The Party Primer

• By Sara Cardace, Katie Charles, Amy Larocca, Doria Santlofer & Rachel Wolff
• Published Winter 2007

The dining room at Buddakan in Atlantic City.   (Photo: Courtesy of Buddakan)

BACHELORETTE PARTIES
Held: Two weeks before the wedding
Hosted by: Bridesmaids
Gag Gifts Encouraged

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Overnight Vegas Vacation … in Jersey
Ditch New York in favor of the trash and glitz of Atlantic City. Reserve connected ocean-view suites at the Borgata (the Fiore junior suites, from $519 per night; One Borgata Way; 609-317-1000; theborgata.com). To cut pre-party costs, stock your suite with your own wine or liquor, then kick things off with dinner at Buddakan, a quick walk from the hotel (the Pier Shops at Caesars, One Atlantic Ocean; 609-674-0100; buddakanac.com). After dinner, head back to your suite for the requisite naughty-gift exchange. If you play white-elephant style, then everyone goes home with a favor. (Here’s how that works: Each girl picks from the bag to which everyone has contributed an item, and she’s allowed to steal others’ gifts or take a chance with her own grab. What to put in the bag? Lingerie and sex-shop wares, natch.) Then take it back to the Borgata casino for decidedly unladylike behavior—gambling, stiff drinks, and showing off to bachelor-party counterparts.

Road Trip For Oenophiles
If your party falls in the cold months (and you have five bridesmaids or fewer), plan an overnight jaunt to the North Fork. Rent a car—the three-hour L.I.E. trip then is far less excruciating than in the summer. Check into adjoining rooms at the Village Latch Inn Hotel, and ask for one with a fireplace (from $250 a night; 101 Hill St., Southhampton, N.Y.; 631-283-2160). Next day, go wine-tasting at the North Fork’s vineyards (Jamesport, Pellegrini, and Shinn Estate are particularly good). At night, call a car to whisk the group to Southampton Publick House (40 Bowden Square, nr. North Sea Rd.; 631-283-2800; publick.com), a microbrewery and restaurant. Later, sip salty margaritas at Red/Bar Brasserie (210 Hampton Rd., nr. Lewis St.; 631-283-0704).

Unabashedly Cheesy Girls’ Night
If you want a delightfully trashy public celebration of your pending plunge into married life, complete with madcap dashes from bar to bar and at least one beefcake gyrating in a thong onstage, then stock up on phallic fixings and pile into a party bus (from $250 an hour, six-hour minimum, for 20 to 44 people; thepartyride.com). Or, for a smaller group, rent a white limo with neon lights (from $340 for four hours, $85 per each additional hour; 718-251-2525; newyorkluxurylimo.com). After driving around the city shamelessly pumping “SexyBack,” get dropped off at Waikiki Wally’s Pacific Catch (99 E. 2nd St., nr First Ave.; 212-673-8908; waikikiwallys.com; group reservations available). Have your fill of rum-soaked bowls of booze and Hawaiian fare, then head to the basement for karaoke with the gender-bending waitresses from Lucky Cheng’s next door. Once everyone’s good and liquored up, go to bachelorette-party mainstay HunkOMania (Friday and Saturday nights at the Culture Club; 179 Varick St., nr. Charlton St.; 888-486-5662; hunkomania.com). For a surprise private show at home instead, call in advance to reserve a stripper (917-921-8476). Surf hunk-o-mania.com (no relation) to select five to ten choice specimens, and one of them will show up on your doorstep (from $200 per “dancer”).