literary bliss

Me with the swag-covered,
lit-themed scavenger hunt.

One of my co-workers/friends took the plunge on Cinco de Mayo and tied the knot with her college sweetheart. Before saying "I Do," a few of us decided to send her off into marriage with a bachelorette party the weekend before.

(Did you see how many marriage cliches I worked into that opening graph? Even I am impressed.)

A girl after my own heart, the bride is more into books and cocktails than veils covered in condoms and cakes shaped like... well, you know. Having that in mind, I developed a book-lover's scavenger hunt for her to complete that evening.

With 10 literature-inspired clues, a few partners in crime and a camera and photo album to capture the evidence, our party set out in downtown Lincoln to complete the hunt.

The Clues:

Inspiration: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Inspiration: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Inspiration: Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Quick note: The pimp slap is a popular shot at the bar
where we made our bachelorette party base.

Inspiration: Emma by Jane Austen

Inspiration: Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
Quick note: When we finally found a man we all agreed was
beautiful, I asked if he'd take a photo with the bride, because
"We need a picture of her with a guy... in a shirt like that."
Everyone made fun of me, but I didn't want him to know
we were objectifying him for his ridiculous good looks.

Inspiration: Persuasion by Jane Austen

Inspiration: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Inspiration: The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

Inspiration: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Inspiration: Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

Making the album was easy. I took some of the swag from the goodie bags and pink tissue paper for the cover. On the inside, in my nicest (and eventually a little sloppy) handwriting I wrote out the clues on multi-colored paper and placed them in the pages, leaving room for photos to be added later.

I selected the books to base clues on from conversations I had with the bride, where we discovered that we both read and loved several of the same books.

While we were out on the hunt, we decided to have the bride and a witness sign off on each of the tasks as they were completed, along with the time, to commemorate the event. And to give us a timeline of events in case one of us landed up in jail. I kid, but it was a good idea.

Everyone in our group thought the personalized scavenger hunt was fun, and I had fun making it. Most importantly, we were able to show the bride a good time without completely embarrassing her or losing our dignity. I would definitely suggest doing something similar for fellow book nerds like the bride and I.

Congratulations, Aimee and Tyler. Thanks for letting us play a part in your wedding festivities. Many wishes for a long and happy marriage.

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