My Beer Olympics Bachelorette

When quarantine hit, we had a lot of questions about everything wedding-related. That included our bachelor and bachelorette. What could we do that required minimal traveling, and kept everyone feeling safe? Evan had decided on a cabin weekend in Ohiopyle with whitewater rafting. As for me, my family planned an outdoor beerlympics they called, "SUElympics" (my second-oldest sister calls me "Sue"... long story). Here's how it went...

Time: July Weekend

A weekend that we weren't working a wedding of course. Summertime was best since it allowed for most activities to take place outdoors.

Place: State College, PA

Since most people were from here and lived within driving distance of State College, this would be the spot of the games.

FRIDAY NIGHT: WELCOME DINNER AND THE RECOGNITION OF THE 2020 SUELYMPIANS

Welcome Dinner

As everyone got into State College, we caught up and gathered around a Samantha-themed meal. Thankfully my family knows my childlike eating habits really well. My mother prepared all of my favorite foods including caesar salad, macaroni and cheese, caprese salad, chicken tenders, etc. The meal was made complete with a Dirty Shirley and Lemonade bar.

As we all enjoyed dinner, I Introduced each "athlete" with the Olympic sport that they had been selected for.

The Olympian's Sport

This was my way of sharing something about everyone around the table. Telling fun anecdotes and reminiscing on a memory with each person in attendance was a fun way to thank being them for being in my life while sharing a little about everyone there. For example, my sister Mauvette was at the Olympics for Boxing because of a time where she had to borrow my mouthguard...It was a great way for the mixed crowd to get to know each other :) This was also when I presented my attendants with little gift bags that consisted of gatorades, cliff bars, hair ties, and other thematic treats.

SATURDAY: OPENING CEREMONY AND THE GAMES

The Opening Ceremony

After a breakfast Buffet with featuring my favorite bites (thanks, Mom), the athletes were all called to the sunroom for the Opening Ceremony. This was led by my oldest sister, Maria, aka the "Master of Ceremonies".

THE GAMES

ITALY (my parents' backyard)

We started in Italy. Inspired by Venice, the city on water we started with a waterslide relay race! First, put on your gondolier uniform, shotgun a beer, do dizzy bat for the amount of time it took for you to shotgun, run up the hill, go down the slip n' slide, and pass your uniform off to your next teammate in line. First team done wins!

When our time in Italy came to an end, we were instructed to put on our uniforms, and load into the van where we would travel to our first country!

A van was rented to transport the Olympians. Thank you to Stephen for driving us around!

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (Our family friends' house- Thanks, Korman Family!)

Upon arrival, the teams were to face-off in a solo cup hunt. The team to find the most mini cups got a point!

Then, we had a blind taste challenge. Two people from the same team sat down, blind-folded. My mom and aunt fed us food. The eater had to explain to their teammate what they were eating. After everyone went, times were added up. The team with the faster time won. But don't cheat or else you would have to take a mouthful of something you don't want.

After the US, we headed to Japan!

JAPAN (my aunt and uncle's house- Thank you Rickley's!)

We were welcomed to Japan with sake bombs.

The competition in Japan was slap cup. Whoever had to drink the last cup was deemed the losing team. Then, we were off to Iceland!

ICELAND (my parents' garage)

After a relay race featuring the ice luge (using cups at the bottom), we gathered outside of the garage for a score recap and explanation of the next game. The teams were tied!

After Ice luge, teams lines up on opposing sides of the table with a pair of mittens and a well-wrapped bottle. Teams had to pass the bottle down the line and unwrap it while wearing the mittens, The first team to unwrap the bottle and drink it, won!

Iceland also included a competitive game of flip cup or canoe. Once we were done we got ready to load the van, but not before taking photos at this beautiful, homemade bobsled!

Then we were off to our final country for a late lunch and the tie-breaking games!

MEXICO (my parents' property at the end of the street)

After some wonderful Mexican cuisine, provided by my mom and aunt, teams faced off for the final game. I don't know what this game is called but we call it tug-of-war. The object of the game was to get the beer in the middle to your opponent's side. Only after successfully flipping your cup could you push the bottle one spot towards your opponent's side. Your opponent would be trying to push the bottle towards your side.

After the game, we ended our time in Mexico with a piñata, but with dizzy bat... so we called it "spiñata".

It went well.

After a day full of games and a dip in the pool, we wrapped up the night with some sunroom karaoke! We won't share videos from that though...

I wanted to include that I knew absolutely nothing about the weekend other than it being olympic-themed. All I asked was that it was safe (covid-wise), fun, and simple for everyone. I also asked that I have time to do my "Olympian Sport" speeches. Other than that, this whole weekend was planned by my sisters. With the help of my mom, aunt, my sisters' friend, they put on the best bachelorette weekend I could have ever asked for.

Thank you to my family for working so hard to make this weekend happen. Thank you to my friends for traveling to State College to celebrate with me. Thanks to the Malizia, Korman, and Rickley families for hosting us. Shoutout to my Mom and Aunt who stayed one country ahead of us to make sure everything was ready for us upon arrival, and for the weekend meals. Thanks to Stephen for driving us around. Thank you to everyone for making me feel like the luckiest olympian. Glad that we could still celebrate the 2020 Olympics in our own way.