Hey ladies, I am starting to think about all of the pre-wedding parties that are typically associated with weddings and wanted to get everyone's take on when to have certain parties, themes, who to invite, etc. There's a forum for pre-wedding parties but I put this in here because I'm more curious about what other April 2013 brides are doing and I'm sure some of you will have some great input:-) Below are my ideas:
Bachelorette Party: Early/Mid-March in Charleston. Activities to include shopping, bar-hopping one night, carriage tour or walking tour of historic district, mani-pedis, brunch at Toast, etc. One of my BMs lives there so we're all going to save some money and crash at her place. I chose Charleston because it's relatively central to all of us and it's my favorite city so far :-)
Bridal Shower: Late March/Early April in Pittsburgh. FMIL has volunteered to host this. I'm thinking an Alphabet theme that I saw from the Martha Stewart wedding site. According to FMIL, we can't have it in early March because a lot of people won't come out if the weather is yucky.
Bridal Brunch: Day before the wedding(April 27th) at Lake Gaston. I'm not sure if we'll go out or if my mom and I will make a custom brunch to-order for everyone. I've got 8 bridesmaids and one flower girl so that would be a lot of pancakes ;-)
Rehearsal Dinner: Night before. Beachy/tropical themed and casual(I think). We're having it at a local restaurant that has a gazebo separate from the rest of the restaurant that overlooks Lake Gaston. We will probably hand out gifts to our bridal party and parents after dinner. I'm thinking there will be about 45 people at this to include the wedding party and their significant others, officiant and his wife, our parents, his grandmothers, and US!
Alright, show me whatcha got!!