Planning the Perfect Bachelorette Weekend in 30A
a guide to save you time & money while planning
Have you planned a bachelorette weekend before? I hadn’t until this one and man did, I underestimate it. I mean, I am a perfectionist, so I should’ve seen that playing into planning, but I spent A LOT of time researching and playing scenarios out in my head. So, after everything I’ve learned and seeing the success of the weekend, I want to share with you easy step by steps on how to plan this trip too!
The prep time for this trip was 1 month. So truly anyone can replicate this as long as you have a place to stay and an amazon prime account (bless you Jeff Bezos for Prime).
Overall things to note about the weekend: we aren’t heavy drinkers, or a rowdy bunch, we had so much fun but relaxed as well! The colors we chose were pastels, a lot of white, and gold. The theme was tropical, but it was super subtle and not tacky tropical. The goal all weekend was to have a beautiful environment for fun and relaxation. When it came to planning, I grew up an hour and a half away from 30A, in Pensacola, so I was already pretty familiar with where we wanted to be and what might be ideal before researching.
Itinerary
I was super pumped about how the itinerary came together. With beach time, pool time, a dress up night, quality time, and sunsets, I knew this would shape out to be the perfect weekend for our bride!
These are just some of the activities that made sense for our group and the vibe we were going for—I have tons of other recommendations though!
For making the cute itinerary to print and send, I used Canva! My go to for all things graphic design. It has the most amazing templates and capabilities.
Airbnb
Like any good trip. This one started with a great location! We personally knew we wanted to stay in Rosemary, Alys, or Seaside, and that we would need a house that accommodated at least 12. We were looking for a home that didn’t have tacky beach decor- something bright and pretty.. a little modern beach house! We knew we would spend a lot of time in a common space like the living room hanging out so a big living space was also important. Those specifications narrowed our search down. We were looking to spend under $275 for the location/per person.
We ended up staying here:
This Airbnb ended up so much better than we could’ve imagined! It came with the golf cart, was steps away from the resort-like pool, restaurants, and near beach access (0.5mi). I can not recommend this spot at (Prominence) the Hub enough! The porch was even big enough we had some meals out there and roasted marshmallows in a fire pit we brought. This amazing Airbnb and a few others along 30A I recommend can be found here. Depending on your price range and your group size there should be one to accommodate your party!
Décor
After finding the big and beautiful space I knew I really wanted to do some great decorations. The space was beautiful alone and didn’t necessarily need much but if you have the time and budget I would highly recommend working on the decorations! Everyone commented all weekend on them. The vision for the house was a lot of balloons! I feel like balloons are the most cost effective and elegant way to decorate a space. Steamers are cheap and quick, yes, but not quite as grand. Also, you NEED a balloon pump for this. Do not skip out on $20 and blow them up yourself.. we easily had 250+ balloons and wouldn’t have survived without a pump lol!
After finding all of my inspo on Pinterest, I got down to what I needed- you’ll see the shopping list below with the pictures from our weekend!
Decor included:
Balloon arch kit (2)
Iridescent photo backdrop (1 set of 2)
Pearl balloons and Pink balloons for around the house
Life-saving Balloon Pump
Why I chose what I chose for decor:
I really felt like the decor I picked was the most elegant and matched our color scheme/mood. We aren’t a typical bachelorette party that is out of the house 23/24 hours of the day partying.. We were going to really enjoy the space- and we did! I cannot rave enough on how these decorations elevated the whole experience!
Welcome bags
So, the idea behind the welcome bags was to get the girls stuff they would use again that didn’t have “bachelorette” or “bridesmaid” plastered all over it. There is no right or wrong amount to spend on this portion of the plan- every Bach weekend is different and maybe your group would choose to put this money towards a boat ride in Destin or something else. This is just what we wanted to do! We had the bags put together and sitting on the dining room table for everyone to open together and it was honestly so fun. Like Christmas for a girl’s weekend!
Included:
Clear plastic tote (similar is linked. Original is Etsy)
Pajama Set for PJ party night
Face Mask to go with PJ’s
White medical mask for safety when in public
Sash, veil, and pin (for the bride)
If you’re looking for something pre-made and assembled, I love the Kate Aspen survival Kits- there’s truly one for every type of bachelorette weekend! If we got one, I think it would’ve been from here because they are SO cute!
Kate Aspen also has a line of Bachelorette gifts, if you’re looking for cute bath bombs, wine glasses, bottles, etc.
My Wedding Favors is another great resource for bachelorette custom wine labels, cute signs and decor, sashes, favor bags, and more- for a lot of your bachelorette weekend needs can be found here!
Meal Prep
Because we wanted to splurge on the house, we decided to go a little more cost effective for meals! In doing so, we prepped a lot back home and then drove it down in coolers. Having prepped meals, also allowed us more time to do activities and have fun instead of waiting in line at restaurants. We had 1 really nice dinner/dress up night out that we planned to splurge on dinner and drinks, everything else was prepped food. The meals we made and some we considered making were:
I highly recommend at least bringing lunches or breakfasts if you are trying to be budget conscious, but again, it just comes down to where you want to splurge! For us the nice house was so worth it!
Restaurants
If you are looking to have a few nice meals out, I have a few recommendations from all the research I did on my own! You cannot choose wrong. I hope next time I’m in town I get to try some of these others restaurants. One tip I have is to book a reservation as soon as you possibly decide what days you’re going on the trip! The reservations are very hard to get, if the place even takes them! If you’re going somewhere like Havana that doesn’t take reservations, I recommend just getting there when they open to avoid a long wait! This is what we did on our night out and had 0 wait time.
The Pearl (Havana)
Pescado
Caliza
Bud & Alley’s
Surfing Deer
George’s
Great Southern
Big Bad Breakfast
La Crema (dessert)
Cafe Thirty-A
Other ideas for the weekend in 30A
Alice’s table: floral arrangement activity.
30A Blaze: bonfire set up.
The Rental Shop 30A: golf carts, paddle boards, bikes, bonfires, etc.
Elisabeth Farris (Elisabeth and Butter) for a cookie decorating class.
Farmers market: Open Sundays 9am-1pm.
Swiftlycatered30a: If you are looking for a catered meal one night in.
Parasailing
Jet Ski Dolphin Cruise
General Tips
Don’t drive. Uber or have a driver and van all weekend. A lot of houses come with golf carts which is great for the beach but not when you’re going to dinner! We tried to Uber/lyft but personally we couldn’t get one because either lack of service or lack of drivers?
Have all of your research and reservations done prior to coming because there is terrible phone service there. I often relied on screenshots and notes I had on my phone.
Be flexible! Yes, set an awesome itinerary and schedule for the weekend, but use it as a guideline. Some afternoons you might be too tired for extra beach time and you have to roll with that! Sometimes a little spontaneity is really fun.
Buy way more water bottles than you think you could possibly need. Yes. Do this. We went to the store multiple times thinking we were good on water, and on champagne, but we went back so many times because there is never enough water bottles… or champagne.
Give the bride multiple ways to accessorize herself so she could stand out but not feel the need to wear everything that screamed “I’m the bride!” For instance, ours was given a sash, a cute hair barrette, and a veil. She used them all as she pleased through the weekend!
Get creative with your theme and outfits- for us, our bride really wanted to wear red on her night out instead of the traditional white/black look.. honestly I think she will start a trend with that look and I’m here for it!
Please let me know if this was helpful for you or if you have any questions at all! I would love to connect with you here or over on Instagram! Here’s some bonus photos from the weekend. Cheers, and happy planning!