A Charleston Bachelorette

     I had the pleasure of planning my sister's bachelorette party since I was her Matron of Honor. She decided she wanted to have it in Charleston, South Carolina. We have both never been there before, so we were very excited to explore this new city! However, that also came with some struggles having never been there before, so I spent a lot of time researching and planning. If you are like me and trying to plan a bachelorette for someone special, keep reading for ideas and inspiration!

    Timing: One of our first discussions during the planning process was when we wanted to travel. We decided on the end of May into early June. We were hoping it would be warm, but not too warm. We ended up being very lucky to have beautiful weather. It was warm, but not muggy or humid like we were anticipating. There were still flowers in bloom to see, the water wasn't too cold, and we could walk around the city without being miserably hot.

    Lodging: The next matter at hand was finding a place to stay. We wanted to keep the costs as reasonable as we could for those attending. We decided we wanted to stay in one of the surrounding cities that would keep us within driving distance to Charleston, but also close to the beaches. We researched different places on VRBO and Airbnb. There were so many cute choices, but we had to stay within a budget. We finally found Marshwinds in Folly Beach that was in our budget and close to everything. It had an incredible view of a marsh from our balcony. There was more than enough space for our group of 5. It had a parking space included for our rental car. It supplied beach gear, so we wouldn't have to buy a bunch of stuff. It even had a pool!

    Day 1: We all landed at the airport in Charleston. One of the attendees worked for Enterprise, so she was able to get us a deal on a rental car. We got our rental car and started to drive to our VRBO. There was a lot of traffic leaving the airport when we left that Thursday evening. While some of us got some groceries from a Walmart, the rest of us decorated the apartment. We decided to just order a pizza from Slice of Folly for supper to eat in the VRBO. We unpacked, decorated, and then made our way to the Lighthouse Inlet Heritage Preserve at sunset. It was a short walk on the graffiti path out to see the lighthouse. From my researching, I learned that there wasn't a ton of parking depending on how busy it was. I also read that Folly can be pretty strict on parking and giving out tickets. I made sure we were parked in an area that was allowed. The bugs were horrible, but it was so worth it! 

    Decorations/Gifts: Planning the theme, decor, and gifts was my favorite part! We decided the theme was going to be Josie's Last Splash. I went to Dollar Tree to get some balloons and supplies for the photo backdrop. I found a beachy garland there and personalized it with my Cricut. Here was the end result!

    I also found some silver BRIDE balloons on Amazon that I thought would look perfect on my sister's bed.

    

    For the gifts, I got everyone a beach bag. They had some in the Target Dollar Spot. I also ordered some beach towels off of Etsy personalized with each person's name. Also from Target, I got everyone a glittery floatie. Old Navy had beachy shirts, so I got matching t-shirts for us all. I put all of this in the beach bags, along with matching sunglasses, some sunscreen, and lotion. My sister additionally got a diamond ring floatie, a "Bride" straw, and a sunhat that said "Bride to Be". I ordered all of them off of Amazon.

    Day 2: We explored Charleston! We found some free parking by The Battery and walked around that area first. With the wind blowing in off the water, the weather was perfect! It was a really pretty place to take a group photo.

We walked around White Point Gardens and took some photos by the Pineapple Fountain. All of these areas were very walkable, and you got to see some old, historic buildings with beautiful gardens and window boxes every where you turn. There are parking garages in different areas for parking. I want to say it was around $15 to park.

    We stopped for lunch at Fleet's Landing. I called ahead to make a reservation. There were so many good options for places to eat! After lunch, we walked to Rainbow Row.

    

The girls really enjoyed walking through the City Market next. It provided some shade from the afternoon sun. They found some souvenirs and jewelry. 

From my researching, I discovered that Charleston has some really cute rooftop bars. We went to Little Palm, and it was the perfect place to go for a bachelorette party. We didn't make a reservation, just walked right up and sat at the bar. The bartender recommended a fruity, frozen drink, and it was delicious!

    The last place we explored was King Street. We could have walked a lot more of it, but we were getting tired. From what we did see, it had tons of cute shops for people that love shopping! We drove back to the apartment to take a power nap, and then drove into Folly to see the Pier. We found street parking that was free. After walking on the pier and taking some beach photos, we ate supper at Taco Boy. They had delicious Mexican food, and the setting was really cool. 

    Day 3: Wearing our matching beach shirts, we set out to explore Folly! We started by getting breakfast at the Lost Dog Café. We got there early to get a table, and the breakfast was delicious! If you are a dog lover, you should definitely check this place out. Their décor is all photos of dogs from customers and the owners. 

    After breakfast, we walked around the shops in Folly. We got some souvenirs before we made our way to the beach.

    For the beach, we packed a Styrofoam cooler with sandwiches and drinks. We used the wagon supplied with the apartment, and we filled it with our beach bags, food, cabana, and boogie boards. The free street parking was pretty full since it was a Saturday. We drove around a little while until we found a free spot. We walked to the beach from one of the many access points to set up our area for the day. Little did we know that the tide rises faster than we thought! We had to keep moving our cabana to avoid the water.

    After a long, fun day at the beach, we went back to the apartment to hang out by the pool. We used our glittery floaties, took some photos, and played some games.

    We ended the day by getting supper to-go from Lolo's right down the street. We started packing up our suitcases to be ready for check out the next day.

    Day 4: Our last day 😞 I originally thought we would have time to check out Cypress Gardens before we would all fly out. Unfortunately, it didn't work out. If I ever go back to Charleston again, I definitely want to see Cypress Gardens. The boat scene from The Notebook was filmed there, and you can ride on one of the boats! Instead, we headed to the airport to make our way home.

    Overall, the Holy City was the perfect place to go for a bachelorette party. I want to go back again someday to check out more of the historical places. There is so much to see and do, you can find something to do that everyone would like. Enjoy and happy planning!