Williams Wed n Wild: Our BACH Weekend in PR

This past weekend was the most fun weekend of my life thus far. Nick(my fiancé) and I traveled to San Juan, Puerto Rico with 15 of our closest friends for our co-ed(more on that later) bachelor/bachelorette trip. It was absolutely incredible and I cannot will not get over it ever. Truly, it went perfectly from our perspective. Everyone arrived safely(with just one missed flight and one canceled then rescheduled one) and made it to all of the excursions to enjoy together. Here's how it all went down and why we chose(and would choose again a million times over) to do it joint!

The Week Before

I had so many appointments you would not believe. It was pretty stressful to manage and schedule everything I wanted to do while working full time. For two weeks, I was running to appointments before and after work and even a few on the weekend. Some appointments I made to ensure I felt absolutely fabulous were:

1. Wax

2. Body contouring

3. Lash extensions

4. Facial

5. Mani Pedi

6. Blowout

I am quite accustomed to getting brazilians thanks to the sponsorship we had as Hurricanettes so that was a breeze with little hassle. I did the brazilian and the body contouring at Miami Lash Room with Maybel who was the sweetest. She said the body contouring is her specialty as she's been doing it for years. Her rates are fantastic too! Unfortunately, I was bloated/PMSing when I went for my appointment so I'm not sure I was able to see the full effect. Though, she did measure that I had lost an inch so...that's pretty impressive! The lash extensions were an absolute nightmare. It's my own fault for pinching pennies and signing up for the free lashes offer from Amazing Lashes. I had to go back two times after to get the lashes fixed. In the end, they turned out great though. I get monthly facials at Massage Envy so that wasn't anything crazy or special. The mani pedi was tricky because I wanted to do something different that would also work for my bridal shower which is the following week. I had hoped to do a cool modern french but my nail artist at Neo Nail Bar could only do a classic french. It worked out anyway and I love how they came out. The blowout was really a treat for myself and I booked with Glam Squad after seeing a promo for a $25 off special. That was totally worth it for the experience and price but unfortunately my hair didn't hold very long. Anyway, I definitely felt glammed up when we finally arrived in San Juan!

I also made a point to lay out all of our outfits for the weekend ahead of time. I had mine planned out well before Nick's so I was able to match him to me for almost every outfit. We bought him an almost entirely new wardrobe from button down short sleeves(here's the link to the fan favorite) to chubbies shorts and even some clean new sneaks. This made it so much easier to pack and also to get dressed once we were there. We knew we'd feel confident in every outfit we brought and avoided over packing. p.s. I packed heels for almost every outfit and only wore heels once. I had even gone so far as to buy this pack of high heel cushion pads to make walking easier but with the cobblestones in Old San Juan, there was just no way. In the future, I'll only be packing flats lol.

Day 1: Let's Get This Party Started

After my blowout in the morning, I threw on my new Partier "Same Nick Forever Social Club" crewneck that I am obsessed with, a veil I ordered super last minute, and we headed to the airport. When we arrived at the gate, I approached the front desk to ask if Nick and I could have our seats changed so we could sit together and the sweet gentleman upgraded us to the exit row which was a really nice surprise. On board, I ordered a glass of white wine(which I had actually never done before-drink on a plane) and that was the start of the party.

I was so excited to get off the Uber at our "Airbnb"(which we booked outside of Airbnb because I love a good opportunity to save money-you can find their contact info here if you'd like to book directly too). Almost everyone had already arrived and they were all waiting on us to get the party started! We were welcomed with a round of shots and the cutest decor and a row of custom bags my maids of honor had made for the girls on the trip! We were so pumped. The Airbnb was also gorgeous and so perfect for the occasion. It was right in the middle of Old San Juan so walking distance to the fun with a full balcony facing the street and another overlooking the courtyard below. There was a pool table which the guys loved, a penthouse for extra privacy for me and Nick, and a rooftop patio that had a view of the ocean. Again, we were a group of 17 so fitting us all into one place that was also central was a challenge! Las Arcadas rose successfully to that challenge and we're so grateful to Julio for accommodating us so well. p.s. I specifically told my maids of honor that penis decor was not allowed.

We pregamed, jammed out, got situated in our rooms, played some pool, and finally headed out to Señor Frogs for dinner and a party! Now, what happens at Señor Frogs, stays at Señor Frogs. We had a blast and there may have been a Mexican Grito competition that Nick and I may or may not have participated in and there may have been a wild chicken wing that made a mess of several people's nice outfits but that's all I'll share about that. While we were all wilding out, we had to keep in mind that we were booked for a Catamaran Snorkel Tour that we needed to leave to at 7:30am the next morning. Not my best planning moment but hey, we wanted to see some of those gorgeous Caribbean waters. So that brings us to...

Day 2: Adventure Time

When mine and Nick's alarms went off at 7am, we accepted our fate of losing the money we had spent on the snorkel excursion. We did not want to roll out of bed at 7am after seriously partying the night before. Sure enough, maid of honor Sophie(who is my sister for those who don't know) came to the rescue and practically dragged everyone in the house out of bed. We thought for sure there would be several members of our party who wouldn't make it. The marina was an hour drive from Las Arcadas, several Ubers were needed, and when Nick and I left with five friends in an Uber, the other 10 had just gone to grab a breakfast sandwich. We thought, "they're for sure not going to make it." Now would be a good time to mention that I felt like crap. I think most of us did. I could hardly take down my sandwich and was forcing myself to chug water. But this was my bachelorette dammit and I was going to enjoy it. When we got dropped off at the marina at around 8:40(ten minutes later than the time the company asked we arrive) we realized the Uber dropped us off on the opposite side of the marina. It was quite a walk and we really hoped they would not leave without us. Would you believe that we actually all made it onto the catamaran that day?! I could not believe it myself to be honest. I kept turning to Nick saying "can you believe we're all here right now?!" Our time on the Spread Eagle II was great. They took us to Icacos beach and the nearby reef, drinks(alcoholic and non-alcoholic) and lunch were included and it had one of those fun nets stretched over the water that you could lay out on. That's where I spent 99% of my time. The guys enjoyed some cigars, the girls got some sun(some of us much more than others, meaning me and Danielle), and we met some fellow Miamians who were on a Bachelor Party themselves.

The fun did not end there. After being on the catamaran for 5 hours, we had a short drive to Carabali Rainforest Adventure Park where we would be doing a 1 hour ATV tour through the rainforest. We enjoyed a truly delicious lunch of mofongo and mojitos before getting set up on our ATVs. The tour was gorgeous and our guides were the best. We stopped at two spots, one with an amazing vista and the other down by the riverbank. It was a highly controlled tour with security guards and strict rules but still gorgeous and enjoyable. One of the guides even took a super fun and creative panoramic picture of us that came out great(if you don't zoom in too closely 🤪).

After all that, we were supposed to go to my favorite Puerto Rican restaurant, Casita Miramar, but everyone was very understandably tired so instead we wandered around Old San Juan. Saturday night, we also had an outfit "theme" where the group all dressed in white and Nick and I dressed in a fun color-bright orange. Naturally, we had a photoshoot. We found a sweet couple from Sacramento who were complimenting us on our outfits and the wife was awesome and took a couple dozen photos of us, all of which came out SO good! Shoutout to you Woodi and Daniel if you ever read this! We also ran into the Miamians in that alleyway! We later ventured out into the forbidden land of La Perla(after changing out of our attention-grabbing group outfits) for some late night dancing where you cannot take out your phone for safety reasons. That was a whole experience in itself... I'll leave that at that. When we finally got back to Las Arcadas, we enjoyed a bottle of prosecco on the rooftop to top off a long exciting day.

Day 3: Decompress & Dance

After the madness of Friday and Saturday, we all deserved a day to take it easy. I had planned a spa day for the girls and the guys went bar hopping. We all went out to a quick brunch at the restaurant that was downstairs at Las Arcadas together before splitting up. The guys seemed prettyyyy excited to be left to their own devices and us girls were certainly not complaining. The Cloud Spa was absolutely gorgeous and such a nice, relaxing experience. We all got massages and were able to enjoy what they call the Kailani experience. We "zombied" out of there feeling reenergized and zen. I think all of us agree our favorite part was the massage by far but the saltwater pool and shower hallway were so nice too.

Upon leaving, the girls said they had a surprise for me. Considering I had made it very clear I didn't want any funny business, I was not enthused but they reassured me it was clean fun. Sure enough, we pull up to "Mr. Weenie Waffles." I cracked up. This place was hilarious. The service was slow af but the commodity was worth the wait and were actually surprisingly good waffles.

Because we had gotten out so late the night prior, we wanted to ensure we were on the streets with enough time to party before curfew closed everything down at midnight forcing us into La Perla. We all got dressed up, whipped out our super cute drink pouches courtesy of my MOHs, and went out dancing at La Placita. I don't know the name of the spot we went into but we had a blast. Surprise, we ran into the Miamians one last time! The song choices were on point and two of the guys in our group, Chris & Joe aka the rappers Chri$ V and Blue Jay, even got on the mic and busted out Yonaguni karaoke style.

Also wanted to include this gem of a video of my failure to make a cute face while Nick popped the champagne confetti and then immediately recognizing my mistake lol. Meanwhile, Nick fully understood the assignment and was making perfect photo op faces.

Day 4: Let the Rain Fall Down

Our last day! Everyone was flying out at different times throughout the day so we really just needed to make sure we were packed up and ready to get out of Las Arcadas by 11am. We were doing pretty well but for goodness sake, the host showed up at 11am sharp with the whole cleaning crew and it's really not that easy to coordinate 17 people packing up. I can't even get myself and Nick checked out of a hotel on time! Not to mention, we were informed last minute that we also had to wash the dishes...nonetheless, Julio was still kind and accommodating and allowed us to leave all of our luggage there as we enjoyed the last few hours we had in San Juan. We got breakfast at our favorite spots and enjoyed it in the cutest little plaza that truly felt like a slice of Europe. The last of us decided to walk to El Castillo as I loved it so much when Nick and I had visited earlier this year. It did not disappoint. The views from up there are amazing. However, we deeply underestimated the speed and power of the rainstorm that was heading our way. We ended up completely caught in a storm and got totally drenched. But you better believe we made the most of it and danced in the rain! When the rain finally let up, we walked back, got cleaned up in the restroom at Bari(major shoutout to the kind employees there!), had lunch, and said goodbye to San Juan.

On the topic of doing a co-ed Bach Party, it was the best decision we could have made. We loved getting to experience this trip with not only all of our friends but with each other! Although it was frequently a mouthful to say, "we're on our bachelor/bachelorette trip," we wouldn't change it for the world.

We truly had the time of our lives and have our incredible friends to thank. Special thanks to my maids of honor, Sophie & Danielle. Thank you guys so much for all you did to make me and Nick feel special this weekend. You two are the absolute best. I love you so much. Thank you Johny, Elena, Priscilla, Jonathan, Joe, CC, Chris, Emily, Nate, Sal, Sam, Kalvin, and Matt. You all made this weekend amazing and we could never thank you enough for celebrating us the way you did. We love you all so much!