STORY | AMSTERDAM

A Bachelorette at the Rijksmuseum Gardens

By Aleksandria Rudenko | Updated 28 October 2026

Bride-to-be in a white dress and flower crown on a bike covered in red and pink flowers, on a canal bridge with boats behind

On a cloudy afternoon in July, a bride-to-be in a flower crown came to Amsterdam with seven friends from Germany. I photographed their bachelorette at the Rijksmuseum Gardens, with a short walk to the canals nearby.

This is how my group photoshoots in Amsterdam work best: one picturesque area, a route I plan ahead, and room for every friend in the frame.

Bachelorette Bubbles at the Rijksmuseum

We started on Museumplein, with the towers of the Rijksmuseum right behind the group. The bride wore a short white dress with a Bride to be sash, and her friends wore black and white with Team Bride sashes. While she posed with pink and white balloons, everyone else blew soap bubbles around her. The square is wide and open, so eight people fit easily, and the museum’s red brick gives every frame a warm backdrop.

Bachelorette group blowing soap bubbles on Museumplein, the bride in a white dress and sash in front of the Rijksmuseum — Museumplein, just after two in the afternoon

Gold temporary tattoos on their wrists completed the look. So I photographed them from above, with all the fists together in one circle.

Wrists with gold Team Bride temporary tattoos meeting in a circle, seen from above, the bride's white polka-dot sleeve at the top

Team Bride in the Rijksmuseum Gardens

Next, we walked into the gardens around the museum, which are free to visit. Between green hedges and white flowers, the group lined up on a sandy path. Then the bride lay across her friends’ laps on a wooden bench and laughed out loud.

Eight women in sashes standing arm in arm on a sandy path in the Rijksmuseum Gardens, green hedges and an iron fence beside them

Bride laughing as she lies across her friends' laps on a wooden bench in the Rijksmuseum Gardens, white flowers behind

After that came a toast with tiny glasses that hung on cords around their necks. In a long arch of green hedges, they all blew kisses toward me, with the red brick of the museum beside them. The tall hedges kept the light soft and even, which suits a group in black and white.

Bachelorette toast with tiny glasses on cords in the Rijksmuseum Gardens, the bride in a flower crown laughing among friends

Bachelorette friends blowing kisses in a long arch of green hedges beside the red brick of the Rijksmuseum

Later, we came back to a garden bench for more bubbles. For a bachelorette at the Rijksmuseum Gardens, that bench under the white flowers became our favorite spot.

Bachelorette friends blowing soap bubbles on a bench in the Rijksmuseum Gardens, the bride in front with open arms and two balloons — Back in the gardens, later in the afternoon

Flower Bikes on a Canal Bridge

Between the two garden visits, we walked a few minutes to a bridge by the Spiegelgracht. There, bikes covered in red and pink flowers stood along the railing, the brightest colors of the whole day. The friends lined up holding hands, then jumped all at once.

The bride and seven friends in sashes holding hands on a canal bridge in front of bikes covered in flowers, trees along the water — Flower bikes on a canal bridge, around three

Friends jumping on a canal bridge in front of flower-covered bikes, the bride in white in the middle of the group

For the next frame, the bride climbed onto a flower bike while her friends crouched in front of her. Then she led them along the canal in a long chain, balloons in hand.

Bride-to-be sitting on a flower bike above her crouching friends on a canal bridge, a long tree-lined canal behind

Bride-to-be with pink and white balloons leading a chain of friends holding hands along a canal, brick houses behind

A Kiss for the Bride-to-Be

At the end of the afternoon, we returned to the flower bikes for a few portraits of the bride alone. Her flower crown, the white dress and the red blooms made the opening frame of this story. Cloudy days are kind to portraits, because nobody squints and the colors stay true.

Friend kissing the bride-to-be on the cheek on a canal bridge, her eyes closed under a crown of white flowers

Then a friend kissed her on the cheek, and another threw her arms wide beside her. It was a joyful ending to a bachelorette at the Rijksmuseum Gardens and the canals around them.

Bride-to-be in her sash and a friend in a Team Bride sash spreading their arms wide on a flower-lined canal bridge

Planning a bachelorette in Amsterdam? Discover how my group photoshoots in Amsterdam work.