At Ducky's bachelorette party, girls just want to have fun.

Ladies, remember what we used to do at parties before we were old enough to drink? In my case, we played “light as a feather, stiff as a board.” That eventually evolved into truth or dare and “never have I ever” in junior high and high school.

Games we play now aren’t that different from the ones we played as kids. Poker is just a grown-up version of war and crazy eights. And dark, hip-hop-thumping nightclubs are like the closet in a grown-up game of “seven minutes in heaven.”

As it turns out, revisiting the games of our youth can be an exciting way to spend a bachelorette party. Celebrating your last night of freedom isn’t just about embracing your final bit of singledom—it’s also about the selfishness and lack of responsibility that you can’t really feel again once you start a family of your own. In other words, goofiness can be just the kind of fun a bride-to-be is looking for at her bachelorette party.

At Ducky’s bachelorette party, we started the evening by ordering shots with ridiculous names. After that, we had some great laughs watching comedian Jim Breuer perform a standup routine at a club on the riverfront. Then it was on to the dancing, drinking, and barhopping part of the evening. That’s not exactly a throwback to the days in middle school when Ducky and I became friends. But even that turned out to be a goofy time, too. We made plenty of fun new friends—both guys and girls—at the bar: For one game, Ducky was required to find a man in a Hawaiian shirt and get him to dance the hula. While men don’t rush to shower bachelorette party groups with free booze—that’s been a disappointing truth to learn this year—they do like watching the ridiculousness unfold and are usually game for getting in on the fun.

Ducky and crew did a good job making inappropriate memories and adding ammunition to career-busting Facebook pages. But more than that, we enjoyed getting goofy and just making memories. I love the fun times that take you back to how you became friends in the first place—the simple things that brought Ducky and me together after Earth-science class—and still exist today, on her last “free” night.

Katie, a local bridesmaid-to-be, writes occasionally about planning for and being part of three (and counting) friends' weddings in one year. To follow her adventures from the beginning, click here.