Bachelorette Weekend in Savannah, Georgia [Wedding]

I had been looking forward to having my bachelorette weekend for quite some time. I rarely get uninterrupted/rushed time with my closest friends in Florida, and never together at the same time! Originally we looked at going to Key West, but it was still Spring Break for many colleges and schools, and we didn’t want to pay way more than necessary. We also looked at going to New Orleans, but I wanted something that was more than just drinking. I also wanted to go somewhere new! I had been to Savannah when I was a kid, and vividly remember touring the Juliette Lowe House (Girl Scout Founder), but that’s about it. Savannah won!

12916982_10156780079710072_5808622422007414535_oDay One

On Friday morning, we gathered all the St. Pete bridesmaids (plus me and Katie), and set off on our journey to Gainesville to pick up Demi. My two Orlando bridesmaids, Elizabeth and Wannee, chose to drive straight to Savannah since it didn’t make sense to make an extra stop in Gainesville. Our our way to Gainesville, traffic was at a standstill in several locations. Apparently there was an overturned semi truck carrying milk on I-75 that held traffic up for quite a while. Our mood wasn’t soured though because we all got to know each other better by answering 36 Questions to Fall in Love together.

Our AirBnB & Transportation

12967293_10156780135230072_3294269024518971209_o

Erica was our trip planner for the weekend, and she found this great house in Savannah. The location close to downtown for us to Uber pretty easily. It was the perfect size for our party of 7. We got the entire house to ourselves, and we could come and go as we pleased.

12970977_10156780068820072_4990683113769411358_o

The host had a chalk table, which Erica and the bridesmaids surprised me with a bachelorette weekend survival kit and a schedule of events!

12967308_10156780070150072_4401208750132069489_o

Since we did have such a large party that didn’t fit in either of our cars, we Ubered around town in Uber XLs. They were hit or miss on having enough seats. It wasn’t a problem though, and I’d recommend doing the same in foreign cities. We didn’t have to drive or guess on where we were going, we didn’t have to pay for parking, and nobody had to play DD. It’s a win/win/win!

Olde Pink House

12977125_10156780077915072_5138117985277364495_o

In celebration of the weekend’s festivities, we wanted to go out and have a fancy dinner in an iconic Savannah restaurant. After reading Yelp reviews, I chose the Olde Pink House. The historical significance is pretty cool. It’s Savannah’s only 18th century mansion.

A little history lesson about the significance of the house:

This Georgian mansion was built in 1771 for James Habersham Jr., one of Savannah’s most important early cotton factors and founding-family members. The lot was originally a land grant from the British Crown. The building is a fine example of colonial architecture, and one of the few buildings to survive the fire of 1796. The Bolton family, sister and brother-in law of architect William Jay, occupied the house from 1804 to 1812. Between 1812 and 1865, the house was home to the Planter’s Bank and First Bank of Georgia. It also served as headquarters for Union General Zebulon York in 1865.  – Source

We had 9:00pm reservations, which when we booked seemed pretty late, but luckily were perfect timing for our later than anticipated arrival to Savannah.

12983325_10156780073195072_7142287300002995524_o

We were seated in our own room, the Conference Room. Since this is literally a house that we were in, the rooms were shaped as you’d expect for an older house. The service was excellent, and we felt like royalty. And so were the cornbread and biscuits. Yes, Southern cooking! We ordered a few appetizers, including scallops and a cheese and cracker plate. There were two scallops. I was a little disappointed, but nothing surprises me at fancy restaurants anymore. I ordered a filet mignon with potatoes and asparagus. The steak was pretty good, but it was no Ruth’s Chris (a.k.a. the best steak I’ve ever had). I was satisfied though. I had my girls all together for the first time in a new exciting place!

12983243_10156780070380072_4904574083220493389_o

Erica and I had decided that the bridesmaids would dress in black, while I wore a color. I went shopping the day before leaving SLC, and found a cute coral dress at my favorite place, Francesca’s.

Bar Hopping in Savannah

After dinner, we headed towards the nightlife with some suggestions from our servers. I don’t venture out into SLC nightlife much, but I felt like Savannah’s bars were pretty busy, especially since it was a Friday night. I could not tell you what bars we went to, since we went to quite a few, but the first one was called The Treehouse. It had some fun music and a good vibe. There was one particular fellow that would not leave us alone though. It was pretty frustrating, but other than that we had a great time.

IMG_7918

This club had live music. They were playing a reggae version of Get Low by the Ying Yang Twins. Ha!

179909537

We did end up at another club with three levels of different music, and we got to the top one where there was no one else. We had the dance floor to ourselves and had a fun time dancing as a group without any unwanted attention. For the record, we were told by some bar hoppers that we were the “one of the classiest bachelorette parties” they had ever seen. It was probably our lack of penis paraphilia that did it. Apparently, Savannah has become a popular place for bachelorette parties.

At the end of the night, we Ubered home in two groups. Some of the girls ended up at a pizza joint in downtown that they said was amazing! I guess I missed out. Oh well!

Day Two

The next day, I was a little slow moving out of the gate. It’s understandable after a night of bar hopping though. While I was slowly recovering, a couple bridesmaids went to the grocery store to get some fixins’ for dinner later that night. One of the positives of having an entire house to ourselves was a fully functional kitchen and two bathrooms!

Riverside Seafood House

12957567_10156780094110072_8118022839528915960_o

For a late lunch, we chose the River House Savannah restaurant across the street from the river. This area has old cobbled streets that one of our drivers said was laid over 200 years ago. Woah! The South is full of history— and I find it fascinating! For some reason, when I am on the East coast, all I want is seafood. Erica and I split a blue crab stuffed flounder. It was fresh caught flounder stuffed with deviled blue crab, over garlic butter linguine and asparagus– apparently, a Savannah favorite!

After the group was no longer hangry, we moseyed down the walkway past tourist shops, restaurants, and bars.

Savannah Bee Company

12957640_10156780095445072_598760796952506085_o

We stopped at the Savannah Bee Company that we stumbled upon, and it was pretty sweet! (Pun intended). They had products made from beeswax, honey, honeycomb, and pretty much anything else bee-related you could think of.

12967992_10156780097890072_7827721749731056685_o

We zeroed in on the mead tasting they had. Mead is honey, yeast, and water. We got to try 5 different meads at the tasting. They taste similar to wines. I liked the tupelo honey mead (the sweetest) and bought a bottle for Brighton and I to enjoy on our honeymoon in the Carolinas.

12961170_10156780101190072_2223497569306106529_o

My sister bought some beeswax wrap that seemed pretty brilliant. It’s a plastic wrap alternative to save foods.

Coffee at Vic’s Coffee House

IMG_8235_1

After our bee stop, we wandered into a chocolate store and then over to a coffee shop that served coffee and coffee-based alcohol drinks. Genius! This is something that I would never in a million years find in Salt Lake. The vibe was super chill, and if I lived in Savannah, I could see myself coffee-shopping there. It also would be excellent people watching.

IMG_8236_1

After we felt sufficiently touristy, we Ubered back to the house to get changed and relax a bit until our ghost tour.

Dinnertime with the Bridesmaids!

12971076_10156780119905072_7873417107310084282_o

Chefs Demi, Courtney, and Erica (I think) got to work and made us a beautiful taco dinner for us to enjoy! It was a nice private and affordable way to us to share a meal and hang out together.

12976728_10156780112770072_3738557906218083265_o

We also hung out and made shirts for the day of the wedding with bleach pens. As you can tell, they would’ve been super cute, but for some reason the bleach didn’t stay.

12968022_10156780123965072_6519279536182835671_o

Ghost Tour with Blue Orb Tours

Erica had signed us up for an adult-only ghost tour that evening. I personally love ghost tours because it’s a fun way to explore a new city by foot (usually) and learn about the history. According to our guide, Savannah is the “most haunted city”. I don’t really believe in ghosts, but it’s a unique and entertaining way to hear stories about the area. Our guide was also pretty funny and a great storyteller. I appreciated his addition of photos and videos at each of our stops.

IMG_8157

These are our mugshots from the weekend.

Since we had been out the night before, we decided to go crash at the house and take Saturday night easy. Almost all of us were exhausted too.

Day Three
Mimosas & Brunch

On Sunday morning, we woke up and got ready to head back to reality or, for me, pre-wedding craziness. We used the leftovers from the night before’s tacos to make breakfast burritos with bacon, eggs, and tortilla wraps.

12961390_10156780128480072_1200182497381007960_o

Erica also set up a mimosa bar for us with champagne, orange juice, fruit juice, and fresh berries. She really nailed the weekend planning!

12973176_10156780128560072_6315236441989419098_o

Our last meal at the house. Cheers to a bachelorette weekend success!

12970766_10156780131820072_8529197003912361349_o

Forsyth Park

11235290_10156780136565072_8365299158764492449_o

We had to be out of the house by 11:00am since that was the checkout time. In reality we were out a little later than that, but we did our best. I was pretty insistent on going to the famous Forsyth Park in the downtown area. The weather had been off and on raining (the forecast was thunderstorms all weekend, so in that regard we were lucky). When I Googled photos of Savannah, I saw this park and I wanted photos of it, so I am glad we went! It was a great way to end our weekend.

 12967921_10156780138915072_3772842122100869246_o

We went our separate ways after that, with the Orlando girls going in one car, and the rest of us driving to Gainesville to drop Demi off and continue on to St. Pete.

12983216_10156780141855072_4087471921669563856_o

The weekend was a perfect weekend escape from the wedding planning craziness, and an awesome way for me to get to spend some time with my bridesmaids before the wedding itself.

Have you ever planned a bachelorette party for a special bride? What is your idea of a great bachelorette party?

Comments

0 responses to “Bachelorette Weekend in Savannah, Georgia [Wedding]”

  1. katie arruda Avatar

    So fun ! What a great weekend ! Looks like you had an awesome Bach!

    We threw one of my best friends a bachelorette on a lake house theme “Floats and Hoes” We just hung out, grilled, drank out of pineapples, played dizzy bat, and took a limo out to dinner! It was amazing!

    Katie @ Katie Wanders

    1. Hilary Avatar

      We had an awesome weekend! It was such a great choice for a bachelorette party in the Southeastern US. I love the Southern Charm.

      That bachelorette weekend at a lake house sounds super relaxing! I love that it can be anything the bride & bridesmaids want it to be. It doesn’t have to be a “Las Vegas” type weekend anymore. 🙂