bachelorette party
/ˌbætʃ.ɪ.lɒˈrɛt ˈpɑːr.ti/
Very CommonA celebration for a bride-to-be with her closest friends before the wedding, often involving a trip or night out.
Has become increasingly elaborate and expensive since the 2010s. The pressure on bridesmaids to fund and plan an Instagram-worthy trip is a recurring complaint online.
| # | Example | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | bachelorette party planning is genuinely a part time job, how do people do this | Organizing a bachelorette is overwhelming and time-consuming. | x, 2024 |
| 02 | she wanted a low key bachelorette and somehow it turned into a full nashville trip with matching outfits | The bachelorette party grew far beyond the original plan. | tiktok, 2024 |
| 03 | just got back from the best bachelorette party weekend, she deserved every second of it | The speaker attended a successful bachelorette celebration and felt good about it. | instagram, 2023 |
| 04 | reminder that bridesmaid does not mean you owe anyone a $500 bachelorette party | Pushback against the expectation that bridesmaids fund expensive pre-wedding events. | reddit, 2024 |
Use it when
- Referring to the pre-wedding celebration for a bride and her close friends.
- Talking about the trip or event organized by the maid of honor.
- Discussing the expense or planning involved in pre-wedding parties.
Do not use it when
- You mean the bridal shower, which is a separate gift-giving event.Use “bridal-shower” instead.
- You mean the bachelor party for the groom.Use “bachelor-party” instead.
Variations and related forms
Bachelorette party vs bridal shower
bachelorette party
Bachelorette party is a fun outing or trip with close friends, usually no gifts expected.
bridal-shower
Bridal shower is a more traditional daytime event centered around gift-giving.
Origin and context
Evolved from the bridal shower tradition in the 20th century. The term became widespread in the 1980s and 1990s as women's pre-wedding celebrations shifted toward night-out formats. Grew into a travel-heavy, social-media-driven event by the 2010s.
- First seen
- 1980s
- Confidence
- medium
Cite this page
Use this stable URL to reference the entry.
https://slang.fyi/bachelorette-party