This past weekend we celebrated my little sister’s bachelorette with a festive getaway to Rhinebeck, NY. It was the most fun I have had in a long time, thanks to a very lovely group of girls and a bride who requested a weekend of “relaxation, yoga pants and eating” (we were all on board with her plans!). We hit all of those items and more during our stay upstate — starting at a gorgeous Airbnb country farmhouse — and I had to share a few of my favorite details from the weekend!
I took my Maid of Honor duties very seriously and put together some really fun welcome bags for the girls, starting with a watercolor camp-themed invite that set the tone for the whole weekend. I worked with an Etsy vendor to create a custom logo for the weekend and put it on the welcome bags, stickers, and menus. Each bag got some weekend essentials, like an embroidered bandana with each girl’s name, red heart sunglasses, and customized camp mugs for our cocktails (I DIY’ed them with mugs from Amazon and decals from Etsy)! I also included local postcards from the town we were visiting.Instead of cheesy pink matching tank tops (ugh I hate those), we asked all of the girls coming for the weekend to wear white, denim, and chambray for a coordinated group picture (along with our heart sunglasses and bandanas!). I love that everyone totally rocked a look that was unique to their style, and made the group picture look so festive and cohesive. We also had fun activity to do while we were hanging around the house at night — friendship bracelets! I bought a bunch of letter beads and elastic string and we made stacks of colorful bracelets with our initials and funny phrases to wear. I wasn’t sure if people were going to think my craft-project was a totally lame idea, but it was a hit — a nice activity to do while we were having cocktails and snacks.  Mara and I started the weekend off with a sister-lunch at a darling restaurant called Liberty Public House in Rhinebeck, NY (the first of several burrata-based meals of the weekend, ha!). It’s so rare we get to hang out with kids and family, so it was one of my favorite parts of the weekend. We need more sister dates!Mara-garitas were the official drink of the weekend — no one loves a “marg” more than the bride! My friend gave me a recipe for a watermelon puree we used in a few of the margarita batches and they were heavenly. I also ordered really cute custom cocktails stirrers with their wedding hashtag on them, and paired them with birch tree paper straws! There was a group consensus that the highlight of our weekend celebrations was a luncheon we ate at The Amsterdam in Rhinebeck. We had a beautiful, sunny fall day and got to sit at a private table in their back garden. The menu was phenomenal, and customized with all of the bride’s favorite ingredients. Everything was served family style and I’m still dreaming about some of the dishes like a grilled plum and burrata salad, a homemade oriechette pasta dish, and a Mexican street corn-inspired potato gnocchi. We had tasty rounds of signature cocktails and finished the meal off with strawberry shortcakes, warm chocolate chip cookies, and vanilla ice cream. It was a meal to remember. While our group was in downtown Rhinebeck we did some shopping and found a few really darling shops — I found some treasures at Cabin Fever Outfitters, Paper Trail, and Hammertown.The Airbnb property we stayed in was a perfect backdrop for our relaxing weekend — just look at that master bathroom! I was such a huge fan of the giant kitchen so we could cook while we were there (we had a pasta feast for dinner one of the nights!). We also made great use of the pool and the beautiful wooded property. A giant picnic table near a rolling freshwater brook was an ideal spot for happy hour! It was a picture-perfect weekend and we all had so much fun together celebrating my sister (and getting our late-night dance party on). I can’t wait to continue the festivities in a few weeks for her wedding!