Ashton's Bachelorette Bash Part II: The Presents!

 

Instead of traditional bachelorette gifts, I asked each of the ladies to make a 12x12 scrapbook page for Ashton and to bring a favorite love story.

As the ladies were initially arriving for the party, they each left a lipstick print as a little memento for Ashton.

 

She loved it and it's such a fun and easy gift that is so adorable.

 

After the lipstick print, 

 

 

 

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Ashton's Bachelorette Bash Part II: The Guests!

I am so excited to share the pictures from one of my best-friend's bachelorette parties! Ashton and Matt got married while we were at Tech School at Vandenberg AFB.  She flew to Chicago during our winter exodus and they got married.  Now they're having their big, Catholic wedding and I couldn't let Ashton have her big day without a fun, hybrid bachelorette/bridal shower soiree.

The bridal soiree was thus born!  Ashton loves the great outdoors, so I split up her bachelorette party into two parts.  Read more about Part I- a day spent out at First Peoples Buffalo Jump.

 Part II was all about the traditional bachelorette party...except we live in a really small town.  It's not really set up for bar crawling, so I decided to throw a fun, casual event at her house.  Going off of her personality, the theme of Girl Scouts Chic.  Think retro and vintage Girl Scouts.

With that theme in mind, I started collecting vintage items off of eBay.  I bought handbooks from the 1940s as well as gorgeous vintage pins.  I made "Girl Scout Handbook" invitations that were filled with original artwork from the handbooks that I had scanned.  

I told the girls to use neutral colors or vintage/retro Girl Scouts to inspire their outfits.  I absolutely loved Hannah's outfit and Sara's was pretty spot on as well- check out that darling neckerchief!

Our Young Life main leader, Katie, made Ashton this adorable bridal sash.

Those three pins are some of the vintage pins I collected over the past several months.  I thought they completed her look perfectly!

As I was busy behind-the-scenes, I put another one of my best-friends in charge- Brittany.  She is an amazing artist and photography major so she was perfect for getting the party started.

 

A station was set up in the garage with a big chalkboard sign that said, "Kisses for Ashton! Leave a kiss and your name." I put out two bowls, one with Q-tips and the other with various lipsticks.  As the ladies came in, they had the opportunity to leave a kiss for Ashton to remember her bachelorette party by. You'll get to see the finished product later!

 

I also asked each of the ladies to bring two things with them to the party, in lieu of traditional bachelorette gifts.  The first was to create a 12x12 scrapbook page with a letter to Ashton.  The results turned out so cute! Next to the lipsticks was the scrapbook and each lady had the opportunity to place their page into the scrapbook.

 

 The second thing I asked the ladies to bring, as the primary "gift," was their favorite love story.  The whole theme of the bachelorette party, apart from Girl Scouts Chic, was that this is a journey and a unique love story.  Here are two wonderful people who are already married, who now want to celebrate that with everyone by essentially renewing their vows.

So each young lady brought their favorite love story, wrapped up in Barnes and Noble bags or cute, squadron-themed colors.  They dropped them off next to the lipstick station and you'll get to see their choices in a future post!

 

After lipstick prints, scrapbooks, and the dropping off of books, it was time for the first main event that involved Ashton!  At first, I was worried that it was going to be a lot of activity to get the party started but it actually turned out great.  As ladies started arriving, they could drop off their items and leave a lipstick print.  Brittany then took charge of our "how did you meet Ashton" photo session.

 

I made another chalkboard earlier in the week that was perfect for holding in this photo shoot.  Each of the ladies got to write or draw the first time they met Ashton.  The weather was gorgeous and it was a nice, casual way to ease into the bachelorette party.

As promised, here is the final result of the lipstick prints!  I think it turned out darling and it's a fun memento for Ashton to remember her special girls' day.

Check out the next series of blog posts to see more on the bachelorette party!

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Ashton's Bachelorette Bash Part 1

 

One of my absolute best-friends and battle buddies here is Ashton.  She and Matt have been married for awhile now (ahh that military lifestyle) but are having a big Catholic wedding late in summer.  She never had a bridal shower or bachelorette party so I decided to make a big bachelorette bridal soiree for her!

 

She is one of the kindest, most loyal people you could ever meet.  She's also conveniently a Young Life leader with me (I know, I've been dropping Young Life left and right this week but it is THAT important to me).  

One thing that she loves would be outdoor adventures.  She's from Colorado so she is 100% familiar with all that is outdoors.  She's even interested in getting certified in being an outdoor rec guide! How cool is that?

So it was only fitting that one component of her bachelorette bash involved the great outdoors.  It's shameful, but I haven't done much in the local area in terms of outdoor adventures. In fact, the ones that I have done are usually with Ashton.

After weeks of deliberation between a float trip, horseback riding, and hiking, the final result based on everyone's schedules was a hike! 

 

We decided to visit a really great local state park- First Peoples Buffalo Jump.  The Native American tribes in the local area used to hunt buffalo by driving them over cliffs.  I know, intense.  

One thing that I love about Montana is the rich history of Native Americans and the beautiful scenery that accompanies so many areas of this state.

If you're out-of-state, the park asks for a $5 donation but Montana residents can visit the park for free. The visitor's center has a really great mini museum and the presentation was wonderful.  We learned all about how the tribes selected three boys to help hunting buffalo.  A 16-year old was chosen to wear a buffalo calf pelt and two younger boys were chosen to wear wolf hides.  I also learned that female buffalo were the matriarchs and in charge of their herds.  #whoruntheworld

 

 What was also pretty neat was learning that the park hoped to buy additional land and actually have buffalo there!!  After visiting the museum and the presentation, we hiked up to the top.  It took us probably 20-30 minutes and the view was wonderful.  There were so many gophers up there, too! I could only imagine the chaos that would ensue if Holly and Blu were with me.

It was a wonderful day at a local state park and I can't wait to share part 2 of Ashton's bachelorette bash!
If you liked this post, share it with others! If you feel particularly moved by it, leave a comment because I love feedback and discussion. Social media links are provided below and thanks for reading!