Have it Your Way

You're busy planning the perfect wedding, but you owe it to your single self to bid adieu in style. You're not the conventional girl, so what can you do to make your last bash special? Ditch that tired old scene of 20 girls piled into a bar with a swathe of tulle attached to the bride's head. Your bachelorette party should cater to the way you like to have fun. So think outside the mystery bag of adult toys and start planning a truly memorable final fling.

Pampered Princesses

If you want to be the center of attention for a day, go for the ultimate in girly indulgence. With the wedding on the horizon, you could use some extra beauty time, anyway. And who better to spend your primping time with than your favorite gal pals? Newlywed Meghan Stack, owner of Staxx, celebrated with her friends by spending the weekend in Kansas City. In addition to seeing the St. Louis Cardinals game against the Kansas City Royals, the group of 20-some girlfriends spent the day at a spa sipping on wine and nibbling appetizers between treatments. After dinner that night, they went out to Blonde (100 Ward Pkwy, Kansas City), a posh downtown club, where they'd reserved a table on the dance floor. You don't have to leave 417-land for a spa day followed by a night of dancing (or a baseball game, for that matter). Springfield, in particular, has plenty of options.

Natural Woman

If pampering is not your style, maybe camping is. 417-land offers such a rich array of outdoor settings, why not make nature the host to your celebration? Local wedding planner Lenette Kujawa of Aflair worked with a bride who chose to do a combined party with friends of the bride and groom all at the lake. They rented canoes and enjoyed the scenery. If you're not much for sharing the party with your man and his boys, then make it a girls-only camping weekend. Pull out your sleeping bags, and spend the night curled up in front of the fire, roasting marshmallows, sipping hot cocoa and talking about the past and the future. Go for either a decked out cabin at Big Cedar Lodge (312 Devil's Pool Rd., Ridgedale, 417-335-2777, big-cedar.com) or a humble campsite in the area. Just remember, if you're headed for a public camping area, first you need to check with the Missouri Conservation Department for details and a permit.

Out-of-Town Adventures

Whether you pile into the car or hop on a plane, a girls' getaway is the perfect way to spend quality time without any matrimonial distractions. 
   
Holly Hicks, who got married in October, visited San Francisco with six of her closest friends to celebrate the end of singledom. In August, they visited California's Napa Valley, touring a couple of wineries and staying at a friend's house in Sonoma. In San Francisco, they shopped, went sightseeing and stayed with bridesmaid Kelly Dorrance, an extremely organized girl who planned every detail for the weekend. "She printed out itineraries for us mapping out every moment from the time we got off the plane to the time we went home," Holly says. She even helped plan one of their biggest excursions by calling two months ahead to book a table at AsiaSF, a restaurant-lounge-dance club that caters especially to bachelorette parties. (Check out their list of bachelorette party packages at asiasf.com.) "All the waitresses are gorgeous," Holly says, "but they used to be men." The girls really enjoyed watching the "gender illusionists" perform songs and dances as they ate their nine-course meal. "They even printed a special 'Hollydays' menu for us," she says. When they visited the next bar someone misread her  "Mrs. Bachelorette " sash. But the error wasn't all bad: They were given the royal treatment because everyone assumed they were traveling with Miss Barcelona. "I don't really look Spanish, but I guess I do in the dark," Holly says.
   
"The wedding was pretty exhausting for all my friends," she says after describing their 13 parties and showers. Their girls-only excursion gave them a great excuse to get away before the wedding. "It's a trip that I'll remember forever," Holly says.
 

Not Necessarily All-Inclusive

No matter how you decide to spend your final night as a bachelorette, remember that the most important thing is the people you decide to spend it with. And although your mom and your Aunt Bridget (with her Yorkie) may play a huge role in the wedding, don't feel bad if you don't invite them to your party. "Being a mom myself, I don't expect to be invited," says wedding coordinator, Martha Wright. She says that although some moms may expect to be included, the bachelorette party is really a time for the girls to have some bonding time. "Plus, they can get a little risqué," Martha says. Your wedding showers and lingerie party may be the more appropriate instances to extend an invite. This is your time to let loose and enjoy your girlfriends, not entertain the family. According to her, you should invite the people you know are going to be fun. Try not to hurt any feelings, but invite the people who will appreciate what you want to do.