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Zara Phillips, Mike Tindall party before royal wedding

Mike Tindall and Zara Phillips in plaid, Hyde Park, London, July 1, 2011. Getty

(CBS) And you thought preparing for your wedding was a big deal: The flowers, the bachelor and bachelorette parties, feuding moms and dads, your friend Jed saying he won't come if his ex, Tina, is invited.

Now imagine doing all that in front of the world.

Maybe that's why Zara Phillips and her fiancee Mike Tindall have been getting ready for the big day by having stag and hen nights - bachelor and bachelorette parties - that are conspicuously raucous. Prince William and Kate Middleton's fetes seem downright tame by comparison. And Phillips has been at the gym more often than Larry Bird during his prime (that's probably an exaggeration).

Pictures: Zara Phillips
Pictures: Royal wedding gowns

According to People, Tindall, 32, captain of the English rugby team and outside center for Gloucester Rugby, did some boozing with a bunch of his friends in Miami a couple of weekends ago.

"The guys checked into the W and partied non-stop for three days," a source told People.

Phillips went to Portugal with several girlfriends for her hen night. According to The Daily Mail, Phillips wore a tutu and brought along friends who included Sky Sports presenters Di Dougherty and Kirsty Gallacher, and an  ex-girlfriend of Prince Harry's, Natalie Pinkham. And there were "rowdy drinking games."

And like many brides and grooms out there, Phillips, Princes William and Harry's first cousin, has been hitting the gym "like a demon," according to The Daily Mail. An unnamed friend is quoted as saying, "Although [Phillips] is a world champion sportswoman and has a fabulous figure, like most bride-to-be Zara has been throwing herself into a health-and-fitness regime and has actively been trying to lose weight."

Phillips, 30, is an equestrian and a former Eventing World Champion. According to the BBC, Phillips' dress is being designed by Stewart Parvin but the Huffington Post says reports of Parvin as the dressmaker are incorrect.

The wedding will take place in Edinburgh on Saturday with a reception at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the Queen's official residence when she visits Scotland.

Phillips, the daughter of Princess Anne and Mark Phillips, is 13th in line to the throne and holds no royal title.

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