How much would you/have you spent to attend a Hen do?

maman

tea_lover wrote: »

I feel a bit left out now about all these 'activities' The hen do's I've been on have just been meals, or one to a theme park. But no activities! What do people do??

Great one I went to recently: afternoon tea at a posh hotel followed by go-karting (change of outfit here) where all the stags joined us then on for a lovely restaurant meal (another outfit:D).

Generally it's been a meal in a pub/restaurant and drinks then youngsters went on to nightclub while the aunties and grandmas went home (for more drinks;)).

jillie1974

i hate this trend for organised hen do's. its putting so much expense on friends.
for mine, we went for a meal- nothing fancy Lloyds No1 and then on to a nightclub friend had arranged we'd be in the private area. lots more fun
another friend has been on one recently where it was all day- cocktail making, perfume making, meal and then bar and club.

Prothet_of_Doom

I've been to 4 stag do's ....all after I'd been married, plus my own and on all occassions, I ended the evening sober...Having spent £30 ish.
I was so careful not to get !!!!!! I stayed sober...

If I was asked to spend £100 and it included say Karting, and a nice meal and a hotel, then maybe that's my limit.

onl

Thanks guys!

She is one of my more closer friends.

I was invited to a different Hen weekend a few months ago and i didn't attend because i couldn't afford to at the time and i was not good friends with the Bride.

After reading some replies and doing my own research, i really do think what my friend has suggested is way overpriced.

These replies have given me some things to think about.

Thanks.

cloudy11

Hen dos are my personal nightmare so I would never spend more than a night out locally on one. They always seem so forced to me!

I have turned loads down that involved nights away, expensive activities etc as I just don't have the money to spend on them, esp if they are something I wouldn't enjoy. In that scenario I always try to go for a meal/ drinks separately with the bride to be.

sulphate

For my hen do I had a spa day which was £50 for the whole thing including lunch and one treatment. We then went out for a meal in the evening (some people came to both, others to one or the other) and a couple of drinks after - I spent about £20, but obviously others could spend as little or as much as they wanted on that.

The other two I've been to were - meal and a club (probably spent about £40) and I also went to a whole weekend one which consisted of a present, meal and drinks, a night stay in a hostel, pub lunch etc etc which was probably about £120.

I deliberately tried to make my hen do budget friendly but also appropriate for the time of year - it was February so we didn't want anything outside. I didn't want to do the get-ridiculously-drunk thing because I don't like it. I didn't want to go abroad and have a really expensive drunken weekend like lots of people do because a) like I said I'm not that keen on it and b) it excludes people who can't afford that.

A couple of my friends didn't come to mine because they said they couldn't afford it, I'll probably get negative comments for saying this but - for them - they just hadn't budgeted. They live at home, just went on an expensive abroad holiday and are/were always posting pictures on FB of their nights out and things they've done... so they could have afforded it if they really wanted to.

tea_lover

claire16c wrote: »

We went to the secret room at choccy Woccy do dah.

Others I've done are

Karaoke
Afternoon tea

Friends have done

Male strip shows
Cocktail classes
Pole dance classes
Making a perfume
Dance class to make up a dance for the wedding to do after the first dance

So basically I need better mates! :rotfl:

*Louise*

I have never been to a hen do (been to a couple of stag dos, but only at a local pub) - most of my friends are male, and my closest female friend was married before we met.

I didn't even have a hen do when I got married - the thought of anyone hiring a stripper for me and dressing me up to look stupid made me cringe , so we went out for a joint meal with family and friends the evening before our wedding and paid for the food (they got their own drinks)

I think the money spent on these events is getting more ridiculous every time I hear of one, (not to mention that if you are marrying the love of your life, why would anyone want to celebrate that by going out and ogling a naked stranger) - but each to their own.

It's obviously best when a bride shows consideration to he family and friends by having something which will suit most people, or which people can take part in sections of a day to suit their budget as per a couple of previous examples. I hate reading on wedding forums when someone says 'well if she was really my friend she would save up all year so she could afford to go'....without considering that maybe there is more important things for people to spend money on than a weekend partying (I'm not referring to people who spend the money on luxuries here). It's just selfish.

scottishminnie

sulphate wrote: »

They live at home, just went on an expensive abroad holiday and are/were always posting pictures on FB of their nights out and things they've done... so they could have afforded it if they really wanted to.

and that, to me is the important thing. It's a choice for people whather they go. No bride has the right to demand or expect anyone to come to her hen night - cheap or otherwise.
I think it's unfair to begrudge them an expensive holiday because it "prevented "them from going to a hen night. As I see it their holiday and other nights out were prioritised over a hen night which is absolutely their perogative to do. Likely to be mine also.

Kildare

I've been to couple of hen do's and had my own. Most of my friends had dinner / drinks / club so you could come along to some / all of the evening. Last one I went to which was just dinner and drinks I spent about £50 - bride made sure in advance that we all printed off vouchers for the restaurant

My own hen do was a theatre show, dinner and cocktails - only 4 of us went to the theatre (it was expensive so something my mum and I wanted to do and 2 other friends also wanted to come), a few more came for dinner and the rest came for drinks. Home at the end of the night

Recently I was on my first weekend hen do. I've always refused to go to the whole weekend in the past - just gone for the main event (dinner) portion. I felt pressured into this one as I was a bridesmaid and I really regret it. It was Ascot with 2 nights away and basically all they did was stay drunk all the time (not my thing). Whole thing cost me £170 for the weekend away plus food / drink / ascot outfit. Not to mention I had to share a room with one of the other girls who was a complete stranger (didn't realise until I was there as I thought at that price I was getting my own room!). I should have spoken up for myself and certainly won't be doing that again