Articles

Great Advice for Wedding Planning

Taking your Bachelor/Bachelorette Party on the Road

by Jenny Hart

Before you get married to the love of your life and dedicate yourself to them for all eternity, it’s important to spend time with the other people that hold a sacred place in your heart—your best friends.

The typical bachelor and bachelorette parties are certainly fun, but wild nights don’t suit everybody’s taste. There are plenty of other options for fun, relaxed, getaways for you and your bridal party both near and far. 

While Atlantic City is an extremely popular spot for New Yorkers’ bachelor and bachelorette parties, many people don’t know the types of activities AC resorts offer besides their casinos. Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City, for example, is home to the Viking Cooking School. With help from warm and attentive teachers, you and your friends will learn how to recreate delicious recipes put together by Viking’s professionally trained chefs, and then eat them together afterwards! Whether you're a wiz in the kitchen or barely know how to use a microwave, the classes at Viking Cooking School are a fun, entertaining, and delicious activity to do as a group! There are so many different classes you can choose from. If you choose the Steak Workshop, you will learn everything from peeling, deveining, skewering and cooking shrimp, to crisping salad greens, to sautéing vegetables, to sautéing and grilling the perfect steak, to testing for doneness, to making a dry rub, in order to recreate your favorite steakhouse recipes at home! Or, choose a more specific class, like their Lemon Risotto with Summer Vegetables course, where you will learn the basic technique for the perfect risotto!

If you want to indulge in good food but take a break from the kitchen, Harrah’s also has several gourmet restaurants perfect for a rehearsal dinner or celebratory meal with your bridesmaids or groomsmen. There’s McCormick & Schmick’s, one of the nation’s premier seafood restaurants; Luke Palladino, cuisine by “the best unknown Italian chef in America;” The Steakhouse, the finest in steakhouse culinary tradition; and Dos Caminos, the standard bearer of modern Mexican cuisine. 

Wish you could be somewhere tropical for your getaway, but don’t have the means to do it? Experience island tranquility at Harrah’s indoor pool; an 82-degree oasis 365 days a year, with warm water, comfortable lounge chairs, and private cabanas. You can even treat yourself to poolside Caribbean cuisine and refreshments!

If you want to party, Harrah’s pool transforms into a heartpounding nightclub every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday night. Voted “Best Dance Club” by Atlantic City Weekly, “The Pool After Dark” is the place for you and your friends to let loose and have a great night.  

For something more calm and unique, bring your bridal party to Showboat’s Foundation Room at the House of Blues. The practice of meditation expands your mind and enhances the human experience; experience this for yourself the moment you walk in. The Foundation Room’s global design incorporates authentic Indian, Asian and Tibetan artwork, religious artifacts, masks and costumes with seductive lighting and comfortable couches. Eat an exotic meal in their dining room, which is decorated with 19th century French carved mahogany, Oriental carpets and intimate booths. Their delicious contemporary American menu manages to successfully encompass influences from the American South and Pacific Rim. Spend your evening in the fireside lounge, which overlooks the ocean and world-famous boardwalk. The lounge has an extensive wine list, full bar and bottle service and live entertainment. If you want a private party, rent out one of the Foundation Room’s four beautifully decorated “prayer rooms;” the Shiva and Buddha rooms feature Asian artifacts and statues with hand-carved wall mountings and doors, the Ganesh room features a Hindu altar to the Elephant headed God and East Indian artifacts, and the Oba room has an African-motif with statues, ceremonial masks and mud-cloths from Mali.

 Left Left photo: Foundation Room at the House of Blues at Showboat Atlantic City
Right photo: The Qua Baths & Spa Treatment Room at Caesars in Atlantic City 

As incredible of a day your wedding will be, all the planning and preparation is sure to cause you a little stress. Your celebration getaway with your friends should be the ultimate soul and mind soothing experience. We highly encourage, whether your wedding is here on Long Island, or you have a destination wedding somewhere else, that you take time to slow down and pamper yourself before the big day. Visiting a spa with your bridal party is the best way to relax, eliminate stress and worry, and feel great before it’s time to walk down the aisle!  

The Qua Baths & Spa at Caesars in Atlantic City is a place for personal rediscovery,  solace, and healing. Inspired by the baths of Ancient Rome, it provides an experience like no other. Qua’s Roman Bath Rituals include herbal steam rooms, a dry sauna, hot and cold plunge pools, a whirlpool, and a relaxation lounge. The most luxurious and special spa experience Qua offers is the “Dieci Mani Ten Hands.” You start with a full body exfoliation under a cascading waterfall of the Vichy showers, and then you are wrapped completely in herbal hot linens. While the beneficial properties of the herbs enter your system, you experience a cold stone facial massage and cleansing foot ritual. After being unwrapped, you will walk on soft rose petals to a new treatment room, where you will get both hot stone and eight hand classic touch back massages, a front body massage, chakra balancing and foot reflexology, a hydration facial, and a Shirodarah scalp massage, all while being given a selection of hydrating juices and teas. At the end, you are escorted back to the Roman Baths to continue relaxing.

After a relaxing day at Caesars, head over to Mia Restaurant to experience superior contemporary Italian/Mediterranean cuisine at it finest! 
 Photo: Mia Restaurant at Caesars Atlantic City

Don’t think that spas are only for the ladies! Qua offers various massages, facials, and body treatments for men, as well! Grooms and groomsmen deserve to relax and destress as much as anybody else—plus, it’ll help their skin look and feel soft and rejuvenated before the big day (and honeymoon!). Or, if it’s a more a comfortable alternative, partake in a couple’s spa ritual before the wedding; Qua has several.

Even if you are going away for your wedding, it’s still important to have a pamper day with your friends! Based on our suggested destination wedding locations (pg. 90), we  found some spas you will absolutely love.  

Experience healing for the mind, body, and soul at the Castle Rock Health Club and Spa in The Westin La Cantera Hill Country Resort in San Antonio, Texas.  From massage therapy to rejuvenating facials, and everything in between, the spa staff of Castle Rock go above and beyond to make sure you have the most relaxing and succulent experience possible and feel truly pampered. The very best treatment at Castle Rock is “Ma Hila’s Heart Journey,” which is four and a half hours spent in heaven. It includes their Signature Warm Oil Infusion Massage, their high-tech Signature Galvanic Facial, and the La Cantera Signature Soakers manicure and pedicure.

Photo: The Spa Relaxation Room at The Westin La Cantera Resort

The ultimate paradise? Being pampered at a spa in the Caribbean. Paradisus Resorts in the Dominican Republic have two very different, but equally outstanding spas for you to choose from.

 Photo: YHI Spa at Paradisus Punta Cana Resort

The Yhi Spa at the Paradisus Punta Cana is the complete spa and health club experience; it features a full service indoor spa with body and facial treatments, a spa boutique and spa salon, as well as a fitness center with state-of-the-art equipment, personal trainers as well as classes in yoga, Pilates and spinning. The Yhi Spa at the Paradisus Palma Real is much more reserved and Zen; it has hot and cold Jacuzzis, steam rooms, saunas, a relaxation lounge,outdoor reflexology treatments and a private spa garden, a beauty salon, private gym, and healthy food offerings. The signature treatment at the Yhi Spa is the revitalizing and aroma-therapeutic “Lotus, Gold and Rice Massage;” using lotus, gold, and rice oil, this massage restores, detoxifies the body and using the Lomi Lomi Hawaiian technique, provides total relaxation of muscles and a balance of energy.

 

Top Photo: YHI Spa Hallway at Paradisus Palma Real Resort 
Bottom Photo: YHI Spa Entrance at Paradisus Palma Real Resort 

No matter what you choose to do to honor your bachelor or bachelorette celebration, remember that it’s a chance to spend time and have fun with the people you care about most. Enjoy!

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Before you get married to the love of your life and dedicate yourself to them for all eternity, it’s important to spend time with the other people that hold a sacred place in your heart—your best friends.

The typical bachelor and bachelorette parties are certainly fun, but wild nights don’t suit everybody’s taste. There are plenty of other options for fun, relaxed, getaways for you and your bridal party both near and far. 

While Atlantic City is an extremely popular spot for New Yorkers’ bachelor and bachelorette parties, many people don’t know the types of activities AC resorts offer besides their casinos. Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City, for example, is home to the Viking Cooking School. With help from warm and attentive teachers, you and your friends will learn how to recreate delicious recipes put together by Viking’s professionally trained chefs, and then eat them together afterwards! Whether you're a wiz in the kitchen or barely know how to use a microwave, the classes at Viking Cooking School are a fun, entertaining, and delicious activity to do as a group! There are so many different classes you can choose from. If you choose the Steak Workshop, you will learn everything from peeling, deveining, skewering and cooking shrimp, to crisping salad greens, to sautéing vegetables, to sautéing and grilling the perfect steak, to testing for doneness, to making a dry rub, in order to recreate your favorite steakhouse recipes at home! Or, choose a more specific class, like their Lemon Risotto with Summer Vegetables course, where you will learn the basic technique for the perfect risotto!

If you want to indulge in good food but take a break from the kitchen, Harrah’s also has several gourmet restaurants perfect for a rehearsal dinner or celebratory meal with your bridesmaids or groomsmen. There’s McCormick & Schmick’s, one of the nation’s premier seafood restaurants; Luke Palladino, cuisine by “the best unknown Italian chef in America;” The Steakhouse, the finest in steakhouse culinary tradition; and Dos Caminos, the standard bearer of modern Mexican cuisine. 

Wish you could be somewhere tropical for your getaway, but don’t have the means to do it? Experience island tranquility at Harrah’s indoor pool; an 82-degree oasis 365 days a year, with warm water, comfortable lounge chairs, and private cabanas. You can even treat yourself to poolside Caribbean cuisine and refreshments!

If you want to party, Harrah’s pool transforms into a heartpounding nightclub every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday night. Voted “Best Dance Club” by Atlantic City Weekly, “The Pool After Dark” is the place for you and your friends to let loose and have a great night.  

For something more calm and unique, bring your bridal party to Showboat’s Foundation Room at the House of Blues. The practice of meditation expands your mind and enhances the human experience; experience this for yourself the moment you walk in. The Foundation Room’s global design incorporates authentic Indian, Asian and Tibetan artwork, religious artifacts, masks and costumes with seductive lighting and comfortable couches. Eat an exotic meal in their dining room, which is decorated with 19th century French carved mahogany, Oriental carpets and intimate booths. Their delicious contemporary American menu manages to successfully encompass influences from the American South and Pacific Rim. Spend your evening in the fireside lounge, which overlooks the ocean and world-famous boardwalk. The lounge has an extensive wine list, full bar and bottle service and live entertainment. If you want a private party, rent out one of the Foundation Room’s four beautifully decorated “prayer rooms;” the Shiva and Buddha rooms feature Asian artifacts and statues with hand-carved wall mountings and doors, the Ganesh room features a Hindu altar to the Elephant headed God and East Indian artifacts, and the Oba room has an African-motif with statues, ceremonial masks and mud-cloths from Mali.

 Left Left photo: Foundation Room at the House of Blues at Showboat Atlantic City
Right photo: The Qua Baths & Spa Treatment Room at Caesars in Atlantic City 

As incredible of a day your wedding will be, all the planning and preparation is sure to cause you a little stress. Your celebration getaway with your friends should be the ultimate soul and mind soothing experience. We highly encourage, whether your wedding is here on Long Island, or you have a destination wedding somewhere else, that you take time to slow down and pamper yourself before the big day. Visiting a spa with your bridal party is the best way to relax, eliminate stress and worry, and feel great before it’s time to walk down the aisle!  

The Qua Baths & Spa at Caesars in Atlantic City is a place for personal rediscovery,  solace, and healing. Inspired by the baths of Ancient Rome, it provides an experience like no other. Qua’s Roman Bath Rituals include herbal steam rooms, a dry sauna, hot and cold plunge pools, a whirlpool, and a relaxation lounge. The most luxurious and special spa experience Qua offers is the “Dieci Mani Ten Hands.” You start with a full body exfoliation under a cascading waterfall of the Vichy showers, and then you are wrapped completely in herbal hot linens. While the beneficial properties of the herbs enter your system, you experience a cold stone facial massage and cleansing foot ritual. After being unwrapped, you will walk on soft rose petals to a new treatment room, where you will get both hot stone and eight hand classic touch back massages, a front body massage, chakra balancing and foot reflexology, a hydration facial, and a Shirodarah scalp massage, all while being given a selection of hydrating juices and teas. At the end, you are escorted back to the Roman Baths to continue relaxing.

After a relaxing day at Caesars, head over to Mia Restaurant to experience superior contemporary Italian/Mediterranean cuisine at it finest! 
 Photo: Mia Restaurant at Caesars Atlantic City

Don’t think that spas are only for the ladies! Qua offers various massages, facials, and body treatments for men, as well! Grooms and groomsmen deserve to relax and destress as much as anybody else—plus, it’ll help their skin look and feel soft and rejuvenated before the big day (and honeymoon!). Or, if it’s a more a comfortable alternative, partake in a couple’s spa ritual before the wedding; Qua has several.

Even if you are going away for your wedding, it’s still important to have a pamper day with your friends! Based on our suggested destination wedding locations (pg. 90), we  found some spas you will absolutely love.  

Experience healing for the mind, body, and soul at the Castle Rock Health Club and Spa in The Westin La Cantera Hill Country Resort in San Antonio, Texas.  From massage therapy to rejuvenating facials, and everything in between, the spa staff of Castle Rock go above and beyond to make sure you have the most relaxing and succulent experience possible and feel truly pampered. The very best treatment at Castle Rock is “Ma Hila’s Heart Journey,” which is four and a half hours spent in heaven. It includes their Signature Warm Oil Infusion Massage, their high-tech Signature Galvanic Facial, and the La Cantera Signature Soakers manicure and pedicure.

Photo: The Spa Relaxation Room at The Westin La Cantera Resort

The ultimate paradise? Being pampered at a spa in the Caribbean. Paradisus Resorts in the Dominican Republic have two very different, but equally outstanding spas for you to choose from.

 Photo: YHI Spa at Paradisus Punta Cana Resort

The Yhi Spa at the Paradisus Punta Cana is the complete spa and health club experience; it features a full service indoor spa with body and facial treatments, a spa boutique and spa salon, as well as a fitness center with state-of-the-art equipment, personal trainers as well as classes in yoga, Pilates and spinning. The Yhi Spa at the Paradisus Palma Real is much more reserved and Zen; it has hot and cold Jacuzzis, steam rooms, saunas, a relaxation lounge,outdoor reflexology treatments and a private spa garden, a beauty salon, private gym, and healthy food offerings. The signature treatment at the Yhi Spa is the revitalizing and aroma-therapeutic “Lotus, Gold and Rice Massage;” using lotus, gold, and rice oil, this massage restores, detoxifies the body and using the Lomi Lomi Hawaiian technique, provides total relaxation of muscles and a balance of energy.

 

Top Photo: YHI Spa Hallway at Paradisus Palma Real Resort 
Bottom Photo: YHI Spa Entrance at Paradisus Palma Real Resort 

No matter what you choose to do to honor your bachelor or bachelorette celebration, remember that it’s a chance to spend time and have fun with the people you care about most. Enjoy!

"The Pool" After Dark at Harrah's Atlantic City
: "The Pool" by Day at Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City
Viking Cooking School at Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City
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