Hen Party Ideas
I remember the days when a hen party was just a night out on the local town with your mates, but over recent decades hen party ideas have become grander with the norm being a hen party weekend; often away to another city and even abroad to warmer climes for some.
Hen parties have become big business and so never underestimate how important the hen party is for your bride. Are you the maid of honour, the brides best friend? If so it's your job to make sure this hen party goes off with a bang. No pressure.
Regardless of whether you have a party animal on your hands, or a house hermit, you can still make this a special day or weekend for the bride, and give her the very best send off to becoming a wife by following our prudent tips for hen party organising.
1. Pay Attention To Her Character
Just because you personally for sure would want to have consumed your fifth beverage by 6pm and be staggering around some faraway city adorned with a penis hat and L plates, it doesn't mean that's her dream hen party weekend too. Sure you want it to be fun for everyone else as well as the bride, but to pay special attention to her general likes and dislikes.
2. Communicate With The Bride
Yes, you're organising the hen party for her, but be sure to have a chat with the bride before you start taking deposits and booking venues. Important matters to be clear on include finding out if she wants her mother (and mother in law) to attend, and does she want a quieter cultural affair, or a wild party weekend?
3. Join Friendships Before The Hen Party
It's common that the bride will have friends that have never even met each other let alone be in the same friendship groups and so to help the hen party go smoothly it's a great idea if those attending could meet up beforehand once or twice to get to know each other before the big event.
If that's not possible for everyone, it's certainly advisable to at least start adding each other on Facebook to get to know each other somewhat before spending an entire weekend in each others pockets. It's also a great way to brainstorm fun ideas for the hen party.
4. Work To A Budget
Meeting up and pre-communicating with the other hen party guests is also a great time to discuss budgets. Just because you're willing and able to blow £200 or more on a weekend or night out, it doesn't mean everyone else has the same capability.
Put out feelers with each person attending as to what the maximum they would like to pay is and then try to structure the event around that. Those with very low budgets that differ widely from the majority can consider opting out of some parts of the hen party to save pennies ... turning up for the night out but not attending the meal beforehand for instance.
Things to ensure to budget for include accommodation, food, travel (taxis, train fares and such like), and even potentially gifts for the bride. Make sure everyone knows well in advance exactly how much the entire shindig is going to cost them.
5. Chronicle Those Memories
Don't forget to make a record of this important part of the wedding; chronicle her hen party by taking plenty of photos and keeping hold of any memorabilia (ticket stubs and such like). You could always turn it into a scrap book gift later on.
If you want to get social media involved, you could create a #henpartyhashtag of your own for the event so there is a collaborative space for photos and uploads from guests.
Even more fun, print your hen party social media hashtag onto badges so no one forgets it, and you even might find the odd surprise in there from randoms you meet on the evening.
