Being a Bridesmaid: Celebrating my MOH's Bachelorette!

My MOH L's bachelorette party last weekend was so much fun. Two of her other bridesmaids took the lead in planning the weekend and they did a great job. L had given us a list of people to invite and a date that worked for everyone, but other than the guest list, she had no idea what was in store. The bridesmaids decided it would be fun to have a weekend getaway to a place that means a lot to L - Ithaca, New York, the home of her alma mater, Cornell!

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For those who don't know, Ithaca is known for its gorges, hence the catchphrase.

A total of eleven of us went, and on Friday afternoon and night, we traveled in groups up to Ithaca. I went with four other girls and we rented a car from Manhattan to drive up. L met up with three other girls--including the bridesmaids who planned the weekend--and they drove her up, all the while trying to make her think she was heading somewhere else. (At one point they told her Saudi Arabia, haha.) They had also sent her a ridiculous packing list to trip her up (with items like long socks, a one-piece bathing suit and running sneakers) so she was severely over-packed and confused.

Once she realized she was going to Ithaca, she was really excited! Half of the girls on the trip were her friends from Cornell so they were able to reminisce about the good ol' days throughout the weekend. We only graduated four years ago, which isn't that long, but L and her friends felt like they had never left.

We stayed in two suites at a hotel not far from College Town, the area right off campus. The first night, we just hung out in the hotel and played some games. On Saturday, we embarked on the main activity of the weekend--a winery tour! I'll let my pictures tell the story...

L and me in the hotel lobby right before the tour. All of us girls wore matching tees to show that we were celebrating L's bachelorette. The shirts said...

"L____ is Gorges" (I photoshopped L's real name out, but you get the gist.) The bridesmaid who designed the shirts made it so the "I" from the Ithaca is Gorges phrase looked like an L. The back of the shirt said:
"L___'s Bachelorette Party
Ithaca, New York
7.10.10"
Nice, right?

Of course, L needed something to set her apart as the bride. Since she's a huge Disney fan, we got her Minnie bridal ears.

Our mode of transportation between the wineries--a trolley limo with KARAOKE!

Our group in the limo, ready for our winery tour to begin. We brought snacks, bagels and water to eat between wineries. We went to seven in all!

I'll spare you from the more embarrassing karaoke pics, but let's just say that wine + karaoke trolley = a good time!

As we hopped from winery to winery, we tried lots of tasty wines and got a tipsy/drunk along the way.

The views were so pretty! Apparently there were a lot of weddings in the area that day.

Group shot at the end of the tour.

After the tour, we all took necessary naps and changed before heading into College Town for dinner, and to check out the bars L and her Cornell friends frequented while in college. We were all so tired/hungover from drinking all day that at one point, one of the girls ordered pitchers of water from the bar. Yeah, we're that cool :o)

The next morning, we had breakfast together and headed back to NYC. It was fun bonding with the other bridesmaids and L's other friends (some of whom I had never met before) and I'm excited to hang out with them at her wedding in a few weeks. We all got along really well and most importantly, we made sure L had a perfect bachelorette weekend.

My bachelorette party is in September and L is planning it. I decided to let it be a surprise so I have NO idea what to expect. We have similar personalities so I'm sure I'll have a great time.

What are you doing/did you do for your bachelorette? Is/was it a surprise?