tennesse
Recently I was given the task of being my Sister Ciara’s Maid of Honor. HUGE DEAL, right? And as soon as the engagement news settles down, what’s the first thing that everyone asks?… Where’s the Bachelorette party going to be? Now my sister has told me for years that she wanted to go to Nashville, so I didn’t have to do much thinking on my part. Plus with Nashville recently surpassing Las Vegas for the Bachelor/Bachelorette “capital”, it was definitely a no brainer.
Honestly, Nashville blew my expectations out of the water. I’m not a big “downtown” party type of person. But I had so much fun. Even if you don’t like Country music, the atmosphere itself is something to see. I always see a lot of fairly cheap flights that head to Nashville. The city itself is fairly central from the Midwest and the East Coast, so that may play a part in the cheaper flights. From what I’ve been told the airport itself is a bit of a “shit show”. So plan on budgeting more time there than you normally would.
While the majority of our group flew to Nashville from Minneapolis/St.Paul, I opted to drive. This was due to the fact that I had accumulated a lot of things that I needed to get down to Nashville. While this saved the group a significant amount of money, the drive home was absolutely miserable. After 3-4 days of doing nothing but drinking and partying, the last thing I wanted to do was drive 13 hours. Luckily I had a family friend that went down with me, so we were able to split the driving.
By driving I was able to plan months in advance what I wanted to bring down. When a certain item became dirt cheap, I was able to purchase it in advance to cut down on overall costs. If someone is able to drive, I highly suggest doing this! Especially if not everyone in your group has an abundant amount of money. Bachelorette parties add up quickly, especially if you have a larger group! Make sure to save your receipts. I kept track of everything I had purchased as far as food and alcohol, and then split that up amongst the total girls that went. It is so much easier just communally going in on everything. That way no one has to worry about who’s eating what food, etc. etc. And it will be cheaper!
Amazon surprisingly has A LOT of cute Nashville themed decorations to purchase, that aren’t overpriced. My favorite that I found was the Nash Bash balloons featured above. They made it a lot of fun while taking pictures before going out at night. For anything that you want personalized, I highly suggest checking out Etsy! They literally have everything that you can think of! This is where I went to get the invitations, shirts, pony holders, and personalized gifts for the bride made.
Now, I highly suggest getting accommodations through some sort of rental service! There is so many companies that have rental properties in Nashville. Hotels in my opinion are extremely overpriced. To be semi close to Broadway (the main downtown area), you are going to be paying an arm and a leg. Plus you can only have a few girls in a room, at the most! Being able to be with the entire group is what really makes the trip.
We had two older individuals with us on the trip, who wanted to come but not stay in the big house. They got a hotel room for 3 nights and paid close to a thousand dollars. Most often, renting a house will be significantly cheaper! Plus you can cook some food at home and snack to save money. Personally I start feeling sick after constantly eating out for a few days straight. I would recommend using AirBNB to find your rental. To me it seemed like they had the largest selection of places to choose from. If you want to save some money, click on this link to receive $55 off your first booking!
What To Do
We had so much fun on the Nashville Tractor Tour. In my opinion, I thought that it was WAY more fun than the pedal pubs. I have personally never been on a pedal pub, but I think it would be that last thing I’d want to do drunk. Especially in 95 degree weather. With the Nashville Tractor Tour they bring you around Broadway on a lit up trailer (peep the photo below). We had a DJ and bartender on the trailer with us. They did such a good job catering to my sister Ciara (the bride) and getting everyone up and dancing. Halfway through the tractor stopped briefly at a bar. Which was nice cause it gave everyone the chance to use the bathroom if they needed.
Normally a private tour is roughly $400-500. Me trying to save money wherever possible, I looked for a way to find a deal. When you book online, you can see how many people have booked a public tour. At the time that I booked, the Nashville Tractor Tour had a Buy One Get One Free deal going on. This was only for public tours, but cut the price down significantly. I also booked the 1030PM-1200 (1.5 hours), so we had the ENTIRE tour to ourselves. There is the chance that other people may be on the tour as well though. So just something to consider when you’re looking at booking. We happened to save $300 overall, buy booking this way. See what your group wants overall though, we had fun by ourselves.
Broadway– You’re going to end up down here, even if you don’t drink. This area is so much fun! The bars are packed and the food is good. Broadway reminded me of a smaller country version of Vegas. Broadway is packed with restaurants and bars owned by some of the biggest names in Country Music. Make sure you come down here with your group, there is an endless selection of places to choose from. We ended up down here every night due to the selection of bars. Expect to pay a bit more for drinks and food though.
The Gulch– The #WhatLift’sYou wings are here. I know you’ve seen a picture of this at some point! Super cute area, and there is so many other murals to take a picture in front of. They are all over! Plus other than the wings you don’t have to wait in line. The Gulch is filled with cute little shops, apartments, and restaurants. I wish we would have had more time to walk around and see everything. But we ran out of time, and just came down for the picture. We were those girls…. doing it for the Gram.
AxeVentures– Buy the Groupon. It ends up being less than half the price with it! Super fun though! None of the girls in our group had tried Axe Throwing prior to this. Which made it even more fun, since it was a learning experience for everyone! They also allow canned alcohol inside the building. So make sure to pack a cooler full. The sessions are 1.5 hours long, and include a tutorial from the instructors. I believe there is another Axe throwing place, closer to Broadway. I went with this one based on the Groupon though. Make sure to get competitive and start documenting how many points people are getting once everyone has had enough practice.
Flea Market– Nashville has one of the top ten flea markets in the Country. The Market takes place about once a month I believe. The market is huge! And filled with A LOT of cute stuff. I happened to pick up a few different signs for the house, as well as a sweater. If you are looking for unique things this is the place! Especially if you are really into shopping, I definitely suggest spending a few hours here, if you are in town while it is going on. The Flea Market’s dates are posted on their website.
Where To Eat In Nashville
Pinewood Social– If you’ve done any research on Nashville, I know that you’ve seen some photos of Pinewood Social. And it is exactly what you see online! They have both a pool and a bowling alley connected to the restaurant. I wish we would have been able to book the bowling alley when we were there, because it was SUPER cute! Please make sure you get a reservation, we had to wait for quite some time in order to get a table. Also make sure you do some research on the time of day, and what food they serve. We went there during the week, and were expecting to get brunch. When we arrived they were only serving lunch. This may be a huge let down if you are craving some breakfast food. Pinewood Social has a super cute atmosphere with great food and drinks though.
Sinema– Again, we were idiots and didn’t happen to make a reservation. In my head, I didn’t think it was best since we had no idea to know what time we could even get up. But let me tell you this, if you don’t make a reservation there is NO WAY you’re getting in to this place in a timely fashion. You may not even get in at all (like in our case).
So take from my mistakes and please make a reservation. Luckily for us though, the manager was there while we were talking. And made room for us to come back for dinner if we wanted. The place was SO cute that we immediately agreed. Thankfully we did, because it was one of the best meals that we had while in Nashville. While dinner was a bit spendier than most places in Nashville, It was extremely reasonable. I happen to get both a meat and cheese tray, two made drinks, a mixed seafood entrée and tip for about $100.
Big Bang Piano bar at Dicks Last Resort– I had only been to one other piano bar before in San Diego. The place was your typical Dicks Last resort, with an asshole (but secretively a sweetheart). The piano bar was fun, but nothing like the one that I went to in San Diego. Everyone was so spread out, and the entertainers only did an “alright” job of interacting with everyone. It seemed like all they wanted to do was play songs and get tipped. Regardless, the night was still fun and everyone really enjoyed.
They did play a song for the bride, and brought her on stage. But it wasn’t until we tipped them $20. Which was funny because we already paid for the VIP package. This was supposed to include the bride being brought on stage regardless. But look at getting some sort of package prior. It did allow us a table right next to the piano and “stage”. Some I don’t think you had to even pay for, there was just some sort of minimum final bill necessary.
Drag’n Brunch at Suzy Wongs– Fish Bowls, Pride mimosas, amazing food, and gorgeous women lip singing. Again make sure you make a reservation, which you can do online! Bring plenty of cash, because the girls are well deserving of any tips! The food surprised was surprisingly amazing! I figured the show was the “main” reason for coming here, but the found was just as good. Especially to help cure a hangover, after a long weekend of nothing but partying. They only do the drag show on certain days, so make sure you look up their schedule! The show went on longer than I imagined. When we left the girls were still going! The place itself was a bit farther away than other places, but worth the longer drive.
Fenwick’s 300– Like most places in Nashville, expect some time to be seated. Especially around brunch time! We walked here after we didn’t get into Sinema, and we would have had to wait around 30 minutes to get a table. Instead we offered to sit at the bar, and were able to go in right away. The food was really good! I had the smoked salmon for brunch, and it was AMAZING. I wouldn’t suggest it though, if you are super hungover. Only because it does have a fairly strong fishy smell and texture! Everyone in our group said the breakfast food was super good! Sadly small mimosa’s though…. They should have some sort of bottomless mimosa’s deal or larger glasses. You’d have like 4 sips and it was gone.
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