Scenes from my Bachelorette Party

My bridal attendants are all family, with the exception of my dear friend who introduced me to Chris. Because of this and because of my own personality, it was important that the activities I planned to celebrate my last days of "singledom" (as if living with Chris for five years wasn't a legitimate, committed, and recognizable partnership, in and of itself!) were in good taste and rated PG. There would be no hot pink feather boas. No plastic tiaras. No bedazzled "Mrs. Chris" thong underpants. No cookies or ice cubes in the shape of genitalia. While I don't begrudge those who go that route embracing fully the silliness and fun of bachelorette party culture, I'm 30. And even if I was 21, that route has never been me. Unfortunately, my budget for the event was fairly limited and I forwent the tradition of allowing my attendants to pay. I think they've bore enough economic and planning burdens in finding their own dresses, shoes, etc. with little guidance from me beyond a broad color idea. So a spa weekend or out of town trip were definitely off the table. Instead I opted to book a formal tea service at a local, historic hotel.

The Omni William Penn has hosted tea service in its Terrace Room for decades. Our table overlooked the ornate, grand lobby.

Though the service was a bit slow, the food was delicious. Embarrassingly, we were too hungry to remember to photograph the snacks. But I think it was fun and I will remember it fondly since it was a nice, low key occasion to spend time with my loved ones. Afterwards we worked like a factory to execute the modest favors.

I still need to print up tags with information about the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank but am relieved to have them otherwise completed. We took a quick walk up to the annual Little Italy Days festival in Bloomfield. Then we headed to Oakland to meet up with Chris and the guys. Chris's event was also designed around his tastes and interests.

His brother booked a private room for karaoke (called Norebang) at our favorite Korean restaurant. Food and many Sapporo beers and lively singers combined to produce lots of fun. Above, Chris and I were singing Hall and Oates! To round out the night we went to Gooskis. By then the crowd had thinned out a bit but it was still a wonderful time. I know Chris almost had too much fun and even paid for it with a headache the next morning. Thanks for reading!