As a bridesmaid or maid of honor, one of your primary functions is to help the bride-to-be say “good bye” to her single life and get ready for married life. The most well-known way to send her off is with male strippers and lots of alcohol. If this is appropriate for the bride-to-be’s personality, the majority of her friends, and your budget, then go for it, but if not, read on.

If the movie version of a hen party is not in the bride-to-be’s plans, then ask her what she would like to do. Listen to her opinions and then get creative with them. If she wants a quite night in with her friends, then maybe suggest a movie night complete with pizza, popcorn, drinks, and manicures. If she wants a special treat, maybe a spa day with facials and massages would be the ticket. If she has a favorite sport like golf, maybe a day, teeing off with her favorite people is the way to go. Just be creative with the information she gives you.

While you are speaking with the bride-to-be about this, find a convenient date from her and details of who she would like to attend. Her guest list should include names, phone numbers, email addresses, and postal addresses. This will allow you to speak directly to people and have a wide variety of options to contact them. The formal invites should always be sent by regular mail.

Get together with the rest of the bridesmaids and plan the night. Figure out who will be responsible for the wedding transportation, drinks, food, and the event costs. Be sure to communicate this ahead of time to the rest of the guests, if there is going to be a cost for them. At this point, you should make all the reservations necessary.

If alcohol consumption is part of the planned event, please follow these simple rules. Provide non-alcoholic beverages for those who do not drink. Arrange designated drivers ahead of time, so that no one is at risk of driving while intoxicated. Finally, do not plan an evening of drinking alcohol the night before the wedding; many states have laws about the state of mind of the people getting married, and being drunk or hung-over may void the legality of the wedding.

For the comfort of all guests involved, be sure to allow them to decline the invitation. If what you are planning is not their thing, talking them into going anyway will only lead to discomfort and hurt feelings. Lastly, have a good time. No matter what the activity is, be sure that everyone is enjoying themselves.

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