My first destination choice for my bachelorette party weekend was Disneyland. What better way to celebrate my upcoming nuptials than with Mickey Mouse and his pals. Unfortunately, this plan to celebrate with Mickey was postponed. My plans all changed when the reopening of the park didn’t happen and I ultimately decided that we needed to look for a new destination that was safe and nearby. The Texas Hill Country is the perfect backdrop for a romantic getaway, girls weekend, and of course my bachelorette party. A short drive to Fredericksburg, Texas turned out to be a great “plan B” bachelorette party.
If you are planning your COVID “Plan B” bachelorette party or simply want a fun girls weekend to the Texas Hill Country, here are a few group travel planning tips to help you plan your next getaway!
Planning a bachelorette party and coordinating a large group of friends can take a lot of time. So it’s important to stay organized and give yourself enough time to plan a spectacular getaway with your besties. After planning my bachelorette party, especially during COVID, I have a lot of lessons learned and ideas that I want to share with you! If you are also planning your bachelorette party during the pandemic and during normal times read some of my party planning details that you could incorporate into your bachelorette party or even a fun girls weekend getaway.
Group Travel Tip #1: Set the Date
Start by choosing a date that syncs with everyone’s calendar. If your bachelorette party is a destination, and you have the time, I would recommend starting the planning process 6 to 9 months out so your guests will have time to budget for airfare, hotel, and any travel expenses. After we had the date and destination determined, I started a google doc and added all of my research in one spot.
Pro Travel Tip: Hashtags are your friends… use them when you are planning a trip. For example, I went to Instagram and searched the hashtag #fredericksburgtx and viewed the top and most recent posts. When I saw a picture I liked, such as a charcuterie board and wine pairing, I would click on the image and see where the picture was taken. This is one way I mapped out all of the wineries, food, and fun activities for the trip.
Group Travel Tip #2: Stay Organized
This can be a challenge for many people, especially when it comes to planning vacations and it can easily get very overwhelming. One way that I stayed organized was using Google docs where I could easily add information and share it with my bestie who was helping me coordinate the weekend.
I created a daily timeline in a word document. I mapped out each meal, winery stop, and shopping excursions with the date, time and address of each activity. Don’t forget to give yourself plenty of time to travel between wineries and also schedule some downtime to relax.
Group Travel Tip #3: Utilize Surveys
Surveys are a great way to gather information and preferences from your group. This makes travel planning easier when you start making reservations at restaurants and wineries. Survey Monkey is a great tool to use as part of your planning process for things such as ordering custom t-shirts. Survey Monkey is also great for asking personalized questions, such as “what is your favorite candy?” I even found the survey to be helpful when I needed to prebook group appointments.
Here are a few of my survey questions:
- What’s is your t-shirt size?
- Do you have any dietary needs?
- What is your favorite candy?
- What is your favorite snack?
- Do you prefer Red or White wine?
- Do you want to go to the spa? If so, which spa service do you want?
Group Travel Tip #4: Create a Budget
Most of the wineries, restaurants, and activities required reservations ahead of time, especially in a group setting. And in some cases, you will need to pay ahead for wine tastings, resort, or other activities. Once you have done your online research and set your itinerary, you can send out the estimated cost to each bachelorette party attendee.
I estimated the daily cost of the rental on the hotel because some of the party attendees were showing up later in the trip. Next, I estimated the individual cost for wine tastings and our special activity which was a private painting party. I also included a budget for snacks to buy for the hotel and wine for an at-home wine tasting pajama party.
Group Travel Tip #5: Get Confirmation
Before I booked anything for the trip or spent any money, I sent the individual cost breakdown to each attendee. I wanted to make sure the budget for the weekend was ok and that they were committed to attending the celebration. It’s important to keep in mind that everyone’s schedule and financial situation is different. I tried to be mindful of this when I was setting up the weekend and accommodated guests who needed to arrive a little later in the trip because of work obligations.
If you follow these five group travel planning tips you will be sure to have a great time on your bachelorette party weekend. Check back soon for more bachelorette party planning details and the full Fredericksburg, Texas Wine Tasting itinerary you can download for your next trip to the Texas Hill Country!
