A different kind of Bachelor/bachelorette party

Back in 2013 I went to a bachelorette party, but last weekend's party for a different group of friends was worlds away.

First of all, the couple requested that their witnesses organize a combined bachelor/bachelorette party because they didn't want to be separated and also because one of the groom's witnesses is a woman. The bride is also 6 months pregnant (baby will be 3 months old at the wedding), and has started to need help (tying shoe laces is a bit tricky though not impossible).

The witnesses decided to rent a gîte in the countryside outside of Toulouse for a weekend, so Friday evening I carpooled about an hour north east of Toulouse to a hamlet where the gîte was located. My car was the first to arrive (the other two were bringing the bride and groom separately), and we put up signs and started getting things organized. Everyone was asked to bring a baby picture, which we taped on the wall in the living room. The gîte had dishware, cutlery, utensils, and even a number of appliances like a fondu machine and a mixer, but just about everything else we had to bring (sleeping bags, towels, toilet paper, food, soap, etc).

Supplies for the meals on Saturday and Sunday were purchased ahead of time by the witnesses, but everyone was asked to bring something for a potluck on Friday night, so once everyone had arrived (about 9pm) we had a potluck. The gîte had a fireplace in the dining room, so we had a nice fireside meal. I was just starting vacation and might have refilled on the red wine a few too many times, but we only had to make it upstairs, so it was fine.

Saturday morning we all started helping to make a rice salad for lunch about 11am, and around 12 we drove 15-20 minutes to a picturesque village to walk around and then picnic. The village is dead between Toussaint and Easter, but it was still pretty. A paper fortune teller was used to ask the bride and groom questions every once in a while while we strolled, and we also had a Polaroid camera (instamax) to take pictures and comment on them in a notebook all during the weekend. The picnic was nice, if cold, and a village cat and dog came and checked out what we were doing.

Then back to the gîte for some time to relax and play some party games, including having the couple guess which baby picture was from which person.

At 7pm, the witnesses announced that we were all participating in Top Chef, and the bride and groom would need to pick their teams to help prepare dinner. I was picked for the groom's team, which was responsible for the main dish (the bride did appetizers and dessert), and one of the friends played tv host by filming everyone and asking them questions. We had one hour to finish the challenge, and I have to admit it was a really fun way to get everyone involved in helping to make the meal (we were 11, so there was a lot to do) without it feeling like a chore. There was a poster put up in the living room for the "Confessional" where everyone went once during the hour for individual comments, like with reality tv.

Then it was time to dig in! We ate well, drank well, put some music on and danced till 1 or 2 in the morning. I think before the dessert there was a quiz, with the couple answering questions about the most "insolite" location they'd had sex, or the best vacation sex.

Sunday morning the witnesses had planned a "baby wake-up" for the couple, and a whole bunch of us came into their room crying and hopping on the bed. I think it was originally supposed be done at 9am, but since we'd all gone to bed late, it ended up being more towards 10am, which was very reasonable.

At 11am, it was time for new activity. The groom was taken outside and had to find a stick in the yard to make a fishing pole to fish for lunch. Luck would have it that a fresh can of tuna happened to be in the yard, as well as all the ingredients he needed, and after peeling and cutting potatotes and cooking with with a camp stove he had a "fireside" Spanish tortilla. This activity earned him a diploma as "Père Castor" with a raccoon skin hat, and I only understood the reference once I got an explanation from my husband.

During that, the bride's group was inside making macrame plant holders.

We finished up with lunch (some left-overs to finish), then spent some time cleaning up and figuring out who was going in which car and how to fit all the bags.

Overall, it was just a nice weekend out in the countryside with some friends in a gîte. I complained a bit about what I had to pay for the other bachelorette party, and this weekend came out at 73€ per person for the gîte and food, but for 2 nights and lots more fun, I think it was worth it.

And as a funny aside: I forgot we were supposed to bring our own towels, and I only had a kitchen towel from transporting the pie I made for the Friday night potluck. So for two days I had to dry myself with a scratchy kitchen towel.