As promised! An inside scoop of the bachelorette I threw this weekend for Ashley! (See prior Bridal Shower post if you don't remember!!) This post will be a tad different from the others as it was a mini getaway, therefore, not only will I give you all the deets on our set up and plans, but I'll also review Newport!
Bachelorette's are super time consuming to plan but they can also be exciting to piece together! There are so many places to go, things to see, activities that you can do.. the possibilities really are endless!! (Eventually I will do a review of South Hampton, but I will save that for another day)
First and foremost, the question is where to begin. I really wanted mostly all of this bachelorette to be a surprise since I was involved in it and it was for my best friend in whose wedding I am the Matron of Honor. So...to get a good idea of what Ashley wanted out of her bachelorette, I made her a questionnaire. It contained questions from type of places she would like to see to types of outfits she'd like to wear. Once she completed the questionnaire, I got to work. I did plenty of research on places that had anything to do with what she pictured her bachelorette to be and landed on Newport, RI.
Obviously from first sight, Newport seemed beautiful. But now what? Well.. second most importantly.. where were we going to stay for the weekend? Research began on Air B&B's and Hotels. Working according to location and amount of people we had going, I ended up finding a resort call the Wyndham Long Wharf Resort of Newport. I have to admit, I was definitely please. I ended up booking a 3 bedroom apartment inside the resort and the price was spectacular. (Always keeping price and budget in mind!!) The employees were super sweet, they even brought a bottle of wine up to the room for us to welcome us to our stay, the room was very clean, (it oddly enough smelt SO GOOD!!) there was plenty of space, a little kitchenette with every appliance we could need including a full size fridge and freezer! The view of the shipyard and water from our room was beautiful and check in and check out were super easy. It was right in the heart of DOWNTOWN Newport, which made it super easy to get around either via Uber or walking. Overall, I would definitely recommend.
After picking out where, we had to pick out what to do! Obviously it was more than just a little weekend getaway, it was a bachelorette after all!! So we 100% needed some activities to do and places to go eat!! Ashley really wanted to keep it classy for her bachelorette, so I tried my best to do just that. Our first night we went and had a dinner at Sardella's which was an Italian restaurant right in the middle of Newport. The atmosphere was very warm and inviting and the food was delicious. From appetizers, salads, entrees and delicious wine and cocktails, we definitely felt spoiled! If you are a fan of Italian food, I would definitely recommend trying Sardella's!
After dinner we went over to One Pelham East, which is a three-story building with a different atmosphere on each floor. We started out on the third floor where there was a dueling piano show (it was only $8 per person for entry, and probably the best thing we did all weekend!!) We had a TON of fun. The drinks were flowing all night and the dancing didn't stop for the entire length of the show, which we did not anticipate for a piano bar!! After the show ended, we went down to the first floor which was much more of a college bar scene, however, still super fun nonetheless. AND we were able to walk back to our hotel from the bar, which was even better!
Our second day began with a private wine tasting at Newport Vineyards. Our bartender was incredibly knowledgeable about all of the vineyards different wines and also ended up being a pretty good impromptu photographer... after our tasting we got a cheese board and sat in the grass in the middle of the vineyard and relaxed a bit before going on to our next winery, Greenvale Vineyard. We didn't end up doing a tasting at the Vineyard and just bought a bottle of wine and sat on the grass of the vineyard for about an hour before going back to Newport Vineyard for dinner at their restaurant, Brix. We definitely were more a fan of Newport Vineyard than Greenvale for various reasons, but mostly we found that Newport was more a winery to spend your day at, it was more professionally run and it was less expensive for the experience you had.
Brix is a farm-to-table type restaurant and you could tell all of the food was super fresh. Their menu changes by the time of year and what is in season and everything is freshly home-made. It was absolutely delicious and was actually the least expensive meal we had all weekend.
That night we went back to the resort and just had a girls night. I made a Bachelorette Jeopardy board with questions all about the soon-to-be Bride & Groom and we ate snacks and drank for the rest of the evening together.
The last morning there we took a trip to Castle Hill Inn, which is a long-time famous venue in Newport. It is not only a beautiful venue itself, but the views from The Lawn are absolutely breathtaking, even in the fall. You can learn more about Castle Hill Inn by visiting their website at : https://www.castlehillinn.com/?utm_source=Yext&utm_medium=Yext&utm_campaign=Yext_Google
We went to Castle Hill Inn for brunch which they only serve on Sunday mornings. Although the brunch menu was small, it was absolutely delicious!! We shared a nutella fresh made cinnabon and then had eggs benedict and lobster hash (still dreaming about it) and had lots of prosecco, of course. I would definitely recommend the restaurant and be sure to take cute pics on the lawn!!
Our decor for the weekend stuck to the girly glitzy theme we used for Ashley's Bridal Shower. We made a backdrop for pictures with a rose gold sequin background, a "future mrs. ramos" sign and a flower garland. We made custom paper plates in pink glitter with her wedding hashtag, had wine tumblers made for each girl with their name and long sleeve t-shirts to wear on our outing to the winery's. We made plenty of desserts in penis shapes and had plenty of snacks and drinks! (including water, gatorade, and pedialyte ice pops... A1 for the hangover!!)
Overall, Newport was a beautiful place and if you are willing to spend a little bit of money, it is completely worth it! There are so many things we did not get to do on our short little getaway weekend, so I will definitely be planning another trip back. There was so many cute shops, tons of restaurants to still eat at and activities to do (seriously want to go on a sailboat ride and do the cliff walk!!)
Any other places you guys have suggestions about, I am totally open! I love to explore new places, especially ones I can drive to for a long weekend!
xoxo, Amanda G.
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