Bachelorette Party in San Antonio: Day Three, Sunday

 Hey there princess!

For the final morning of the bachelorette extravaganza we all met in the Menger Hotel lobby for breakfast. This room is absolutely gorgeous and I had to share some photos of it when it was quiet so that you could see how beautiful it was. 

The girls loved the breakfast spread which included things like an omelette bar, grits, hash browns, pancakes, bacon, eggs benedict, fresh fruit, and breakfast pastries. Everything was delicious and filled our bellies for the long drive home. Checkout was at 11:00am, so once we finished eating we promptly made our way back to the rooms to pack and head out.

I just had to show some close-ups of the dining room. It is so gorgeous, and I love eating in here. The air is cool and the atmosphere is perfection!

I am so thankful that we were able to travel to San Antonio for this bride's bachelorette party! We had an incredible time, and I think all of the girls felt incredibly cared for and knew what to expect from the weekend's events. 

I would love to hear from other maids/matrons of honor about how you are planning these kinds of trips! When doing all of my initial research there were tons of cute themes to choose from. I think in the future it would also be fun to choose one of these themes and just plan a fun girl's weekend! 

Sparkle on!

Bachelorette Party in San Antonio: Day Two, Saturday

 Hey there princess!

Saturday morning we woke up ready for an action-filled day! The girls loved sleeping in their matching pajamas - and I think that something like this would be the perfect thing to be able to reuse for the morning of the wedding. The tops of the pjs have buttons going down the front, so you could remove them without messing up your hair and makeup. It's all in the details!

Mornings like this are also why it was so handy to set up a coffee bar with snacks and breakfast bars in each room. We were set to meet up at the Alamo at 10:00am, and I wanted to let the girls wake up when they wanted to instead of mandating a breakfast get-together. I think they enjoyed the slower pace for getting up in the morning, since this was going to be a long day of lots of walking.

For those reading this who have never been to the Alamo, it is one of my most favorite places in the state of Texas. Some of the girls had never been before and didn't know the history behind this site. I won't go into it here, but the bride and I grew up visiting the Alamo for family vacations, and I know that she loves it just as much as I do. You can't visit San Antonio without paying your respects. 

Word to the wise, entering the Alamo is free but you have to reserve a time to visit it in advance. You can book your ticket by clicking here. 

Also, you have to get the souvenir picture! We were all wearing our matching shirts, and I needed a token of the occasion. The nice thing about this is that they offered a digital download for purchase, so I could buy it and then text it to all of the girls. Easy peasy!

After a quick lunch and power nap, everyone was ready to spend the rest of the afternoon down at the pool! Our weather was gorgeous and super hot - so everyone loved cooling off. Plus, it was a great way to work up an appetite for dinner!

On the walk from the hotel to dinner at Casa Rio (if you come to visit San Antonio, you can't leave without eating here... it is right on the Riverwalk and is simply divine) we passed the Alamo, so the girls stopped and took some pictures together. They all turned out so cute, and I am glad that we stopped and smelled the roses a bit!

We were able to get an incredible table right on the river for dinner, and I surprised the bride with a headband that said "final fiesta" and sarape sash that said "Shailee's Final Fiesta" to match the theme. It was her special weekend and I wanted her to stand out! Casa Rio is such a classic dinner spot, and we all had an incredible meal after a long day. You can read more about Casa Rio's history, and view their menu here. 

The real stand-out of this trip was the private river cruise that my mom booked as a special treat for the bride to be! For this weekend, my mom and her best friend made a guest appearance at dinner and came to ride along the Riverwalk with us! 

These river cruises are typically PACKED! You might not get to sit together as a group, and you certainly wouldn't be able to get as many incredible pictures on a normal cruise. If you're able, I would completely recommend booking a private cruise. You can find information on doing this here. 

I mean, what a magical experience! Our tour guide gave us an incredible history of the San Antonio Riverwalk, and we were all able to relax and digest our dinner. I cannot recommend this enough. In the future, I might do this again just for a family visit!

After the guided cruise, we all got changed into our comfortable clothes and made our way over to Sisters Grimm for a ghost tour! I thought this would be a really fun way for everyone to learn some about the history of San Antonio, and just have a silly, spooky time! We all love Halloween, and all things ghosty, so this was a really fun activity for everyone. I got the bride a fun, spooky headband with a black veil from Amazon, and all of the girls got a mini flashlight in their bridesmaid bags. 

We had so much fun! The tour was about two hours long and we did tons of walking! One piece of advice - don't try to wear cute shoes. We couldn't have done two hours of walking on cobbled streets in anything other than sneakers. I also got the bride a special shirt to wear on the tour! This one had a little ghost and said "bride" on it.  By the end of this trip... the bride had a whole lotta shirts and accessories!

So what do you think? Have you been to the Alamo or Casa Rio? Would you do a ghost tour? Are you planning an upcoming bachelorette trip? I love all things party planning so I would love to hear about what you are thinking!

Sparkle on!

Bachelorette Party in San Antonio: Day One, Friday

 Hey there princess!

Now that I have gone through most of the pre-planning that I did for our bachelorette weekend in San Antonio, I wanted to talk about how things went day by day of the trip. I was in charge of driving the bride, and the plan was to meet all of the other girls at the Menger Hotel once we got into town. 

In planning for our travel day (the drive from where we live in Houston to San Antonio was about 3 hours) I made a playlist with all of the bride's favorite songs. When choosing a hotel, I picked the Menger because it is centrally located by both the Riverwalk and the Alamo. This meant that the only time I would need my car was for the drive to and from San Antonio. 

Of course, no Texas road trip is complete without a stop at Buc-ee's! We picked up some extra drinks and snacks for the road, and did some shopping in the swimsuit section since the hotel has a pool and we thought it would be fun to get a swimsuit from the famed gas station/rest stop. 

If you have never stayed at the Menger before, and you are going to San Antonio in the near future, I highly recommend it! Theodore Roosevelt recruited his Rough Riders out of the Menger's bar, and the hotel is absolutely full of history. It is also completely gorgeous! There are courtyards to be seen, a beautiful grand lobby, a pool, the most amazing dining room, and it is in the perfect location to see everything there is to see in Downtown San Antonio. Below are some photos of the courtyard when we first arrived, as well as photos of the entrance and the lobby.

Once everyone had arrived and checked in, it was time for fun! I had already put out all of the bachelorette bags and coffee bar treats that you can read about in my two previous blogs, and I left activities for the rest of the evening up to the girls. Of course, everyone was starving so after a little exploration of the hotel it was time for dinner!

Something fun to note here is that I made sure the bride had something special and unique to wear on each day of the trip. On this first day, I got her a shirt that says "My Final Fiesta" which I purchased off of Etsy.  I liked her having something for each day to help her stand out and feel special!

Everyone loved spending some time on the Riverwalk in the evenings, since it is so much cooler (especially since this was a summer trip) and there is tons to do! If you aren't familiar with San Antonio, but you need something to do and somewhere to eat, the Riverwalk is a great place! For this first evening, I felt like it was important to not schedule anything for the girls to do. I know that they wanted to spend time catching up and talking to each other. We had the whole weekend for scheduled activities, and I wanted them to have the chance to get settled and have quality time with one another. If your bridesmaids get to see one another all of the time, this might not be necessary. However, in this case, the girls have moved to different states since college and only get to talk on the phone. Quality catch-up time was a must!

Another great thing about the Menger is that they offer rooms with connecting balconies. I made sure when booking that the rooms I chose were connected and had connecting balconies so that everyone could easily go from one room to the next, and that there would be a safe place for the girls who wanted to stay up late to go when other people wanted to go to sleep. The balcony got used a ton, and I am so thankful I made that selection!

What do you think? Have you ever stayed at the Menger before? What kind of bachelorette ideas would you add? Are you planning a trip of your own soon? I would love to hear about it!

Sparkle on!