jessi’s {nyc} bachelorette party.

Yesterday we celebrated my best friend Jessi’s last big hoorah as a single lady.

As the Maid of Honor, the bachelorette party was one of my main responsibilities. I’ll be honest – I wasn’t sure how to impress someone who has worked in events for 10 years and knows the ins and outs of a good party! But, I think I did a decent job 🙂

These days most bachelorette parties are some sort of vacation or getaway, but I knew I couldn’t throw that together with Jessi and Parker’s short engagement. Instead, I decided to do a full “staycation” for Jessi right here in New York.

Jessi’s love language is gifts, so I made sure to have little surprises for her throughout the day. On Friday morning, I got her some coffee and gave her the first gifts – some fun “attire” to wear throughout the day. Let’s be real – you can’t not have at least some cheesy bachelorette props!

Then I told her to pack a bag with clothes to go out at night and her hair/makeup stuff. I didn’t want her to know we were staying overnight somewhere, so I separately packed her a toothbrush, pajamas, and outfit for the next day.

And then – we were off! We hopped in a cab to our first destination, Eden Day Spa, where we met up with most of the other bridesmaids for a few hours of pampering.

The spa was so perfect. The bridesmaids and I treated Jessi to a 60-minute massage, manicure, and pedicure. I got an hour massage myself and it was amazing – definitely one of the best I’ve had in the city.

After our massages we headed to a reserved room for our group, where we enjoyed a complimentary lunch and champagne. It was great because anyone who got mani/pedis got them right there in the room with the others of us who were just hanging out. It was so nice to spend a few hours relaxing with the girls!

We also gave Jessi her next gift – a beautiful key necklace that Rhema picked out. So far we had a very happy bachelorette on our hands 🙂

After the spa, it was time for the next surprise. I had us start walking towards Saturdays and told Jessi I was going to get her favorite latte. But our destination was actually on the way – the Mondrian.

The Mondrian is one of the nicest hotels in the city, and I knew Jessi had never stayed there, so I booked us a room for the night.

It was beautiful! And felt like a great little escape from our normal city life.

After a quick run for that latte, I gave Jessi another gift.

Come on, you’ve got to have the tiara veil!

We got all dolled up and ready to go…

…and then it was time to head to dinner. I initially wanted to take Jessi somewhere she had never been, but I knew that having all of her girl friends there to celebrate was more important. It’s not exactly easy to find a restaurant that could accommodate 30+ people with our budget, so I decided to have the dinner at one of FreelyBe’s partner venues, 121 Fulton Street.

It ended up being the absolute perfect place for dinner. We had the whole back dining area reserved for us, so it was private and intimate.

The bridesmaids and I decorated the tables with some beads and Ring Pops (get it?), which turned out to be quite the hit.

The restaurant provided a great prix fixe menu for us, and all of the food was amazing.

After dinner Jessi opened her (ginormous amount of) lingerie gifts. It turned out to be the perfect girlie party with all of her closest friends.

When dinner was over, the night had really just begun. A smaller group of us headed to Jessi’s favorite club, Southside, where the music was loud and champagne was flowing. The groom may have made an appearance too, shhh 😉

After a great night’s sleep back at our hotel, Jessi, Leah and I had a fun morning of recapping the night, more Saturdays lattes, and brunch at Delicatessen.

All in all, it was an amazing bachelorette party from start to finish. It really was an honor to give my best friend one last big party before getting married. Love you, Jessi!

What’s your favorite thing about bachelorette parties?
Tell me about the best one you’ve been to!