How to Plan A Girl's Weekend Trip!

Me at my desk, planning away!

Hi there Glams! Hope your 2017 is going great so far! This past weekend I went on an amazing trip to Atlanta, Georgia! It was my first time visiting Atlanta, and I had such a great time! I think what helped make it even better was that I went with 3 of my girlfriends ! Traveling with a large group is really special, but I wanted to share some planning tips and hope I'll help inspire you to plan your own girl's trip soon!





Step 1- Pick a Destination

So simple right ? Well not always! We selected Atlanta for a few different reasons, but once we did , it made plans a lot smoother! Pick somewhere you have always wanted to visit. Also, pick somewhere feasible for everyone in your group to get to. Three of us traveled by short plane ride, and one drove 4 hours. It all worked easily!

Step 2- Create an itinerary and plan a (loose) schedule

People are so fearful of an itinerary on a trip, but in all the trips I've been on, they always give me comfort and a sense of structure. You absolutely do not have to have an airtight plan for each and every day. But you should cover the three questions of:

When-  when will this event or activity take place (morning hike, bottomless brunch, shopping)
Where- where is the location of this activity and how will we actually arrive there(drive, metro, ride share)
What - what do we want to do for fun and entertainment? What kind of activity is unique to this area we're visiting? What restaurant is special and well known for a great meal?

Step 3 - Confirm a date that works with everyone

Some people plan this as the first step, but in a large group of girls, this often will be discussed towards the middle of the planning. We knew a large event we wanted to attend was taking place on a specific weekend, so we selected February 10-12 for our girls trip! At that time, we also planned a date for everyone to pay for their tickets.

Step 4- Arrange lodging

This is the step I always take on for both domestic and international trips. Domestic trips are certainly full of amazing hotels and lodging options. I am a rewards member with Marriott, Hilton, Starwood, Hyatt, IHG and Choice Privileges. All of these hotel brands are reputable and have wonderful online booking and often don't require you pay in advance! What works best for a group is to have someone reserve the room( and be responsible to share the reservation email with the others). Once everyone arrives, one person can pay with their card OR everyone can provide cash to pay for the room at checkout. Always inform the entire group how much their portion of the hotel will be, and discuss any questions or issues upfront.

Step 5- Coordinate your arrival

On this trip, we had a split group. One of my friends was driving up to Washington D.C. in order to fly out from our local airport with me and my best friend. The other was driving from Charlotte NC to Atlanta. We spoke multiple times to ensure everyone would arrive around the same general time. And it actually worked! Communication is key, keep your cell phones, tablets, ipads etc fully charged and bring a portable charger! Make sure the group feels connected and no one is left standing in the hotel lobby for hours waiting!

At the Airport! Excited we all made it!

Step 6- Plan your departure

When it's finally time for everyone to head home, make it an easy process! If you're like my friends and I , everyone was working on about 6 hours of sleep for the whole weekend! So it doesn't hurt to discuss hotel check out times, time needed to arrive at the airport etc to ensure everyone makes it home without chaos!

Step 7- Make Memories

It's inevitable that everyone will try to document the trip on social media, and that's wonderful! Just take time to enjoy one another too! Also, take time after your trip to send each other the great pictures and videos! We've had fun sharing our pictures with each other all week!

Step 8- Plan your next trip!

There is no better time to plan another amazing girl's trip than when you're just completing a successful and fun one! Talk about where you want to head to next- and start getting excited!