Addio al Nubilato: Italy's Bachelorette Party

To celebrate my upcoming wedding, I asked my friend Dora what we could do. I envisioned a cozy dinner with four of my closest friends. No penises. No strippers. No wild drinking night.

After all, I'm not a 20-year-old bride!

Leave it to Dora to plan the perfect evening.

But her instructions left me confused. She told me to wear good underwear (no thongs), a skirt and shirt, and shoes I could easily take off. I had no idea what I was in for!

Addio al Nubilato!

Just like in the U.S., this event is an opportunity for the bride to say goodbye to her single years. For men, it's addio al celibato.

Like anywhere else, how you celebrate is as diverse as you want it to be. You can go to a strip club (which I have NEVER seen in Calabria), go out drinking, or keep it chill like we did.

Step 1: A Little Embarrassment

While I specified "no penises," I forgot to say "no embarrassing things to wear."

I met Dora, and she immediately put a silly veil and fingerless gloves on me so I could be easily identified as an aging bride. :)

As we approached the corso, where all the shops are, I saw it was crowded.

"Ah, great. Everyone's going to see me like this," I complained.

"Yeah, and they're going to meet you, too!" smiled Dora.

"Um...what??"

Step 2: Become a Spectacle

Marilu was waiting at the start of the pedestrian area, holding a red rose. We hugged, and then I saw two older women approaching me. Both with roses.

"Auguri!" they said and kissed my cheeks.

"What is happening?" I asked Dora and Marilu, but they just giggled.

Dora's brother-in-law and a flock of older gentlemen then approached me with roses. Kisses and congratulations all around.

By this point, I was beginning to enjoy the spectacle! People stopped in their tracks to look at me in my veil and wonder what was going on.

At the end of the parade stood Gina, filming my debut and grinning from ear to ear.

"Okay, now we need a drink!" Dora said.

Step 3: Go on a Shopping Spree

We entered a clothing store I'd never been in (Ferraro, if you're local and want to go). The owner, Alessandra, greeted us with glasses of prosecco.

Cool, I thought. Maybe we're going to stop in several stores for a drink.

One of the girls said: "Pick an outfit. That's your gift!"

Whaaaa? Imagine being a kid in a candy store with free reign...except I was a woman in a clothing store.

The girls had fun picking out things for me to try on. I tried styles I wouldn't normally wear but ended up with what I was most comfortable with: jeans and a loose button-up shirt.

This was why Dora had given me instructions on what to wear: so I could easily try on clothes!

Step 4: Stop For Refreshments

Since I'm a fast shopper, we had time to kill before dinner, so we stopped at one of my favorite bars in Soverato, Ginepro. While normally I'd get gin because they have a huge selection, we had more prosecco.

I was beginning to get into the vibe of this whole bachelorette party thing!

Step 5: Eat Until You Explode

Dora had found the perfect place for our cozy dinner: a home restaurant. It's what it sounds like: a meal cooked in someone's home. In this case, the "someone" was a woman named Barbara Froiio, a retired schoolteacher who now cooks for strangers a couple of nights a week in her Soverato apartment.

Just being in her home felt like we were already friends. There were tschotskes everywhere, as well as photos of Barbara and her husband, Valentino, on their wedding day.

When we arrived, there was already a spread of antipasti on the table...zeppole fried to perfection. Balls of rice accented with lemon. Deviled eggs with 'nduja. Meats. Cheeses. And, of course, wine.

We dug in. Barbara ate with us, which was lovely. We got to know her story, which added to the coziness of the evening.

While I could have eaten more of the antipasti, I tried to restrain myself because I knew we had a lot more food coming. The first course was eggplant stuffed with rice and sauce. Divine. Next came salsiccia and rape, a locally-grown green. I feel like I'm forgetting some dishes, but by then, I was feeling pretty toasty from all the wine.

Then, dessert. My friend Vittoria made a lovely crostata with marmalade, and Barbara surprised us with a heart-shaped ricotta cake and cookies, accompanied by prosecco.

At this point, I wanted to curl up in a ball on the couch and not eat for days, but I powered through.

We ended the evening with hugs and happiness. I'm so grateful to have found a group of women I can celebrate moments like this with!