Epic Bachelorette Party Ideas [10 Steps To Plan One]

Want to plan the most epic bachelorette party for the bride-to-be but all out of ideas? 

Well, you've come to the right place.

Not only do we have some epic bachelorette party ideas to share with you, but we have an idea for every type of bride ranging from the extremely low-key to the wildly unconventional. 

In this blog we will share with you: 

• Bachelorette Party FAQs
• Bachelorette Party Ideas That Are Low-key
• Bachelorette Party Ideas For The Wildly-Adventurous
• 10 Key Steps To Planning The Perfect Bachelorette Party

Bachelorette Party FAQs

1. What's the point of a bachelorette party?

Some people feel that the mark your wedding day is a day like "Armageddon" where clouds of doom will loom over you and consume the abundance of happiness you have. 

This could not be more further from the truth.

Although marriage is the closing chapter of your single life, it is also the beginning of an exciting and wonderful journey with your spouse-to-be and for most people, it will transcend the happiness you would've had as a single person.

The point of having a bachelorette party (also known as hen party) is to pay tribute to your single life, rejoice at the fact that you have found the love of your life, have tons of epic fun, and who better to celebrate all of this with than your closest and dearest friends.

It is also a time for you to get away from the stresses of planning a wedding, to relax and completely unwind.

Having this view towards to your bachelorette party will simply make this occasion a lot more meaningful and enjoyable (and epically memorable if you follow our guide 😉). 

2. Do you have to bring gifts to a bachelorette party?

Bachelorette party gifts are certainly not compulsory, but they are a kind gesture to show the bride-to-be that you are grateful for having her as your friend and that you value the role she plays in your life. 

After all, which girl wouldn't love a thoughtful gift? Whether it's a gift to contribute to the event's activities or a gift nurtured with sentimentality, it would definitely make the bride-to-be feel all the more special and appreciative of all those around her. 

If you need some help on deciding what gifts would be fun or thoughtful, check out the awesome list of bachelorette party gift ideas we've put together. 

3. Who pays for what at a bachelorette party?

Typically, all those that are involved in the attendance of the bachelorette party should contribute towards the event's expenses. 

The maid of honour together with the bride-to-be's closest friends (usually bridesmaids), should budget and plan for the event's activities, and also let the bachelorette party guests know that they have to chip in to cover the costs. 

The bride-to-be can also pitch in to cover the costs of the party but is usually exempted from the contribution as the party is given by her friends to honour her.

4. What is the difference between a bridal shower and a bachelorette party?

A bridal shower is a more formal setting event, kind of like an engagement party but just for girls.

The guests usually consist of family members and friends, and the bride-to-be is showered with gifts and a speech to wish her well on her new endeavour. 

A bachelorette party is an informal event where the bride-to-be gets to spend some quality time with all her best girlfriends (can include some family members as long as they're totally awesome), where she gets to be totally carefree and not stress about her wedding plans, let loose and unwind with a few drinks, and have tons of fun with her girls. 

Bachelorette Party Ideas That Are Low-key

1. The All Rejuvenating Spa Day

It's no secret every girl loves to be pampered, and even more so made to feel beautiful and special particularly in the days leading up to her wedding. 

It is for this reason that bachelorette parties in the spa have become so increasingly trendy. 

After all, you get to destress and disconnect with the stresses of wedding planning, enjoy intimate conversations with your closest of friends, and generally feel more beautiful, uplifted and happy after a good pamper session. 

You can either opt to have a mobile spa team treat the bride tribe at their place of residence or book in at a luxury spa. 

Choose a day where you can book a spa break and go all out by indulging in several treatments. Don't forget to include good food and cocktail drinks, perhaps pop-open a bottle of champaign to make the occasion even more special. 

2. Wine Tasting

Host a wine tasting bachelorette party at home or a hotel. 

Choose between 4 – 6 different variety of wines to be tasted and you can always add more bottles of wine for a larger crowd. 

Once you have your wine selection tied down, select tasty bites to go with your wine and lay them out on a charcuterie board. Tasty bites include a variety of meats, cheese, nuts, olives and crackers.

You can also add in some sweet treats like chocolate as they often complement wine tasting. 

Other supplies you will need are wine glasses, napkins, toothpicks, wine bottle opener, a spittoon, and a decanter if your wine selection consists of highly tannic and full-bodied wines that need time to aerate.

If you don't have much experience in wine tasting yourself, you can always hire a sommelier (a knowledgeable wine professional) who can come over for a few hours to teach everyone about wine tasting.

Make the event even more fun by including a fancy dinner, and introduce bachelorette party games while the sipping is going on. 

Lastly, give a thank you memento to all the guests who attended. A customized wine bottle opener would be a great choice, as they would reminisce of the awesome time they had with the bride-to-be every time they used it.

3. Bachelorette Slumber Party

The slumber party is an old-time friendly favourite.

You can throw a girl's sleepover at an Airbnb beach house destination or at the convenient of your own home (if you are on a small budget). 

To make it "bachelorette party-worthy", simply decorate the residence with theme items you have selected from your local party shop, and this will set the perfect scene for a bachelorette party sleepover.

The girls can carry along their comfy pillows, and dress up in their favourite pair of PJs.

A Bluetooth speaker with your favourite songs can be fun to dance and sing along to. 

Don't forget to include some snacks, comfort foods, and your favourite drinks.

You can spend some quality time with the bride squad by participating in bachelorette party games, telling fun stories, manicures and face masks, popcorn and chick flicks. 

As for chick flicks, we recommend the following; How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Wedding Crashers, Father of the Bride and The Notebook.

4. Go Glamping

If you love nature, you will love the idea of an ultimate weekend escape from the city to go glamping with your girlfriends.

Glamping essentially involves the activities of camping with some of the comforts and luxuries of home. 

There are so many beautiful places in South Africa where you can indulge in natures breath-taking views.

Pick a luxury glamping tent or lodge that is private and set on its unique spot within the campsite. 

Consider a camping site that has many activities around, just to keep your options open. 

Some awesome activities include forest walks or mountain range hikes, viewing archaeological and paleontological findings in Limpopo, game drives to see the Big Five at Kruger National Park, or whale watching just south-east of Cape Town. 

5. Yoga Retreat

A yoga retreat is another great idea to have a getaway from the hustle and bustle of planning your dream wedding, and focus on the development of your mental and physical wellbeing. 

Get some total relaxation by booking your girls in a luxurious yoga and wellness centre.

If you love wildlife, you could also combine a yoga retreat with a safari. 

If you are looking to get in touch with your inner zen, consider a luxury yoga retreat centre that offers a 7-day package that includes daily yoga sessions and full use of their spa so you can pamper yourself beautiful. 

Enjoy meditation, yoga and eating healthy food with your besties while being surrounded by nature's serene bliss. 

Bachelorette Party Ideas For The Wildly-Adventurous

1. The Naughty Scavenger Hunt

Scavenger hunts are a great way to spice things up if you fancy a night out clubbing or bar hopping. 

So how does a scavenger hunt work? In a bachelorette scavenger hunt, you will have to draw up a few to-do-lists and give this to all the participants of the bachelorette party to action. 

You can divide your group into teams. The team that completes a to-do-list, wins. The team that loses, drinks or buys everyone a round of shots.  

Have your bride squad dress up in their favourite mini dress (matching dresses would be cute), and have the bride-to-be wear a custom little sash so she stands out. 

Pick a club or bar that's close to where you are sleeping over. Don't forget to organise a sober driver to chauffeur you around – these fun nights can get you alcohol thirsty!

The activities on the to-do-list can get be as daring or naughty as you like, it's all up to you to make the activities fun for everyone to enjoy. 

Here are a few naughty examples of to-dos that we put together for you:

• Ask the bartender to come up with a special drink that is "the bride's favourite." Then start promoting the drink up around the bar and convince strangers to order it by name (e.g. I'll have the "Jessy's Smoulder"). 
• Get a guy's phone number
• Ask a stranger (guy) to give you sex advice and write it on a napkin
• Dance on the bar
• Get a cute guy to give the bride a lap dance
• Slap a stranger's booty
• Take a photo of a guy's tattoo that can be seen publicly. 

The list is endless really. Just keep it legal, have fun and take lots of photos. 

To make the occasion even more memorable, finish the night off with a karaoke sing along to the bride-to-be's favourite song.

2. Boat Charter Bachelorette Party

If you are in the mood for a wild nautical adventure, consider throwing a bachelorette party on a luxury boat. 

South Africa has some awesome boat charters ranging from captained catamarans to luxury motor yachts. You can also opt for a river cruise on the Vaal. 

Discuss the details with your bride squad crew before booking in with the boat cruise. Decide on a nautical theme for your at-the-sea party, which route will you be taking, and what activities you will be partaking in. 

You can bring your food if you wish but its most convenient to book in a full-carter service that includes food. This way you only have to worry about bringing the decor and ensuring that all the guests are on board before the boat sets sail. 

Get the girls to wear matching tanks or swimsuits with sailor hats. 

You can cruise to beautiful spots in your area, decide to go snorkelling, dance to the DJ's music, or tan in sun for hours while drinking cocktails. Don't forget to throw in some fun bachelorette party games that everyone will enjoy. 

Cruising on a lake or sailing the open seas while sipping on cocktails with your BFFs will surely be a bachelorette party that everyone will be talking about for the years to come.

3. The Adrenalin Adventurous Bachelorette 

Dining, drinking, and dancing are the most common elements of a bachelorette party. 

Well, what if bride-to-be and her besties prefer something with a little bit more of an adrenalin rush? We have some great ideas that you can incorporate for the bachelorette occasion:

• Bungee jumping at Bloukrans Bridge, situated at the border between the Eastern and the Western Cape. This bungee is not for the faint-hearted. It holds the record of being the world's highest commercial bungee jumping at 216 metres above the Bloukrans River. If you are situated on the east coast of South Africa, try the Wild Swing at Oribi Gorge in KwaZulu-Natal. You will stand at the top of a ledge at Lehr's waterfall, and leap to a depth of a 165-meter gorge where you will swing from one side to the other.

• Shark Cage Diving at the waters of the Western Cape. Come face to face with the ocean's largest predatory fish, the Great White. You don't need to have any diving experience for this – all you need to have is a lot of courage!

• Skydiving. This is one of the most thrilling experiences you will ever experience and all you have do is sit in a plane, wait until you reach your diving altitude…and jump! There are many places in SA where to can do skydiving, so we are not going to be too specific on the location here. But wherever you decide to skydive from, you are bound to enjoy the fantastic climate and spectacular views. Get the feeling of being on top of the world and make it one of the most memorable experiences of your life.

• White water rafting. South Africa is the home to some awesome torrential rivers where you can experience the thrills and excitement of a rough and adrenaline-packed white water rafting trip. Whether an expert or a novice under professional you will be able to experience hours of an enjoyable and challenging white water rafting adventure.

These are four of the most thrill-seeking adventures that we picked for you.

To get the most out of your weekend, you could also pair any of these adventures with other fun activities such as paintball, zip-lining, indoor mountain climbing, quad biking, or just chilling at a water theme park.

Just pick a location that gives you the most fun adventure alternatives, take photos, have an awesome dinner with the girls.

This adrenalin-packed adventure will certainly make a bachelorette party unforgettable. 

10 Key Steps To Planning The Perfect Bachelorette Party

Step 1. Brainstorm with the bride-to-be (general details). 12 weeks before…

• Discuss the bride-to-be's comfort levels. Would she like to have a low-key or a wildly adventurous bachelorette party? 
• Consider the guests she would like to invite and discuss their comfort levels. 
• Decide on duration, whether a night out vs weekend away. 
• Discuss the main party theme. Indoor activity, outdoor activity, boat cruise, night out at club etc.
• Decide on a destination, local or abroad? Which province locally?
• Set a preliminary date, preferably between 1 & 3 weeks before the "Big Day". The more intense the partying, the further away the bachelorette party date should be from the Wedding Day.

Step 2. Brainstorm with the bride squad (finer details) 11 weeks before…

• Debrief the bride squad on preferences you discussed with the bride-to-be.
• Hone in on the main party theme. 
• Hone in on the destination. Ensure that there are many other activities to keep the bride squad entertained in the destination of choice e.g. good selection of restaurants, adventure doings, swimming pools, spa centres, night clubs etc. 
• Discuss other "mini activities" such as adult entertainment, list of games, to compliment the bachelorette party. The bride and guests don't have to know the details of the activities, but they need to be comfortable enough with them to partake. Comfort level should have been discussed in Step 1 already.
• Discuss theme décor and outfits.
• Discuss favours to give to all the guests that attend.
• Draft a budget 
• Draft a guest list

Step 3. Confirm guests that are attending. 10 weeks before…

• Send a rough itinerary to all the guests. Include an approximate budget.
• Let the guests know that they have to contribute to the budget. Either a fixed contribution fee from each guest or whatever each guest can contribute (only if the bride-to-be and the bridesmaids can fit the rest of the bill if necessary).
• Request RSVPs
• Confirm all guests that will attend and contribute towards the budget. If the budget is bust, consider shopping around for better deals especially for groups. As the last resort, you may consider scaling down on the quality of some of the activities or dropping some activities altogether. If this doesn't work, you will have to reconsider to start planning from scratch, but at least this time you will have a budget in mind. 
• Get feedback from guests on food and drinks preferences so you can use this as a guideline if you are going to purchase these items.

Step 4. Finalise the "big ticket" items. 8 weeks before…

• Confirm and set the event date with the bride-to-be and all guests.
• Finalise the budget.
• Collect money from all the attending guests upfront.
• Book the main party event
• Make hotel or homestay arrangements
• Make transport arrangements for the group
• Check if any other reservations need to be booked in advanced.

Step 5. Create hype. 4 weeks before…

• Create a WhatsApp/social media group for all the guests. 
• Share with the group previews of what's to come. Don't divulge all the details, but show them enough to keep them excited about the event.

Step 6. Shop for party compliments and miscellaneous items. 3 weeks before…

• Identify who will be involved in this activity (members of the bride squad)
• Purchase theme décor, outfits, favours for guests.
• Purchase party games.
• Purchase food, drinks, if necessary. 
• Purchase additional bachelorette party accessories e.g. veil, sash, group gift for the bride.

Step 7. Book reservations. 2 weeks before…

• Set reservations for the group at restaurants, lounges, clubs, spa and wellness centres, yoga retreats, other activities etc.
• Finalise transport arrangements with Uber, limo, party bus etc.

Step 8. Create an Itinerary to keep the event logistics well organised. 2 weeks before…

• List where you are going to go.
• List the day and times you will be there.
• List how you will get to and from your destinations.

Step 9. Send out the invitations. 1 week before…

• Create an electronic invite (you can use MS PowerPoint) and sent out to all the guests.
• Include the itinerary in the invite.
• Give the fiancé an idea of what's going on, he may wish to surprise his bride-to-be with a gift or some flowers. 

Step 10. Have fun & make memories. D-day…

• Create a bachelorette party hashtag for social media shares! 
• Decide with the girls on what should be kept private and what can be posted on social media.

So there you have it, our eight great bachelorette party ideas and 10 key steps to planning the perfect bachelorette party. 

If you have used any of the ideas we put together in this blog, let us know how it went.

Or if you have tried something completely different, tell us your story…we would love to write about it!