 2 rental cars. We had a group of 10 people. I had rented a car that seated 7 people. I was able to pick up and shuffle people around the airport. For dinners and clubs, we decided to leave the rental car at home and take 2 lyft/ubers. This enabled all of us to drink and not worry about DUIs. The average price of an uber ranged from $10-30 per vehicle. Split amongst at least 4 people at a time, it wasn’t too expensive. Being the organizer. I would assign people to use their app to call ubers to break up the cost. One person needs to always delegates these little things. I kept a little log of the prices to make sure that each person paid around the same price.
Being Flexible
You can only plan so much. I tried to plan each day with 2 big activities and at least one place to eat. Everything else would be flexible. Maybe people want to relax or hang out in the hot tub. By making reservations or scheduling a cooking class, I took away the stress of picking one place to eat. Other times, someone could suggest something, or we could eat something at the house.
Making it Memorable
What to tell the bride? My sister is a planner, and she wanted to help plan her own bachelorette weekend. I gave her a rough outline of the weekend, but I tried to give her little surprises throughout the weekend to make it memorable. Thisway she had an idea of what to pack and wear.
The Itinerary
Finally, the bachelorette party weekend had arrived. I flew in a day before to make sure that I could have the rental car and party preparations ready.
Day one – Friday
On Friday afternoon, I picked up have of the group from the airport and took them to the Grove for a quick tour of the outdoor mall and farmers market in the center of Los Angeles. We did some light shopping and picked up some snacks at Trader Joes. Shortly afterwards we went to Hollywood Hills to see our mansion. I picked a place with a rooftop deck and hot tub with sweeping views of the city.
For Dinner – I chose to surprise her with a private Thai cooking class. Our chef arrived with all the ingredients and mini cooking card souvenirs. For the next 2 hours we learned about Thai ingredients, how to properly chop garlic and more. We ate and enjoyed the sunset from the house
Cliché – Strip Club and Dancing
No bachelorette party seems to be complete without a trip to see men stripping off their clothes. I booked a VIP table in the front for my sister at Hollywood men. We were a group of 11 women and 2 gay guys, all excited with our $1s. At first, many people had their doubts if this would be fun. But everyone was happily surprised. We laughed and giggled. The best part was that my sis had a great time. After the club, we headed down the street to a tiki bar, where we ordered fancy cocktails and danced to some 80’s music.
Day Two- Saturday
The next morning, we woke up somewhat early to get ready for our big Day at Universal Studios. My sis is a BIG Harry Potter Fan. Because of my super awesome friend, we were able to get a small discount to tickets to Universal Studios. We went prepared with our Wands ready! By 5 or 6pm, we were worn out and decided to head back to the house for a siesta
In the evening, I planned to take the ladies out to Downtown LA for change of scenary. We went to Bird and Bees for some fancy mixology cocktails. Something a little different. The only snafu was that I forgot to mention that cocktails, although delicious, are somewhat strong in liquour. Philip fell victim to the cosmo cocktail.
Bestia – My absolute Favorite Restaurant
Perhaps my all time favorite restaurant in LA is Bestia. I think it embodies Los Angeles. It’s hidden away in some random area of Downtown LA. Its got high ceilings and brick walls and an open kitchen. We had a large group of people, so I made reservations 60 days in advance and chose to pick a set family style menu. I pre-paid for the bill and had everyone else pay for their own drinks. I kept my fingers crossed that everyone would enjoy it…. And thank god, each person had nothing but compliments on each dish. At the end of the meal, we even took left overs home, so that we could munch on them in the morning! Originally I had planned to go bar hopping after dinner, but everyone was so full and worn out that we just headed back to the house.
Day three- Sunday
The last day! In the morning, I shuttled some peeps to the airport. I purchased some coffee and treats for a light breakfast on the rooftop deck. We sipped on coffee while chatting about the weekend. Finally when everyone was awake and ready, we headed to West Hollywood for some people watching.
Brunch? I wanted to take people out for some brunch, but everyone was not in the mood to drink. Instead, we went to the Shake shack for some burgers and shakes. The last meal of the weekend.
