Over the past couple of months, myself and five of my gals planned a hen do for one of our girls. Its was so much fun and exciting but at times, really stressful. The stress came from the fact we have never planned one before and didn't know where to start, but now that we know what were doing, its actually such a great experience.
Today I though I would share some tips and tricks on planning a Hen or Stag weekend that is for a close/small group of friends. I will at some point to a post on a bigger group too. Six of us went to Manchester together for a long weekend and had such an amazing time!
Dont Book Straight Away
We tried not to book anything without meeting up and talking it through, so the first thing we did was have a wee group tea night together (without the Hen) and write down all the ideas we came up with. Look into every option, even if you don't like the sound of them at first. We didn't book straight away on impulse, as tempting as that was, which looking back was great because we chopped and changed our ideas so many times. We ended up going with a destination we had originally scrapped the idea of as we found more and more appealing things as time went on. If you'r in a big group keep in mind that you cant keep everybody happy. You are bringing together a group of people from all different walks of life, not everyone will be happy. The most important person is the Hen/Stag. Make sure they are happy and thats all that matters.
Travel & Accomodation
Once finally settling on a destination we then looked into the best way of travelling down that would keep us altogether and be the cheapest option for everyone. Turns out for us this would be flying. We used SkyScanner which is a great sight for searching all airlines and all flights to and from the destination you chose, on the date you want. Its quick, easy and takes the job of juggling flight times and dates out of your hands. We booked our flight before anything else, purely so they wouldn't go up in price.
Next was accomodation which we took a while to decide on. We tried many diferent sites and ended up booking a hotel apartment through booking.com. It cost us so much less splitting an apartment than getting seperate hotel rooms and it means we could all be together for getting glammed up etc, you know us girls!
Activities
What to do when your let lose in the big city? Some of the things we booked included a Crazy Golf afternoon at Junkyard Golf. The bonus of this place was they serve cocktails so we ended up doing a couple of rounds. Make sure you pick something the Bride or Groom to be will enjoy. Think about group activities that you might not usually take part in, get something that everyone can get involved in and that will be a laugh, don't be worried about feeling embarrassed or silly, your there to have fun!
Other things we looked into were Cocktail Making Classes, Chocolate Making Classes, Escape Rooms, Laser Tag, Posh Bowling and so many more.
A great site we used to get ideas was HenWeekends.co.uk which was so easy to use. Simply type in things like destination, how many is in the party, budgets and it gives you endless amounts of ideas and options available where you are headed.
A great site we used to get ideas was HenWeekends.co.uk which was so easy to use. Simply type in things like destination, how many is in the party, budgets and it gives you endless amounts of ideas and options available where you are headed.
Another simple thing to look for on a weekend away is pubs or clubs that offer the hire of a room or a booth. We did this for the Saturday night which by doing in advance gave us a discount on drinks and a bottle of prosseco on arrival, perfect! It takes the pressure off of going out and not knowing where your going in a city your not familiar with.
Finishing Touchs
The little extras are always the bits that touch my heart the most. Our lovely Hen is a Harry Potter fan so everything we have added has a flash of Harry Potter. In Primark I found a Harry Potter backpack which we have filled with essentials for our Bride for the weekend which she can take home and use even after the hen.
Giving everyone something they can take home as a reminder from the weekend is always a lovely touch, it can be as expensive or as cheap as you want it to be. Matching bracelets are a fun, easy and cheap way of all sporting something representing the Hen Weekend.
ALso, take some decorations with you. Whether its to decorate the rooms your staying in, the place you have your meals booked or for the events you attend. Its great to make it all feel really personal.
Giving everyone something they can take home as a reminder from the weekend is always a lovely touch, it can be as expensive or as cheap as you want it to be. Matching bracelets are a fun, easy and cheap way of all sporting something representing the Hen Weekend.
ALso, take some decorations with you. Whether its to decorate the rooms your staying in, the place you have your meals booked or for the events you attend. Its great to make it all feel really personal.
Some extras we purchased includes:
Matching T-Shirts (Primark)
Sleeping Masks (Primark)
Badges (Home Bargains)
Tips for the Bride Cards (Home Bargains)
Have Everything Organised
Finally, have everything organised in advance so you dont need to worry about anything whilst you are there. Have refernce numbers or tickets and things all kept together and easy to access. Being organised equals no stress and after a few too many proseccos, you dont want to be in a pickle!
Most of all, have the best time. Hen and Stag weekends are a chance to go as easy or as wild as you want, for eveyone to meet one another before the wedding, to let your hair down and enjoy.
Hope you enjoyed this quick post, I plan to write some more based on other hens I have been on AND hopefully I will be writing about my own some time soon!
Have the loveliest day.,
Amy x
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