Gettin' Hitched: A CATchelorette Party

Sistren, The Librarian and I are not raging bachelorette party types. The thought of chasing some jello shots at a strip club, or- let's face it- being out past 11, is not our idea of a good time. Happily, our friends know this, and Indigo Labrys and an Old Married planned us the most amazing CATchelorette party. That's right, a surprise cat-themed bachelorette party. 

The planning of this event was highly involved, so maybe Indigo Labrys can fill you in on it later. They deceived us for months, and got The Librarian's mother in on it too. We were on our way to pick up Indigo Labrys, who asked us to come upstairs (so she could find her cat- a very natural and theme-party appropriate excuse!) and then we were completely surprised by our queer lady friends all waiting in matching cat shirts and cat ears. There were a few straights there too, cause we're diverse like that. We really love our straight friends, they're just like everyone else. It's important to be open minded, sistren, even if you worry their straight marriages will tarnish the sanctity of your queer marriage. 

Anyway, we wanted to share a few ideas if you want to have your own CATchelorette party or similar, for yourself or someone else! Follow these tips and the party is sure to be a meow-ing, purrfect success!

1. Be good at lying. When your friends tell you that their mom wants to meet you, and they ask you what night you can go to dinner, make sure you insist on going the same night as the party. That way there's an easy way to get them to your house! Then during that day lie and say you're having car trouble and do they mind coming to get you? Bonus if you get the mom to tell them she's made reservations at this restaurant near your house for a bit after you want the party to start, so the Nearly Marrieds will get there at the appropriate time.

   

   Party planners feeling smug.

2. Don't worry about boring hetero traditions, like separate parties. Separate bachelorette parties are totally unnecessary for queer ladies if they're not what you want. Obviously, since you are queer ladies you are merged, and so cannot bear to be apart from your betrothed. You're getting married so you can be legally merged, and this starts now. 
3. Create a queer-lady theme. CATchelorette was pretty genius, so feel free to steal it. Or maybe you and your lady (or your friends if you're the planner) are more into softball, so a CATCHelorette would be more appropriate. Or you could not worry about appropriateness, and host a saucier SNATCHelorette. Either way, it should be something fun for the Nearly Marrieds. 
4. Get crafty. Old Married and Indigo Labrys spent a lot of time making our amazing cat-ear triple-tiara veils. They also customized our party cat shirts to say "Bride" (a word we are not fans of, but who doesn't love anything if it's on a cat shirt?). They even wrote "Bride" in our respective wedding colors, which shows a skillful attention to detail. We were quite impressed.
   
5. Have themed food and decorations. At this party, it included cat stickers on all the food labels, chocolate peanut butter cats (naturally, made from candy molds from our wedding registry), cup-cats, and a very impressive cat-themed bar menu. They gave it that personal touch by naming two of the cocktails after our own beautiful fur children. Cute, in theme, and personalized for the Nearly Marrieds- a party planning feat.
   
   

   

   Tie-dye and cats, because what else?

6. Push the drinks. Who doesn't have fun when your friends are giving you really strong drinks? Though we had a painful hangover the next day that sadly comes from not being in our early 20s, it was worth it. Especially since we had a designated driver in the form of The Librarian's mom. Speaking of which, that brings us to number 7-

   

   The Librarian enjoyed her Gin Meow-er

7. Have a house mom. We were seriously struggling the next morning. If you can arrange for a mom or chosen family to be in attendance at the Nearly Married's house the next morning to make them hangover food, they will greatly appreciate it. 

   

   I needed this.

8. Let the party affirm your wedding decisions. While The Librarian and I were super happy with our party, having so many expectant faces all on us when we entered the room was overwhelming. Luckily this was only a few seconds, but at a traditional wedding it would be for much longer! This solidified our feelings that we have planned the perfect tiny ceremony that is all about us and not about other's expectations. See also number 2. Do what you want, and who cares what people think.

Pin-the-tail on the Cat!

Thanks Indigo Labrys (AKA the Best Homo) and Old Married, we had a purrfect, meowsome time.