A few weeks ago one of my favorite girls in the world got married.
She had a absolute dream wedding on a plantation in Natchez (more on that coming later!)
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| Photo by Three Nails Photography |
The most important part about any wedding is the bachelorette party, right?
Thanks to Liz, Maid of Honor extraordinaire, we were able to throw the baddest of ass bachelorette party (worst of ass? most bad of ass?) for our girl.
We surprised her with a weekend in Texas, starting off with a night in Austin followed by two nights in the cutest city in the south: Gruene.
In Austin, we stayed at The Residence Inn, which was an ideal location . . . two blocks from 6th street.
Side note: They also had a nightly happy hour for the guests with free wine, beer, and apps.
As soon as the bride arrived, we were ready to celebrate (with shots in hand).
. . . wedding cake shots, to be exact
Mary Catherine planned a scavenger hunt, with some pretty brilliant tasks.
(You can find more of her custom party scavenger hunts and pub crawls on her Etsy shop StudioFourty60!)
Not many of the pictures from the scavenger hunt deserve the glory of making it to the interwebz.
. . . except for this one, I mean, just take a look at this wee little man.
We had high hopes of finishing off the night in the karaoke cab, but apparently he chose to drive some "really rich people" instead of us.
So whatever.
Regardless of that garbage, it's true Austin, we fell madly in love with you.
You know the night was successful when the bride is on the ground from laughing too hard.
Oh also, I can't forget to brag on how our sweet little bride absolutely spoiled us with hangover survival kits AND TORY BURCH FLATS.
Just saying.
Friday morning we nurtured our little baby hangovers with nothing but the best: diabetes with a side of Gorgough's donuts.
Left: Fat Elvis {Peanut butter icing, bacon, grilled bananas & honey}
Right: Mother Clucker {fried chicken strips with honey butter}
Austin treated us oh so very well.
We gathered ourselves (somewhow) and made the 45 minute drive west to the sweet town of Gruene.
We stayed at the Gruene Homestead Inn, which is where David proposed to Nicole this time last year.
It is a quaint little bed and breakfast in a good location, oh, and it's SO darn cute.
Side note: If you are interested in booking a room here, just be aware that they typically require a two night minimum.
To start off our day in Gruene we went to The Grapevine to experience their daily wine tasting.
The staff is very friendly and knowledgeable, and they will definitely point you in the right direction when it comes to buying a bottle (or two) of wine.
The weather couldn't have been more perfect for us to enjoy some wine in their well shaded, so cute garden.
Have I mentioned Gruene is so darn cute?
Following our wine tasting, we walked right across the street for dinner at Gristmill.
If you can, try to get a seat on the patio overlooking the Guadalupe River.
It's shady, breezy, and they have onion rings the size of your face.
You pretty much have to go.
We returned from dinner to surprise Nicole with a little lingerie shower.
Margarita cupcakes!
My aunt made these for my cousin's bachelorette party a few years ago and I fell in love.
You can find her recipe here.
Side note: There is tequila in the cake AND the icing.
Are you drunk just looking at it?
You were warned.
We played some games, Nicole opened her gifts, and then we donned our plantation gowns for a night out on the town.
You are probably looking at this photo thinking "oh cool another typical, cheesy fake laughing pic"
False.
This is a legitimate laughing pic.
We asked a random passerby to take our photo, and he just so happened to be a super sloppy, but very kind drunk.
His last words before snapping this pic were "You gals look like the balls of the belle!"
Exactly the look we were going for, sir.
Balls.
Mary planned another game for the night, a pub crawl around New Braunfels.
Gruene, it's just so darn cute, remember?
We made our way to stop number one, Pour Haus
. . . and then we never left.
We actually loved it so much, we came back Saturday night.
So much for the pub crawl.
We can't quite remember if there was a winner or not in the Pub Crawl, but that's kind of the point, right?
Saturday morning, we started the day off right with some Coopers barbecue.
Once we were stuffed to the brim, we donned our bikinis, loaded up the ice chests, and hopped in the river for 2398439284 hours of toobing down the Guadalupe River.
We used the rental company Rockin R.
They are located literally right down the hill from the Gristmill, so the location is ideal if you are staying in Gruene.
You "put in" right in front of Gristmill, and depending on the water levels you can experience 2-4 regions of rapids.
At the final point their bus will pick up you and your tubes and return you to your car.
The river wasn't nearly a cold as we expected (besides, after a few drinks, I don't even remember the water having a temperature)
Somehow we managed to collect ourselves enough to recuperate, shower, and look presentable enough for another night at Pour Haus.
We just really loved that place.
We just really loved that place.
We could not have had a more perfect weekend in Texas.
We had an ideal group of fun-loving, laid-back girls who kept each other laughing excessively.
We experienced excellent weather, ate some incredible food, and absolutely spoiled our bride with so much love.
There is genuinely nothing better than a weekend with your best friends.
. . . only 140 days until we get to do it all over again in Vegas!
We had an ideal group of fun-loving, laid-back girls who kept each other laughing excessively.
We experienced excellent weather, ate some incredible food, and absolutely spoiled our bride with so much love.
There is genuinely nothing better than a weekend with your best friends.
. . . only 140 days until we get to do it all over again in Vegas!
