Bachelorette party packing
Plus, a few notes on wedding planning and personal style.
Let’s start by getting this one out of the way: planning a wedding is not for the faint of heart. You’ve got your date, your venue, your guest-list and the seating chart for said guest-list. Then there’s the invites, the stationary, the decoration, the music, the flowers, the photos, the videos, the favors, the food, the cake. And let’s not forget, there’s also the pressure to make everything perfect (yourself included), the unrequested opinions that make you question your every decision, and all the details you had no idea were even a thing you had to think about. Are you out of breath yet?
Over these past few months, wedding planning has taught me a few things that I already knew, but apparently the universe thought I needed to learn these lessons again. Thanks, mate! First, having unrealistic expectations will suck the joy out of the process and make you feel like you’re doing something wrong. Second, you know yourself better than anyone—trust your gut. Third, your dress is beautiful and you look amazing in it, don’t let your brain convince you otherwise. You don’t need to lose weight, skip dessert or say no to that slice of pizza. Lastly (but perhaps most importantly), no matter how much you want this to be a blissful time, shit happens. Shit won’t choose a convenient time or spare you just because you’re getting married and it’s supposed to be the happiest moment of your life—it will just happen. And you won’t always be able to control it, solve it, or do anything about it.
As I tried to finish this newsletter in the back of an Uber last week, I also realized what is perhaps the most valuable lesson that wedding planning had taught me: even when the shitiest of shits happens, you can still find moments of laughter, happiness, and joy. And you don’t have to feel guilty about it, because you deserve good things. Remember that.
Since I was five minutes away from the airport to catch a flight to Barcelona for my bachelorette party and rushing to get past security to meet my friends, I decided it might be a good idea to focus and leave this one on “drafts”. Over the past few days, which have been quite overwhelming due to the elephant in the room—planning a wedding—I contemplated if I wanted to finish this or not. I had planned a whole thing around packing for your bachelorette, which all of the sudden sounded a bit silly. But then I remembered that one thing I wrote a week ago: “even when the shitiest of shits happens, you can still find moments of laughter, happiness, and joy.” You know you’re in need of some serious help when you start quoting yourself. Yikes.
Anyway, moving on. I’ve had a lot of fun planning my outfits and packing for the occasion. Sourcing Pinterest and Instagram for inspiration was also quite fun—there were all sorts of sparkly dresses, lace ensembles, satin two pieces, and feathers. I must admit I almost caved into buying a lace dress. Which I ended up doing. Today. Because I have no self-control. But! It’s still worth mentioning that I did resist the urge to get it for a specific night in my life, which feels like a win in itself.
Although I question my style a lot and have several “oh my god this outfit is so boring, I’m so boring” moments a day, I did feel cute while putting these looks together. And I had a lot of fun wearing them outside the house. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to part ways with any of these pieces now (fast forward to September and I’m selling a bubble skirt on Vinted because I had a bad body image day and now I hate how my legs look in it). These items of clothing are now attached to amazing memories with my amazing friends, who not only planned a perfect weekend but also took their time to be there and celebrate. I also had my friends who couldn’t make it but were checking in and sending sweet messages, which says everything you need to know about the people around me. They always make me feel loved, and this was just another occasion where I felt really grateful to have this group of people in my life. The whole trip reminded me not only of this essay, but also of how our friends make immense efforts to show up for us while dealing with their own lives, their own struggles, and their own worries.
Enough with the rambling… Here’s everything I packed!
Day 1:
Starting off simple with the airport look. A basic, comfortable all-white outfit that needs little to no explaining. Of course it got more interesting when we touched down in Barcelona and I got to add a hot pink cowboy hat and some 90s inspired sunglasses, also pink, of course.
At night, I changed into this. The top is a little sheer / mesh moment, paired with a Gimaguas skirt that I got from Vinted. You can’t really tell from the photo, but it has a cute little lace detail.
Day 2:
For our second day I decided to go with a sort of “Britney goes bridal” number. Not only are these pants from COS super light and breezy, but the embroidered detail is everything and more. Only thing missing is the necklace I tried at the Gimaguas store, which elevated the whole thing to another level.
Night two was for fun, fun, fun—so I think I picked the right outfit for it. The bubble skirt is a very trendy piece, but very amusing para perrear. My friends also got me a short white veil to go with this look, which made it even cuter!
Day 3:
I got this top from an Arket sale last year and it’s one of my favorite Spring / Summer pieces. The crochet detailing feels very Sofia Richie / Magda Butrym, and looks really nice when paired with these linen trousers. They’re from Mango and fit like a glove!!! Again, finishing the outfit with my trusted mesh flats which got me through an entire weekend of walking and partying.
