Spill the beans...on MoneySaving stag/hen parties

The best tip I can give is allow plenty of time to organise it and be considerate of all of the people that you want to attend and how much they might be able to afford. I organised mine a year in advance. It cost £100 for 4 nights away at a resort in the uk, food and some booze we took with us from the supermarket, a spa evening and a bowling evening on the resort. We took our own bikes and swimming and walking were free. Other activities were optional and we all agreed to go out for a meal on our last night. There were 7 of us and the week was semi planned with activities such as a cooking evening, cream tea and dress up and a bbq. As we had so long to save up people made payments in instalments. We all had a great time and it was good value for money. I compare this to the last hen do I went on where the maid of honour was more focused on the wow factor and one night away cost over £200! The organisation was all done last minute and she had no regard for those of us who are less fortunate. In the end I had to refuse to pay for the hen aswell as myself as this would have been well outside my budget! Needless to say whilst the hen enjoyed herself I'm not sure the rest of us did.

I had my hen do last year and I was really specific about people not spending loads of money on it. I found a brilliant place in Dedham, Essex where they hire row boats so 15 of us set off rowing up and down the river for an hour or so and then had the most gorgeous afternoon tea with champagne in the sunshine at the restaurant on the riverside. Cost was £10 a head for food and drink (others paid more if they wanted to drink more). My friends all got together to create a 'memory and wishes' box for me which included old piccies, beautiful cards and a little written piece from everyone about their favourite memories of them and I as well as their hopes for my future. I was in tears over it!
Such a perfect low key hen do that was cheap and fun. I wouldn't of had it any other way.

I'm organising a hen night at the moment. The bride to be wanted a cheap hen weekend in an easily accessible location (all the hens live in Ireland). We picked Galway City in July which can be very expensive.

However, I found some apartments 10 minutes walk from the centre - normally student apartments but rented to holidaymakers during the summer months. It works out as €60 for two nights per person. We also gave people the option to stay both nights or just one.

Apartments mean that we can have a night in on the Friday night. The plan is to organise a kitty and ask everyone to bring a bottle along. We'll have cocktails, music and games to get everyone talking. This means that people who are travelling straight from work don't have to get there for a certain time. It also means that we can all get ready together, make and have breakfast together, which we couldn't have done if we had rented hotel rooms.

I've also been researching activities for the Saturday day - they are all different prices, so I plan to send a selection to the hens and ask them to vote on their favourite. On the Saturday night I've found a good restaurant that does a cheap fixed-price menu.

Me and my girls are off to london, might sound expensive but here's how we got it cheap!
We booked a travelodge at £80 per room which sleeps 3, there are 15 of us going. I used moneysavingexpert.com to find offers on trains and checked every website til i found the cheapest. East coast came up cheapest at £16.50 each return from newark northgate to kings cross! Bargain!! My girls all gave me £50 each which paid for the hotel and train and has left us about £60 to buy wine, sandwiches and scones to have our own little afternoon tea on the train! On the saturday night we are going out for a nice meal (toptable.co.uk/.com has all the london restaurants and show u what u can afford with ur budget and lets you book ur table online). Then we are going to have a relaxed drink in a few bars, if we fancy visiting a club then we will but we are going to take the night as it comes.
On the sunday we are going to hire barclays bikes £1 each for 24hrs and cycle round somewhere like hyde park just for fun and the find an m&s food to buy food and champagne for a picnic, weather permitting.
To travel around the city a day pass on the tube is around £7 each! Oh and my girls have all got a little challenge to fulfil at some point over the weekend, e.g convince someone u r a celeb! Bag a freebie in harrods
And this is all 2 days before the olympics starts so definitely a bargain. If u book far enough in advance u can get a hotel for £20-£30 (premier inn/travelodge) and book ur train as soon as advance fares are available online (12 weeks in advance) or if ur booking last minute megabus.com has cheap train fares.Xx