Our annual Family Girls Weekend tradition continued this year when Aunts, Sisters, Cousins, Daughters and Nieces from my mom’s side of the family all gathered a few weekends ago- eight of us actually! Of course, this just meant lots of laughs, eating and shopping. I mean, what else is the point of a girls weekend without those three activities, am I right? 🙂
Well, actually, in addition to laughing, eating and shopping, we packed lots of other fun things to our girls weekend! I thought I would share some of the highlights here that made our weekend memorable in case you are planning one.
We tried to count back on how many Girls Weekends we have had with this group and I think the consensus what that this was our fourth with this group. Unfortunately, we had to take a couple years off recently because everyone was either too pregnant or had little babies and not able to make it work. But now we are (mostly) over that phase and hope to get back to our regular programming!
Nine Tips For Your Next Girls Weekend
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HOST A CLOTHING SWAP
We all know the saying, someone else’s trash is another person’s treasure? Well, in this case, it’s all about clothes! Because we do so much shopping over the weekend, everyone packs with lots of extra space in their suitcase. But this year, instead of just coming with empty space, everyone brought their stack of clothes they were getting rid of. We had a fun time swapping our purge piles. Here is a snapshot of what the pile looked like! Anything that didn’t get taken we just donated to the local thrift store.
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PREPARE BLESSING BAGS FOR WOMEN
We also asked everyone to bring stuff to help fill Blessing Bags. This was just anything from hotel toiletries to socks to snacks. I was shocked at how much stuff everyone was able to bring just by going through their drawers. We filled twenty bags to donate to the local Women’s Shelter. (I will share more details on this soon!)
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GIVE MATCHING PAJAMA PANTS TO EVERYONE
A few years ago, I gave everyone a Girls Weekend Gift including matching pant bottoms for everyone and it has become a tradition that any time any of us are together, we wear them! It really is the little things that make the weekend memorable and this is a fun and easy one. Tip- grab a few extra pair if you think the group will grow over the years! 🙂
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SERVE A GLASS JAR SNACK BAR
My mom did a great job hosting and had lots of great meals prepared. One thing she always also does is set out a fun snack bar of glass jars filled with various trail mix, sweets, and savory items. This way you can just grab a handful for whatever you are craving.
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CREATE AN AT HOME SPA BASKET
I thought it would be fun if we had some down time to paint our nails and do face masks. So I grabbed a basket, threw in my manicure tools along with some of my favorite nail polish colors. I also bought everyone a face mask. I then just set the basket out in the room we were hanging out in. We actually all did mani/pedis pretty much first thing when we were waiting for everyone to arrive. Unfortunately, we never got around to the face masks this time but I think it could be a fun thing to do with your group.
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GIVE EVERYONE THEIR OWN PERSONAL GLASSWARE
Mom grabbed everyone matching Tervis Tumblers for the weekend, and we just all had different color lids to tell them apart. This one is practical because it cuts down on dishes, but also giving guests their own cup is just a nice way for them to always feel like they can just help themselves to drinks all weekend.
- TAKE A GROUP PICTUREDon’t let the weekend go by without making everyone hop in a group picture. This one is obvious, but it can be easy to forget! Be sure to snap a picture… or in our case, around 85 group pictures – LOL. These group pictures are treasured and it is always fun to look back each year.
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MAKE A WEEKEND PLAYLIST
Another tradition that we do is that my cousin makes everyone a CD with a fun playlist. Before the weekend, she asks everyone for their recommendations and then puts this together. We play it while we are hanging out, and in the car. So thoughtful!
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PLAN A CRAFT
Last but not least, my Sister and I love to host a craft session. This year, Sissy brought her leather jewelry making supplies and everyone went to town making earrings. This is fun because even people that don’t think they are crafty get a chance to flex their creative muscle.
I hope this helps when planning your next Girls Weekend! Or maybe it has inspired you to plan one! It takes some planning and work, but it is always so worth it to get everyone together!
xoxo-
Heather
Awesome recap cuzzy. Love you. 😘
Thanks, Heather for recapping our fantastic girls weekend….can’t wait for next year!!
Such a great time and so glad that we were able to get 8 of us together this year!
Heather, I have been putting together photo albums on Shutterfly and have determined that we have had 6 girls weekends! Of course, there may be more and the Twinkies are looking to see if they can find what I am missing!
I love all the great ideas I just got from this post. we’re having a girls weekend in February in Texas. It’ll be me, my 8 sister-in-laws, my 2 daughters & my 1 daughter-in-law.