Recently, I went to a weekend long Bachelorette in Collingwood with 25 women around the age of 30. The weekend was in fact, a true delight. There were no cat fights, no drama (well there was minimal drama, but it was all out of love), no gossiping, no backstabbing, really there were no mean girls. It was wonderful.

In my 30 years of existence, I’ve become a little cynical, and nervous about ‘girls’ weekends. Often they make me nervous. Very nervous. Why you ask? Because, for some reason, when a group of women gets together, they often forget that they are grown ups and start acting as though there are cameras around and they are the cast of the Real Housewives of Vancouver. We become mean, cliquey and gossipy. What’s that all about?

Anyway, after this wonderful experience, I’ve come up with a few rules that every ‘girls only’ event should follow to ensure that no drama will ensue:

1. Don’t judge your friends. You can provide them with guidance, you can be worried about their behaviour, but you can’t judge them. Yes, your friend may want to take her top off and let strangers do body shots and yes, she may be doing something you would never take part in, but that doesn’t matter. You can only try to help them make good decisions and if they don’t, it’s not your job to judge, it’s your job to help them pick up the pieces. Because that’s what friends do.
2. Play nice with everyone. Yes, your best friends in the whole wide world are there, and yes, you like some people more than others, but it’s only three days. Introduce yourself to everyone you don’t know, and if you see someone being left out, invite them into what ever you’re doing. This tip should really just be called ‘manners’. Try to have some.
3. Let things roll off your back. Sometimes we all say things that either we didn’t mean, or shouldn’t have said. Let it go. Yes, words hurt more than anything. They can break your spirit and your pride, but let it go. Typically, girls weekends are about something special, so try not to make it about ‘you’ and ‘your’ feelings (this is something I’ve especially had to work on because I’m super sensitive).
4. Suck. It. Up. You’re not going to like every event plan and everyone at the party. Get over it. So, you don’t like wearing penises on your head and the thought of holding that super-b-words’ hand makes your skin crawl, so what?! Remember tip number 2 and act like your happy. Often, when one fakes a smile, it eventually becomes real.
5. Relax. When it comes down to it, most of the problems above are because you’re acting like an uptight biotch. So chill out. Let your proverbial hair down and just go with the estrogen flow. Are fruity cocktails, dance parties, and public dares really all that bad? I didn’t think so.

So ladies, now that it’s wedding season and ‘girls weekends’, ‘girls trips’, and ‘girls nights’, are keeping our calendars completely full, remember the above tips and you’ll be sure to have a summer filled with wonderful girly memories!