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Bachelorette in Point Reyes, CA

posted by Maya Joseph-Goteiner on June 1, 2012

Having attended numerous bridal showers/bachelorette parties in the last seven years, my sister had one request: make the weekend inexpensive. That was my charge as MOH, as I sought to combine the two– shower and bachelorette– into a single weekend.

A bit about my sister: she is quite feminine, loves food (although she has only recently approached the kitchen herself), is very outdoorsy and athletic, is a Karaoke addict, has played violin in Carnegie Hall and fiddled in the Montana back country. She is a district attorney. She works long hours and her job is emotionally draining. She is lucky to have many genuine and close friendships. I wanted to plan a special weekend that was flexible and reflective of my sister.

We started the weekend Saturday morning with the bridal shower. It was simple and intimate. Our Mom hosted and made my sister’s favorite foods. We had a few games planned, but since everyone just wanted to shmooze, we only ended up following through with one: a quiz on male and female anatomy.

We didn’t “shower” with gifts (remember: inexpensive), though we gave my sister a handmade recipe box, and everyone filled out a few recipe cards with dishes they thought she would like.

For the bachelorette the destination was Point Reyes, CA. Situated in West Marin, about an hour and a half from San Francisco, Point Reyes is a small town, close to quiet beaches and good hiking trails. It also boasts a few great restaurants, which often include delicious oysters on the menu.

We rented a house that was just a quarter of a mile from the town. Our options for activities were endless: horseback riding, whale watching, saloon dancing, yoga, even oyster chucking at Hog Island. We ended up embracing a low-key weekend instead of an A to Z activity list. My sister rarely gets vacation, so this was an opportunity to veg out with her closest friends.

Highlights included:

1. The house. It was a woodsy-type place, with a sun room, a glorious garden, and an awesome kitchen. The first afternoon we laid low chatting and catching up.

2. We had dinner at Osteria Stellina. Simple, local and tasty.

3. Although I have not made a mask since elementary school, having an activity where everyone could personalize an object was great fun and a perfect warm up to our dance party.

4. We had a dance party to love songs and some old school hip-hop (in masks of course). The masks themselves added a little bit of whimsy to our party, helping everyone to let loose and step into another frame of mind.

5. We breakfasted at Bovine Bakery. Who can say no to buttery croissants and a homemade quiche, made fresh daily?

6. We took a walk on Limantour beach

7. We picked up wine and cheese from the Cowgirl Creamery

8. The parentals and our brother joined Monday morning. We hiked and had lunch in Olema. A lovely close to a special weekend.

As a first time MOH, I was nervous, but it was even better than I had hoped. My sister and her friends had a great time, and I did too. My advice: you really don’t need to over plan. Letting the weekend naturally unravel was part of the fun. The girls set the tone for the weekend. And I think my sister would approve of the budget: I haven’t calculated to the T, but it looks like the ladies each spent about $160 for the entire shower/bachelorette weekend.

-Maya

RELEVANT LINKS:

Recipe box & cards from: http://riflepaperco.com/

Gift bags & bride tank top from: http://shop.weddingchicks.com/

Scratch masks from: http://www.orientaltrading.com/magic-color-scratch-masks-a2-57_6562-12-1.fltr?Ntt=scratch+mask

Pt. Reyes rental: http://www.pointreyesschoolhouse.com/vacation.html

Pt. Reyes restaurant: http://osteriastellina.com/

Pt. Reyes bakery: http://thebovinebakery.wordpress.com/

Pt. Reyes cheese: http://www.cowgirlcreamery.com/

Beach near Pt. Reyes: http://www.nps.gov/pore/planyourvisit/beaches.htm

Hiking near Pt. Reyes: http://www.nps.gov/pore/planyourvisit/hiking_guide.htm

Homemade Bridal Shower Invites

posted by Arielle Angel on May 14, 2012

Maya and I are both in bridesmaid mode– Maya’s sister is getting married (!), as is my best friend since the age of four (four!). That means that over the next few months, you can expect a few reports on things we’re doing/picking up along the way. Turns out being a bridesmaid is hard work!

Let’s talk bridal shower invitations. I wanted to make them by hand, but I didn’t know how difficult/expensive/crazy it might be. I’m here to tell you, it was neither difficult, nor expensive. In fact, in most cases, it’s cheaper than buying online or at the store. Of course, it’s more effort, but needless to say it looks WAY WAY WAY better.

This was the original handmade invitation, which I sent to the bride:

This was the reproduction, which went out to the shower attendees:

Here’s the way I did it:

I looked up established envelope sizes, and chose the size I thought would be most appropriate (I chose A2, about 5.5″ x 4.25″). I knew we were going to have a Sunday brunch/summer hat theme, so I Googled some source material, and got the text of the invitation perfect on scrap paper.

It was surprisingly easy to create the design, especially because there is such a limited amount of space and so much information to put in it. I did a draft in pencil, inked it with Micron pens, and used watered-down acrylic paint for color.

Even if you’re not an artist, my advice is just to go for it. Embrace the imperfections in your handwriting and your layout. It may not be perfect, but that’s what makes it special!

The printing was a cinch. I took the original invitation plus the insert I made for the registry information to The Source, a print and copy center in the East Village (they printed my Haggadahs a couple years ago, and I had a great experience with them– if you’re in New York, you should know they are AWESOME). Printing was easy, as there was actually no printing involved. No scanning either. We simply made color copies on card stock. We were able to set it up so that we could print four invitations to a 8.5″ x 11″ page (another benefit to using the A2 size) and nine inserts to a page, which cut down on the price. All in all, I thought the color copies looked pretty good, and with only minor adjustments: we darkened it a bit on the copier’s settings, so that the invites wouldn’t look washed out.

Here’s perhaps the only hard part: I had to do the cutting manually. Most printers will charge you per cut, and they won’t get it exact. Luckily, most FedEx Office locations keep their paper cutter out front. I’m not going to lie, it was a bit of a pain cutting each invite, but with a good paper-cutter it’s entirely doable. I had 30 invites and inserts to cut, and it probably only took me 20 minutes.

Final bill for 30 invites? Envelopes –  approx $14; Printing – approx $18; Postage – approx $13.50. Total = $45.50. More importantly, the bride loves them!