Mike's DAD-chelor Party! — My Name is Aphrodite.

So much attention gets put on the momma-to-be when a baby is on the way. My husband is not only super excited, but he is going to be an AMAZING father and the baby is just as much his as she is mine! For these reasons, I decided to throw him a SURPRISE party. When I started researching "daddy showers" (yes, this is a real thing haha), I was a little discouraged. I couldn't picture inviting a bunch of men to a surprise party where they have to guess what flavor chocolate is in the poopy diaper and having them feel like they are at a baby shower. So, I started thinking... what would Mike love? What would his friends love? And then I realized....they'd love a Bachelor Party! Well, Lord knows he's already had one of those and that's not quite what I had in mind....and that's when it hit me. I needed to throw him a DAD-chelor party! I came up with the cute terminology and the fun began.

Anyone who knows me knows I am a TERRIBLE liar. And don't use the whole "but you're an actress" excuse! First of all, I am not playing someone else in my real life and good acting actually comes from telling the character's truth...so stop telling me I should be a good liar! I've never been able to completely surprise my husband for this reason... until NOW! Being preggers helps, since I'e definitely been a different version of myself these last few months. (Cue reason #104 why I wanted to throw this party for him haha.) There was A TON of obstacles to get through, but with the help of Mike's friends we pulled it off! Thank you Mark for setting up a meeting in Pasadena where the guy never showed up (still laughing about this). This kept Mike away long enough for Brandon to pick up Marcus from LAX and get to the house just in time to help me with the rest of my party set-up. I only had 2.5 hours to do everything! That's not very long when you're pregnant haha. But in the end, Mike was genuinely surprised...

Mike's DAD-chelor Party... The Surprise

©Aphrodite Camello

After the guest of honor arrived, I went and had some pampering at the hair salon! Much needed for me and that way, the guys were truly free to just be guys.

Here's what I thought would make a great party: A guys only scotch, beer, and cigar filled extravaganza! I ran around town buying the supplies and hiding them (very sneakily might I add) in odd places in the garage and I had Oh! so much fun! The best part was when I went to the cigar shop and had to wear a mask so I didn't breathe in the smoke... Needless to say, all the patrons will definitely remember a crazy, petite yet preggers lady running through the shop with a mask on until she reached the cigar room. And before you judge me, the cigar room is a smoke-free sealed room with a humidifier. Wish I could've gotten a pic of that!

I made personalized boxes for all the guests when Mike went to BFF (Bettonville Film Festival).

I called them "Mike's DAD-chelor Party Essentials" and put each "Uncle's" name on the box. Each box contained the following:

1 Airplane bottle of Macallen 12 Scotch

1 Ashton Cigar

1 box of Tic Tacs (if you know me, I always have these)

Assorted chocolates

Beef Jerky

1 Greek hand made (guess by who) "I survived Mike's DAD-chelor party" shot glass

A personalized thank you note

Mike's DAD-chelor Party Essentials BoxPhoto ©Aphrodite Camello  ©Danny Cavada — Mike's DAD-chelor Party Essentials Box
Photo ©Aphrodite Camello ©Danny Cavada

Mike's DAD-chelor Party Essentials Box.Photo ©Aphrodite Camello ©Brandon P. Cohen — Mike's DAD-chelor Party Essentials Box.
Photo ©Aphrodite Camello ©Brandon P. Cohen

As far as decorations, I decided to keep everything black, white, silver, and gold. I had a lighted metal marquee that said EAT, chalkboard accessories and banners, and a Scotch and Cigar bar cart. I used a gold and cream chevron print wrapping paper for table runners and had black disposable cutlery with black and white disposable plates to match. I had to have flowers...so I got bright yellow sunflowers and put them in high gloss black pots. I had Bludsoe's BBQ cater: www.barandque.com. The only real baby thing I had was baby bottles filled with beer for the guys to drink. The caveat was that they had to guess the type of beer that was in the bottles!