Jacki Mravinec had almost all the fixings for her bachelorette party. Bottles of wine, appetizers, a "Soon Be Mrs. High" tank top.
"We couldn't have a stripper, so we brought porn," said her friend Jen Carroll, 31, of Ross, pointing to a TV and VCR in the corner of the pottery studio. "Just kidding."
Mravinec, 27, of Wexford, and her 14 guests were having a relatively tame bachelorette party this month, choosing to skip the bars and nightclubs and sip wine while painting clay at Color Me Mine pottery studio in Squirrel Hill, which has a Saturday-evening Bring Your Own night.
Mravinec, who got married over the weekend, has about 10 weddings to attend this year -- which means 10 bridal showers and 10 bachelorette parties. "We just wanted to do something different and fun," she said. Another plus: Mravinec didn't have to drag her older aunt and a couple of pregnant invitees from bar to bar.
"It's G-rated," Mravinec said. "Except for Jen, she's R-rated."
The bride-to-be is the perfect target for local pottery studios that offer BYOB nights to lure in the bar- and nightclub-wary.
Kiln-N-Time in Lawrenceville has BYOB all the time, but it's most popular on Friday nights, when the pottery studio offers a 2-for-1 deal on studio time, said owner Sandy Simon.
"I always say, if the date doesn't go so well, at least you have a piece of pottery," Simon said. Guests don't have to pay a cork fee at Kiln-N-Time, and they can bring anything from six packs to cocktail fixings.
"We've even had people do a margarita party," Simon said. And don't worry about having to bring a blender or cocktail shaker. "We have all the tools here."
On a recent Friday evening, couple Brandi Booth, 27, and Joseph Greback, 28, both of Bloomfield, shared a 1.5-liter bottle of merlot as they painted pieces for their home.
"We came here for Valentine's, actually," Greback said. "Personally, I don't like bars, so BYOB places are my thing." And for the artistic couple -- he's a photographer, she's a graphic designer -- painting pottery seems like the perfect Friday evening.
"Art's a better stress reliever than alcohol, but when you combine them," Greback trailed off as he applied a base coat of paint to his soap dish. The worst that can happen is regretting a couple of painting decisions, he said.
"And we can just walk home," Booth said.
Additional Information:
Color Me Mine
Where: 5887 Forbes Ave., Squirrel Hill
Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Thurs.-Sat.; 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sun.; 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Mon.-Wed.
Studio costs: $6 hourly rate Fri. and Sat.; $9 flat rate for during the week. Specials: $5 flat studio fee for college students 7-10 p.m. Fri.; $9 BYOB special 7-10 p.m. Sat.; $6 flat rate 3-6 p.m. Sun. Price of the pottery not included and will vary.
Cork fee: None
Details: 412-421-2909
Additional Information:
Kiln-N-Time
Where: 3801 Penn Ave., Lawrenceville
Hours: Noon-8 p.m. Thur.-Sat.; 1-5 p.m. Sun.; noon-6 p.m. Mon.-Wed.
Studio costs: $15, includes up to five paint colors and firing and glazing of the pottery. Price of the pottery not included and can range from $2-$100. Contact the store for details of making your own clay pieces.
Cork fee : None
Details: 412-687-0383
