Bachelorette party rules

See news article from yahoo.ca:

Washington bride-to-be arrested on wedding day
By The Associated Press

BELLEVUE, Wash. - A 31-year-old bride-to-be heading home from her bachelorette party was arrested for drunk driving hours before she was to get married.

Washington State Patrol Trooper Christina Martin says the woman was driving over 90 mph Saturday morning and weaving in and out of traffic on Interstate 405 in Bellevue when she was stopped.

Martin says a trooper arrested the woman, processed her and let her take a cab home in time to make it to her early afternoon wedding in Burien.

Martin says the bride's alcohol level was nearly twice the legal state limit. The woman will face charges in King County District Court.

(end of article)

Important lesson to be learned from this article: don't party the night before your wedding. Bachelorettes and stags should take place one week before the wedding. This is not just the common rules of etiquette; this is common sense. Nobody wants to arrive hung over to their wedding, nodding bleakly during the ceremony and saying I do at innapropriate times during the ceremony. Nobody wants their bridesmaid to have to prop them up with their bouquet-free hand during the walk back up the aisle. And to top it all off, nobody wants to forget to show up that day.

At least, that's what you figure would happen for most normal brides. Normal brides generally want to be at their best on their wedding day, so they traditionally have the wild night hanging off of strippers with margarita necklaces the week BEFORE the wedding. The night before the wedding is generally a good night for a long hot soak in the tub, that green goo beautifying mask and those 1950s curlers in your hair and some quiet magazine time.

The two things that puzzle me about this article is whether or not this woman wanted to show up at this wedding, considering that she was plastered and probably unfit to make a lifelong commitment in her state. The other thing that puzzles me is why this woman was driving in the first place. Where were her friends? Doesn't everyone know that cheesy old message about friends not letting friends drink and drive? It's more than a public service message.

So here are some tips for Bachelorette parties that I hope that other women consider:

1- DO NOT PARTY THE NIGHT BEFORE THE WEDDING. Stay at home, have some tea with your parents, look at some photo albums, do some scrap booking. You're about to make a life-changing decision and you want to be lucid when it happens. Apart from the obvious panic of being late or the embarassment of being incoherent, most marriage officials can deny you a marriage ceremony if they suspect that you or your spouse to be are under the influence. One sniff of alcohol and they are well within their rights to walk away, leaving YOU at the altar and most definitely NOT waiving your non-refundable fee.

2- FRIENDS DON'T LET FRIENDS DRINK AND DRIVE. It's tried but true. This bride to be was caught and faces a day in court, which is never a good way to start off a new life together, but at the same time, it could have been a lot worse. She could have easily injured herself or someone else in an accident, which means that she may never have made it to the altar at all, which would have been heartbreaking and devastating for all. It's not difficult to make a plan for rides, a sleep over, or even to just get a hotel room for the occasion where everyone can crash after hitting the bar scene. Taxis are just a call away and you can add them to your phone. They're really the only people that you should be drunk dialing.

3- MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR FRESH START. The Bachelorette party signals the end of your carefree single life. The wedding symbolizes a new beginning and a fresh start. Make the most of it and don't add to your criminal record before the big day hits. There aren't many chances in life to start over, and you don't want to let go of this one.

I'd like to conclude this article by stating that one cannot underestimate the importance of a good Bachelorette party. It's an opportunity to make memories for the future, if not for the bride, for all of her friends to remind her later. These special occassions should be met with a plan for going out and staying safe, pulling an all-nighter with lots of good food, booze and company, and lots of discretion on the part of the friends.

Be real friends. Take care of the guest of honour first and make sure that they don't put themselves in danger when they're in a state. And don't post stupid photos of them the next day. Only post the generic ones where everyone's smiling and clear-eyed and saying cheese. If your friends don't have this kind of decency, class or common sense, they shouldn't be your friends.