He Said & She Said: The Bachelor Plans the Bachelorette Party

By Vinh Chung and Jolene Jang
Guest Bloggers

He said: What is the proper etiquette for planning a bachelorette party? Is it wrong for the bachelor to initiate a bachelorette party? Well, my boys put together an unforgettable bachelor party in January. One of the guys in the group is a high roller who gambles in the six digit range, so most of the expenses incurred at the Palazzo and Venetian were comped. Never have I had such VIP treatment, ranging from fine dining at Delmonico and Sushisamba to clubbing at Lavo to the massages at the Canyon Ranch Spa. We also had a few extracurricular activities, but there is no need to share them.

In any case, I wanted Jolene, my fiancée, to have a grand experience. Towards the end of January, I took matters into my own hands. I casually asked Jolene who she would invite, if she had a party. With these names, I opened her Outlook contacts and made some calls. It was a challenge getting everyone’s schedule to sync, but after a long exchange of emails, we found a weekend that worked. I made reservations for Vegas and the plan was underway.

To keep Jolene in the dark, I collaborated with her out-of-town friend MJ to setup misdirection. We had MJ tell Jolene to clear the weekend that she needed to be picked up at the airport; MJ told Jolene they would have a local party. Jolene is pretty thorough, so we made sure to give her a real arrival flight that coincided with the departure in case she checked. It was fortunate that she had a doctor’s appointment earlier that morning, so I had time to pack her things and pick up the rest of the crew.

She said: It didn’t occur to me to have a bachelorette party. I suppose it is not the job of the bride, but the role of girlfriends to set it up. My mother said that ladies didn’t have bachelorette parties in her day. I got a call from MJ asking if I wanted help in planning my bachelorette party. I was just grateful and excited to have a bachelorette party.



Come Friday, I hopped online to check MJ’s flight status before heading off for my doctor’s appointment. When I got to the airport, MJ called and said she needed help with her luggage, describing the sky-bridge and door she was at.



I had no clue that she was actually calling from Phoenix; tricky, tricky. When I walked in the baggage claim area, I was stunned to see six familiar faces wrapped in red boas and holding a banner that said, “It’s about time, Jolene. Let’s celebrate!” I was presented with a white boa and matching veil and wedding bouquet. My future mother-in-law, mom, aunt, friend fiancé, and dad managed to completely surprise me. Wow, shocker!



He said: Jolene mentioned that she wanted her mom to be at the Bachelorette party because they are close. I thought that if we also invited her aunt, they can hang out together in case the younger gals take on more risqué activities. They suggested we add my mom to the roster. Since none of them had their own bachelorette party, I thought it would be fitting to have them experience one. We arrived at the airport 20 minutes before Jolene and got into position. We called MJ and described the surrounding in detail so she could be convincing when talking to Jolene. Curious bystanders were recruited to be our eyes. They saw Jolene pull up and queued the camera to roll.

She said: The party commenced after we boarded the plane. MJ drove to Vegas from Phoenix and JI (my other friend from Seattle) flew in later. We checked into the beautiful Bella suite at the Venetian, ready to hit the town. Like all bachelor and bachelorette parties, some details will be omitted. However, trip highlights can be seen below. Mission accomplished. I’m lucky in love!

We had a lovely time being silly. My mother, mother-n-law and aunt were "funnin' it up."