Professional Party Planner

Last night I hosted a baby shower for a co-worker/friend, Jenny, who is due at the end of April. There were 17 of us in attendance and it was a great success. My only complaint is the lack of help from her department and others who consider her a close friend. I don’t know if people think we can expense work baby showers (we can’t), if they’re simply naïve about the amount of work and expense involved (I don’t think you truly “get this” until you’ve co-hosted a shower of some sort) , or if they’re simply as cheap as dirt. It would’ve been so nice to spread out the costs. Even with Kirsten helping out, I spent $15 on plates, napkins, forks, and decorations; nearly $20 on prizes; and about $35 on groceries (lil smokies in BBQ sauce, a cheese and artichoke dip with two loaves of artisan baguettes, and carrots and ranch dip, purchased at Byerly’s). That’s $70 out of my pocket. And trust me, I am not exactly made of money.
I know I should stop bitching about it, since I volunteered to host the shower, but with so many coworkers in attendance, you’d think more than just Amanda and Tabitha would have offered to help out. It was discouraging.
On the plus side, Courtney & Rachel stayed late to help clean up/do dishes, and I thought that was really sweet.
I was thinking about it last night, and I should start a side business as a bridal shower/bachelorette party/baby shower hostess. In the past five years, I have co-hosted five bridal showers, eight baby showers (four for co-workers), and three bachelorette parties. They have all been fun in their own way. And as wonderful as it is to acknowledge an upcoming wedding with an elegant bridal shower, or celebrate an upcoming birth through a baby shower, my favorite parties are the bachelorettes.
At AJ’s bachelorette party, we golfed during the day (my first time on the links and I had a blast. Of course, I didn’t keep score—and I was drinking—so that helped), shared a bland dinner together at the Hilton Garden Inn in Shoreview (where we stayed), played some obnoxious/funny games involving paper bags, dressed up in old bridesmaid dresses (some more outrageous than others), took a party bus to see male dancers at Sharx Night Club in Fridley (hilarious), almost got beat up at a hole-in-the-wall bar off Highway 10 (a combo of liquid courage, our out-of-the-ordinary attire, and “townie” girls jealous of the competition), and then finished off the night at a dance club hosted by 93X DJs. At this point we didn’t care that we were wearing ugly satin gowns and we danced, danced, danced until bar close.
We traveled to Las Vegas for Karla’s bachelorette, where we had a swanky dinner at Wolfgang Puck’s Spago; drinks at JC Wooloughans Irish Pub (Meg, Money and I enjoyed some authentic Irish-brewed beers while venting about one of our travel companions), on the balcony of the Ghost Bar (55 feet above the Palms Casino), Rumjungle at Mandalay Bay (Studio 54 was closed), and Hard Rock (I think each one of us met a strange dude here). We shopped the strip, sipped foo-foo cocktails by the pool, and divided into three camps: Karla, Sara, pregnant Deb; Lisa & Rem; and me, Meg, and Money. When Becky arrived from San Diego, Sara & Deb flew home, so it was me, Karla, Becky, Meg, and Money. Lisa & Rem did their own thing most of the time (mostly consisting of relaxing by the pool and wandering into the casino to play the slots.)
For Megan’s bachelorette, Money and I put together a “memory book” and presented it to Megan at Zelo, where we had dinner with a big group of friends. The book was Money’s idea and design-work. I edited the entries (and harassed everyone to send in photos and memories.) We then moved the party to the Crown Plaza Hotel, where we had drinks and appetizers in our room before going to the Local and Lyon’s Pub. I was pregnant with Adam and so felt a bit left out as I watched my best friends have the time of their lives on the dance floor, all buzzed up and carefree in their alcohol-induced “happy place,” but I was one damn good purse and coat holder/drink watcher/seat warmer.
I have been to small, intimate bachelorette parties and wild rowdy bashes (my own was no exception, there were 24 of us up in Duluth. Some of us snowboarded one day while others toured the area; at night we got crazy and—eventually—got kicked out of Grandma’s Saloon). I have partied on a boat on Lake Pepin, rocked out on party buses that bar-hopped along St. Anthony Main, downtown Minneapolis, Stillwater, and Wittenburg, Wis. (talk about small town!), and one time puked in a McDonald’s cup on the way home from the bar. I went to a b-party on a Wednesday night, when the nightlife downtown was less-than-exciting, and could hardly control my excitement when I traveled to La Quinta, California with three of my best friends (Karla, Meg, and Money) to celebrate Becky’s bachelorette while staying at the second home of the Phillips vodka heirs. That was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I still can’t wrap my head around how the “other half” lives in such extravagant wealth.
So, anyhow, to make a short story really long, I must enjoy the planning, or I wouldn’t volunteer. And with at least nine close friends either newly engaged or unattached, it looks like I’ll have plenty of showers to keep me busy throughout the next decade!