Bachelorette parties are becoming more inventive and more exotic

If there’s a grown-up version of the no-boys-allowed slumber party, it’s the bachelorette party. And this bride-to-be’s last chance to kiss off the whimsies of youth and singledom has been elevated to the ultimate female bonding fest.

Although this rite of passage has always brought the dearest of friends together to make lifetime memories (some never to be recounted in the presence of husbands), the bachelorette party has evolved in recent years.

Blaire Allison, professional bachelorette-party organizer (www.bacheloretteexperts.com), summed up the shift.

“Bachelorette parties are no longer one evening of celebration but, rather, a weekend of bonding and fun,” she says.

This is important, Allison says, “because once their friend gets married, the all-female vacations are less likely to occur and less acceptable, as they have husbands to travel with.”

As bachelorette events grow in popularity, more women seek to defy the clichéd Vegas party by searching for more personalized ways to celebrate their last moments of freedom with best friends. Here are some ideas.