What Happens in Vegas....

The adorable bride-to-be

 Wedding season is always a fun time of year...but it's even more fun when it's your closest friends tying the knot.  I wrote a few weeks ago about my friend Randi who had an epic wedding in New Orleans, but NOW, it's time to celebrate another one of my dearest friends, Ashley...I call her Boost...she is my BOOST.  I had the EXTREME pleasure of coordinating my sweet friend's bachelorette party in none other than Sin City.  Ashley had never been to Las Vegas before, and from growing up on the West Coast, I had become quite a Vegas expert (which I'm starting to think isn't such a good thing!).  When she asked me to plan the weekend, I was thrilled to be able to contribute to her wedding festivities.  It can be hard to celebrate with your friends when you are so far away and unable to participate in showers & engagement parties.  So being the HMFIC (head mother f*cker in charge...don't even ask...I was bestowed this nickname by some friends we made on the trip) for the weekend was such an honor, so that I could help organize the most special weekend ever for the beautiful bride-to-be.

We made her wear costumes every day

With a  motley crew of 9 ladies, we chose the beautiful Venetian hotel to stay for the weekend.  For anyone heading there for a bachelorette party, I would highly recommend staying here because the hotel is entirely comprised of suites...which makes for more convenient sleeping arrangements.  We couldn't have asked for better weather for the whole weekend.  The sun was shining, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and there was negative humidity...a welcome relief for all the ladies from Texas, and the milky New Yorker who was leaving behind a May full of rain.  It was obvious that the most urgent order of business was to immediately get into the pool, and immediately get some cocktails.

After a few hours in the sun, and a couple sunburns later, we treated Ashley to a spicy little shower.


I'm somewhat surprised that everyone was relatively tame, knowing this crew...AND knowing Ashley! The wonderful Man of Honor, Ashley's younger brother Boomer, had two bottles of champagne delivered to our rooms for everyone to enjoy in their hand-painted, Vegas-themed champagne glasses.

We continued the festivities off the strip at Pink Taco where we consumed the only real meal with all 9 girls of the weekend!  The margaritas were delicious, we all had a full meal in our bellies and we all celebrated together as one big group.  Cab lines were horrendous trying to get home that evening, but once we were all back to the Venetian, it was time to take on the casinos!  I'm not sure how or what I did right, but I somehow came away with $30 that evening on slot machines, which was a nice surprise the next morning when I had a little more cash for breakfast. 

The weird thing about Vegas, is you can stay completely inside the casinos and have NO idea what the weather is like outside.  We decided to take a gamble on it being a nice day, and take the bride out on the Vegas strip the next morning to see the sights of Sin City.  The Bellagio conservatory is always a must see for me as the floral installments change quite frequently.  The tourist in me headed there first thing in the morning (after coffee...of course), to share the sights and have a delicious brunch.  After several visits to Vegas, the Conservatory and Cafe Bellagio never gets old.  I'm always happy to share it with people who are experiencing Vegas for the first time.  And it was a good thing we went to the Bellagio because it was here that I met good ol' Phil from my P90X DVDs.  Yes, I was star struck by a man who tortures me on a weekly basis. 

But after a tame brunch of bellinis and omelets, it was time to resume partying.  We made stops at Margaritaville and attempted to visit Rockhouse (which I'm sorry to say has since closed!) before making our way back to our trusty pool for more buckets of Miller Lite.  We made several friends on the trip which included:

My P90X buddy Phil!

• a scary and frightfully intimidating female Sergeant in the US Army who insisted on tasting all our beers before we drank them to make sure they did not contain roofies
• a group of 15 or so married firefighters from San Diego who were taking their buddy out for his bachelor party & who supplied us not only with entertainment, but ensured that Ashley was congratulated by every individual at the Venetian pool
• an Australian "promoter" that we were told to refer to as a "tourist" so that he didn't get in trouble for recruiting smokin hot ladies 



Making sure Ash stays hydrated

• A group of blond youngsters who were equally as enthusiastic about Celine Dion and who wanted to take a picture with us just because we "were fun"

But the final evening was really special for Ashley.  Her lifelong dream was to see Celine Dion in concert, and in the weeks leading up to the bachelorette party, she had been extremely vocal about her hope that we would be seeing the Celine show at Ceasar's...and that's exactly what we did.  All the girls dressed in lovely sequins for a themed night to see the show and Celine did not disappoint.

Celine's emotional finale!

Within the first 15 minutes she sang every one of the most amazing songs ever, and of course ended with the most emotional song ever known to man (i.e. My Heart Will Go On).  If it wasn't for an extremely rude individual in front of us who did not enjoy our singing (don't worry, made him apologize), it would have been the perfect show.  Most importantly, was watching Ashley's beautiful face light up at each song or wardrobe change.  I'm so glad we could all contribute to something that made her so happy on her special bachelorette weekend.  

We all united once again for the final night of celebration which brought us to the Bank at the Bellagio to complete the trip with some cocktails and dancing.  It meant so much to me to coordinate such a special weekend for the bride-to-be.  She was an absolute vision in silver (silver is the Vegas version of white!) and is going to make the most beautiful bride on July 7th. As her first trip to Sin City, I'm glad that I could experience with Ashley all the magic and sparkle that makes Vegas well...VEGAS!  The Smith/Chain wedding is in a little less than 2 weeks and I can't wait to share that special day in Dallas with one of my oldest friends.  So until then...VIVA LAS VEGAS!