I can officially say that my wedding is this month (oh my god) which means it’s about time that I sat down and told you all about my hen party.
That makes me feel a little like a Santa Claus about to read a story on one of those cheesy daytime TV films that are always on in December, but I doubt Santa talks about hen dos, who knows maybe he does? The cheeky scamp.
Okay, okay, I’m digressing as per, but yes my hen do. It was almost four weeks ago now, which is just crazy. Believe me when I say that the last few weeks up until your wedding will literally whizz by. I honestly think that we’re skipping every other day at the moment as time is just flying by.
My hen do was very fun though, and I wanted to talk about what we did, as well as give you some hen do ideas yourself if you’re getting married soon or are planning a hen do for someone else.
I struggled with the whole planning thing, and found it a bit overwhelming combined with wedding planning as well. My Mum and Sister took over for me, which was so nice of them.
I feel like there’s this pressure to have ‘THE BEST NIGHT EVER’ and Hen do’s are known for being wild, but what happens when you’re an actual twenty something Grandma?
Not only am I a bit of a granny, but also my course of Roaccutane prohibits you to drink, so it was never going to be a boozy affair cause of my tablets.
My mum and sister planned pretty much the whole thing as a surprise for me, they got the names of who I wanted to invite and made a big whatsapp group, leaving me to focus on the wedding.
For the daytime part of my hen do, we did a Spice Girls dance lesson. We went to a studio, where we had prosecco and drinks, and spent two hours learning a dance to a Spice Girls song. I love the Spice Girls, and doing fitness classes so this was so up my street.
Everyone got really involved and we had so much fun. It was such a laugh, and everyone really enjoyed it. We finished the dance, recorded it and apparently we’re going to perform it at the wedding (oh god!) but honestly it was so much fun and the perfect activity for me. We finished the afternoon with games and then went back to get ready for the evening.
We had lots of the Team Bride decorations from Ginger Ray which we put up, which were so lovely. I would 100% recommend Ginger Ray as they have so many pretty hen do decorations. Nothing tacky in sight! Everyone said how lovely they all were.
One thing that went down very well was the Pass The Parcel Hen Party game, which completely broke the ice and got everyone talking and trying to win. We made it into a quiz about who knew the bride the best and it was really fun.
My Mum had found a lovely local restaurant that had a private upstairs area, meaning it was just the hen party which was lovely. We had cocktails, a meal and then some more prosecco. I had a halloumi burger and sticky toffee pudding (yas) but it was pretty filling, and we were all stuffed afterwards. I wasn’t sure whether to go ‘out out’ afterwards but decided against it in the end. Henry laughed because we were back before midnight, but you know what, it doesn’t matter.
Hen do’s don’t have to be wild and drunk, if you don’t want them to. You don’t have to have strippers and wear L plates, they could take place in the day, or whenever you please. Your hen do is about spending time with the ladies who you are closest to. We all had a lot of fun at mine, and it made me even more excited for the wedding.
I was so grateful that my Mum and sister put so much effort in planning my hen do and also was so grateful to everyone who came, it was such a lovely day/evening.
I have to get my hen do planning hat on next, as later this summer, I’ll be planning my sister-in-law to be’s hen do, I’ll let you know how I get on with that, later this year though.
For now, I thought I’d share some ideas for Hen Do’s in case you’re planning your own or planning one for someone else :
Weekend away (Liverpool, Manchester, Bath, York, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Chester – are all places I looked at that looked lovely- loads of nice places at Air B&B)
Spa Day /Weekend (if you’ve got a good budget, I’d recommend Moddershall Oaks, so lovely!)
Afternoon Tea
Cocktail Making Class
Dance Class
Pool Party (lots of pools let you hire them for a few hours)
Junkyard Golf (cocktails and mini golf!)
House Party (with decorations, takeaway, cocktails, etc…)
Hire a Cinema/projector for girls film night
I hope that one of these have perhaps inspired you, but honestly don’t let the pressure get to you, just have fun and do what you want 🙂
Right I am going to go now but I hope you’re all good and I’ll see you soon!
