How to create a bachelorette party itinerary in Palm Springs, the OBB way

Over the last few years, I’ve become an expert on throwing bachelorette parties. So when I was asked to be the Matron of Honor for my baby sister Erin, I immediately started thinking of what her bachelorette would entail.

The most important thing about throwing something like a party, bachelorette, bridal shower, and so on is about capturing their essence. You want the party to reflect who they are—not the traditional norms and components that you think they should contain.

Erin’s never been a traditionalist, and isn’t a girly-girl. She wasn’t looking for manis & pedis and yoga on the beach. She’s an avid traveler who loves adventure, good food, beer and more low-key venues and things to do. What’s important to her is being around the people she loves in a very non-fussy sort of way.

She choose her venue of Palm Springs for two reasons. One is that she had a few friends joining from the West Coast and two she had never been there and wanted to experience it. She and I got to work right away on finding a house that slept at least ten people, had a beautiful pool for afternoon hang-time, and a grill so that we can cook many of our meals at home.

We booked the house through HomeAway, even though the house we choose was run by a separate rental property company. It was beautiful and pristine, but I will caution that renting in Palm Springs does come with a few caveats.

Firstly, there are noise ordinances in the neighborhoods. You can never play music outside (even in the middle of the day) and your voices have to be a certain decimal level in the evenings, if you are outside.

While these were annoying things to have to deal with we enjoyed our time in the house nonetheless. (Read: late night dance parties were contained inside with all the doors tightly shut.)

Here’s a roundup of what our bachelorette party weekend entailed:

· Optional morning day trip to Joshua Tree

· Poolside grill & chill lunches complete with BBQ burgers, sausages, sides, salads and more

· Group dinner Mexican fiesta to feed a crowd

· Drive through doughnut run at Krispy Kreme

· Visit to La Quinta Brewery in Palm Springs

· Tiki Cocktails at Bootlegger Tiki

· Bar hopping in downtown Palm Springs

· Group dinner at Birba, an Italian restaurant well suited for large parties

· Sunday Funday cabana at the Riviera Palm Springs