A Bachelorette Bash for Sasha

Everyone knows first comes an engagement, then the wedding planning, then a bridal shower, and then finally the bachelorette party.  Well it was that time for Lauren's bachelorette party.  So after we cleaned up everything for the amazing baby shower that Lauren threw...ran some quick last minute errands and the group for Lauren's party met in the Sheraton lobby on the plaza.  We were headed to Belvoir Winery up in Liberty (about 30 minutes from the Plaza).  If you recall, this is where David popped the question to Lauren and got all this fun officially started - so we were all excited to see it and taste some wine (well...minus the two pregnant people - we just watched, but it looked good!).

Here is the beautiful estate that we pulled up to....

And we made our way down to the gazebo where he proposed almost exactly a year ago!!!

This was the lobby of the winery.  It was a beautiful old house with lots of history behind it.  The lady that did our group tasting was happy to share lots of information about it with us, including that they are planning to make the second and third floors into a bed and breakfast in the near future.  What a fun little estate this will be to come stay at when it's done!  I told Lauren this should be their anniversary destination!

There was a bar that is open for general public tastings 7 days a week. 

But since we had a party of 16 people and I called ahead, they were kind enough to not make us all cram into that little bar area and gave us our own room.  Even though it was a little warm in there, we had a blast with everyone tasting the wine and hearing the story behind all the wine blends they made there as well as their names.  (Also, see those little favor bags - I will show you on a different post what is inside them!  They were super fun to make and easy and made it a little more fun!)

The bride and some of her friends getting the day started off right!!

Here are some SMNW alumni outside of the winery enjoying the beautiful weather that Saturday had to offer!  It was so great because we did the baby shower and bachelorette party in one day so Jennifer and Katie, who both live out of town, could easily make it to both!!

Overall, the winery was pretty fun and after exploring and everyone got a few more drinks of their choice, the designated drivers headed back to the Plaza for our dinner plans and to kick off the night!!

We had a room reserved for dinner at the Gran Falloon on the Plaza which ended up being the perfect spot!  It was great because it was isolated so we could bring gifts, balloons, some napkins/decor to spice it up and a cake...AND Karel, Lauren's mom, also surprised us with a little friend.  Named Peter Pecker.  He had also made an appearance at one of Lauren's softball friends, Megan, bachelorette parties a few years ago.  Megan's mom was able to make it down for the celebration that evening from STL so it was even more fun!  So here is the bride to be with her "friend" for the night.

Isn't his face creepy!?!?!?

The Gran Fallon was fabulous and very easy to work with for this kind of party.  I couldn't have been more happy with them.  The room had no charge...the only thing I had to do was a $25 cake fee for bringing in our own cake, but they did have some options to choose from there, so if you wanted to buy it through them and waive the fee you could.  I had dropped off the balloons, plates, napkins and cake earlier that day in between the madness and didn't really give them any instructions at all.  They had an awesome set up for the whole group (complete with the napkins) and the balloons and cake set up on it's own table.  They were so great to work with all night and it was great because they didn't mind that everyone did individual tickets.  We couldn't have had a better waitress either - she was super patient and awesome the whole night.  Overall - I would recommend for a party of this sort if you are looking!!

It was funny because there are 3 rooms you can reserve and who would have guessed that the party in the room right next to us was a 30th birthday party for a guy that we were friends with in high school that was 2 years older than us!  It was fun to see them all and John made his appearance a few times on our side of the room!

Peter made appearances all around during the night.  He kept himself comfortable during dinner time next to the presents.  I think he likes that stuff.  And what was pretty funny was Megan's mom, Barb, made a shirt for him to wear that says "Picky" because Lauren is pretty much the most picky person you will meet.  In everything.  Especially guys - so David, you are lucky because you had all the right qualities to make her fall in love and stay in love with you!!  Hold onto her!!

And then it was time for the fun to begin...Lauren broke out her pink sunglasses and that was it.  Sasha was ready to emerge (which is what they call the drunk Lauren).  Megan started off the night as any good bridesmaid would with a shot!

After dinner and getting some food in everyone, it was time to cut the cake and open the presents.  The presents that Lauren insisted she didn't want.  But Megan and I are sneaky and tried to spread the word behind her back!  It was pretty fun watching her open them and in the end, she liked them all!!  I'm sure David will too!!!!!!

A couple of people got Lauren some $20 bachelorette grab bags from Cierillas - and they were SUCH a great idea.  I had never seen these before but it's just $20 and there is a bunch of random stuff in it that you get to watch the bachelorette open.  We all loved watching her take things out of the bags - including some dirty movies, cute lingerie and other toys.  It was even more fun to see her squirm because she was so uncomfortable.  Like I said - it was a good thing we got a private room!  Things got a little rowdy!!

After we all finished up at the Gran Falloon, it was time to get on the KC Strip trolley that picked us us right outside of O'Dowds and head to Kelly's in Wesport per the brides request.  If you live in KC and haven't used the trolley - you should!  For just $10 you get an all night pass all over the city and they actually pick up and drop off pretty frequently so you are waiting around.  Beats paying lots of money for lots of different cabs and it's fun!!

From the pictures I got here, it's no surprise that we had a good time at this stop.  From hanging out with random guys to watching strippers on the dance floor to inappropriate balloon animals to making sure Peter was joining in on the fun and jello shots...well it was a great time and Lauren had a blast!!

We made sure to give Peter some attention too.  Random people were quite intrigued at his presence and liked him. 

 

We also had someone else join us!  Lauren's brother Calen's girlfriend who is also Lauren!  They call her Lauren Kay and it was so nice to meet her and glad she came out and hung out with us all night long!  I made them all take some jello shots with whipped cream in this picture!

The pregnant matron of honor and the beautiful bride!  I did my best to hang all night and did pretty good - however, with my big belly I did get a few stares....

And the balloon guy.  Jennifer paid him $10 so he would make one of her cat, Lily....hahahaha!!  And then we had him make a little something inappropriate for Lauren Sasha to wear around.

Yes, you can guess what that is.....and the bride to be had a pretty good time with it.

Including letting others in on the fun of the hat....this was a bachelor that was out with his friends celebrating his upcoming nuptials that she couldn't let him miss out!  They had a good time chatting with her, but then again, who wouldn't??

At around midnight or a little after, we decided it was time to keep up and take advantage of our trolley transportation.  We were waiting to catch the trolley to go to Brookside and Calen, Lauren's little brother, walked by us!!  Haha - he was pretty shocked to see us, but his mom and sister were pretty excited...and his girlfriend was too.  Of course we all grew up with Calen so there were hugs all around and then he insisted on leaving.  We were just too much fun for him!!

So we made it to our final stop, The Brooksider.  At this point it was about 12:30 or so and about half of the party had decided it was time to head home...but Lauren was still going strong and so was Peter.  This might be one of my favorite from the whole night at the bar down in the "boom boom room" aka dancing room at the Brooksider.  Love that Peter's leg is making an appearance and well, it's clear that Lauren/Sasha/bride to be is having a GREAT time!!   We started our own little dance circle with Peter involved in the dancing and had a grand old time.  Seeing that I was dancing around in my little black maternity dress with a blow up doll and blaring music (as I was constantly apologizing to my stomach telling him I promise I won't keep him up this late ever again when he's in my stomach as long as he promises to not do it to me once he comes out....), I was having a good time as well.

Even Peter had a great time at the Brooksider....

 

But then at about 1:45, Karel came up and told me I needed to go back to the hotel because she knew I was tired.  And yes, yes I was.  It was a long day for me and the babe....especially in a dress and heels!  But all worth it and very fun.  We had a hotel room at the Sheraton on the plaza so I caught the trolley back to the plaza, got Miranda's car with all the presents in it, made a pit stop a Quik Trip because I knew that Lauren and Miranda would in need of some Gatorade and snacks when they got home (let me tell you this motherly instinct is kicking in!!) and went back to the hotel to get in my PJs, arrange my snoogle and get to sleep!

Lauren was carried up to the room by Vanessa and Austyn and Miranda and had a great night!!  She went right to sleep and even commented on how nice it was for the hotel staff to bring up snacks for her (haha).  The next morning she was up early and chatting...but I'm not sure if that was her choice or because she heard me up the 3 times going to the bathroom...we'll never know!!  I had to take off early to get home and showered and ready for Katy's birthday party at 11 and party #3 of the weekend!

Overall - it was a GREAT night celebrating the most wonderful person in the world!  So glad all the girls and moms were able to make it out and seriously cannot WAIT for July 14 for this girl to walk down the aisle to the man of her dreams!!  However, for all those wondering, this will be my last bachelorette party as a pregnant lady this time around....this mama to be had a HARD time recovering the next few days and I didn't even drink!!!