Femme Fatales

Bond with your girls during a sex-toy party. Invite a saleswoman to present the toys and other erotic products (like chocolate body paint) to ensure a great love life for years to come.

Spa Escape

Spend a blissful day at a local spa with your bridesmaids in lieu of a club-hopping bachelorette party.

Field of Dreams

Pack up your buddies and go to games at as many major-league ballparks as you can reach. Try the Toronto-Detroit-Chicago-Milwaukee axis, or roll from Boston to New York to Philadelphia and Baltimore.

Slumber Party

Plan a bachelorette party that recalls your elementary-school sleepover days. Unroll sleeping bags, heat up cocoa, watch Grease, and play Trivial Pursuit.

Slam Dunk

Pro-level gyms like Chicago's Lakeshore Athletic Center will rent a basketball court to your group for about $300 per hour. There's even a rooftop party area for post-game cocktails.

Cooking 101

Have a recipe shower. Ask guests to write down their favorite recipes on cards and to buy kitchen supplies and/or some of the ingredients.

Informal Gathering

If there's more than an hour between your ceremony and reception, ask a friend to host a get-together with snacks and wine that you've pre-ordered.

Home Indulgence

Let the spa come to you! Relax and Rejuvenate, a mobile spa, delivers all of the essentials, from soothing music to plush slippers to Baltimore-area homes (relaxandrejuvenate.com).

Memory Lane

Hire a van and driver to tote you and the gang to your old haunts: the park where you used to play Wiffle Ball, the bar where you first got served, your old dorm.

Home Improvement

Have a fixer-upper shower, where guests help fix up your new home. Everyone's gift to the couple is time—but other great presents include tools and discounts to hardware stores.

Home Essentials

Pick a room in your house and ask guests to bring befitting shower gifts. Think a spice rack for the kitchen or towels for the bathroom. Or, assign a different room to each guest.

Get Into the Groove

Head to Absolution, a West Hollywood loft-style gym, where Madonna's former movement coach can teach you and your gal pals some hot dance steps (310-657-7878).

Food Fest

Take a culinary tour for your bachelorette party. Start off at your preferred pub for cocktails, then have appetizers, main courses, and desserts each at a different restaurant.

Party All Night

Keep the celebration going after your reception ends by planning an after-hour soiree at a local lounge. Put a friend in charge―you'll want to sneak off to your honeymoon suite.

Bridal Essentials

Instead of a traditional shower, have a "get the bride ready" party, where guests give the soon-to-be-wed gal essentials such as a garter, stockings, and frilly underwear.