Weddingbee Blog

Hive, friends are the best…my BFFs planned an amazing hen party (or bachelorette party) in Austin one weekend in September. Maid of Honor N and Maid of Honor A, my two BFFs from Seattle, flew into Austin on Friday afternoon. I drove to Austin with Bridesmaid H and Bridesmaid R to pick them up from the airport, and the weekend shenanigans began.

Teehee. A scene of hens on the loose in the movie Chicken Run. / Photo via Hollywood Jesus

A and N were exhauuuusted from waking up at 4:00 AM to catch their flight to Austin, so instead of going out to the bars, we stayed in Friday night. We stocked up on snacks and pink champagne from a nearby grocery store and spent the remainder of the night at the hotel. My old friend S, an Austin native, came over with the game Cards Against Humanity in tow. It’s basically a dirty version of the game Apples to Apples, and it turned out to be the perfect icebreaker, since not everyone knew each other. I am totally ordering the game for Mr. Wallaby and me, too!

We woke up starving on Saturday morning. Austin being a college town, it was hard to find a breakfast spot that wasn’t packed at 11:00 AM on a Saturday. We decided to suck it up and wait in line at the local favorite Kerbey Lane Cafe, and I’m so glad we did because the gingerbread pancakes were delishhhh. Afterward, we did some shopping on Guadalupe Street.

On Saturday afternoon, we drove up some twisty, windy roads to one of the highest points in Austin: Mount Bonnell. There’s a beautiful lookout over Lake Austin and downtown:

View from Mount Bonnell / Personal photo

Bridesmaid H, Bridesmaid R, and me at Mount Bonnell / Personal photo

We had wanted to go tubing down the Guadalupe River or go for a swim at Barton Springs, but the weather wasn’t cooperating. Storm clouds rapidly started to form soon after we arrived at Mount Bonnell, so we sought cover at Friendie S’s apartment.

All of the girlie gossip and shopping wore us out, so by dinnertime we were hungry once again. We all found something yummy from the food trucks on South Congress, and happily dined at the picnic tables and swatted away pesky bees. We then headed back to our hotel to get ready for the night out.

Friendie S enjoying a foot-long corndog. Yes, such a thing does exist, and yes, it was amazing. / Personal photo

The night before we left for Austin, I picked out a cheap white dress from Forever 21, and I’m so glad I did because it made my bride-to-be ensemble. With a silly costume veil and a “bachelorette” sash, I got plenty of attention from onlookers at the bars on 6th Street—we got all kinds of hilarious comments! We also put on unicorn temporary tattoos—glow-in-the-dark, nonetheless—and those were a pretty good conversation starter. Here’s my whole look:

Total goofball bride-to-be / Personal photo

My favorite moment of the night was dancing at the second bar we went to. The DJ played a flurry of ’90s pop hits, and I am a big sucker for ’90s music. I was wearing a light-up “bride-to-be” pin, and people began pinning dollars to my dress. I ended up making enough to pay for our two cabs home at the end of the night—winning! Someone even pinned their campus parking ticket to my collection of dollar bills. That was pretty awkward; I’m not sure whether I should pay it for them or tear it up. It made for quite a laugh the next morning at breakfast, when I emptied my purse onto the breakfast table and re-discovered the ticket:

Evidence of the night before: Lip gloss, stick-on mustaches, Silly Putty, snack mix, and someone else’s parking ticket / Personal photo

All in all, we stayed out of trouble on Saturday night and had a great girls’ night out. We followed it up with a very fulfilling breakfast at the hotel the next morning:

Breakfast of champions, not limited to a Texas-shaped waffle / Personal photo

After packing up and checking out of the hotel on Sunday, we had time for one final adventure: a South Austin Gallery photo-booth party. For $15 a person, we spent over an hour posing in funny costumes in front of a white wall while being photographed by a professional photographer. The concept is similar to the photo booths many couples are having at weddings these days, but instead of pressing a button in an automated machine, we followed the photographer’s suggestions. That was really helpful, because I typically run out of funny expressions and poses after about five minutes! She took over 100 photos and mailed us a CD with all of the edited photos. Here are some of my faves:

My crazy girls and me (I am in the tan and black striped tank.) / Photo by South Austin Gallery

Obligatory jumping photo by South Austin Gallery

Awwww / Photo by South Austin Gallery

So.much.fun. / Photo by South Austin Gallery

Photo by South Austin Gallery

Maid of Honor A, me, and Maid of Honor N / Photo by South Austin Gallery

All in all, I had a great weekend with my closest friends. I was a little shy about being the center of attention all weekend, but these girls made it incredibly fun and relaxed. I could tell from all of the positive text messages I got later on Sunday that everyone had had a great time and hit it off. I felt pretty confident that there would be plenty of camaraderie the weekend of the wedding, and it would be a reunion of sorts. The excitement for November continued to build!

Did you and your friends celebrate your upcoming wedding with a bachelorette party? How did you choose to celebrate?