Hen Party Help

Jcem

My best friend is getting married this year and I have been given the pleasure of being her Maid of Honour, which means I am also organizing her Hen Party.

As the wedding is abroad the bride didn't want a long weekend doo and isn't really a hard core party animal. So far so good though as I have done most of it i.e. contacting guests, booking activities, getting deposits etc etc however i'm a little stuck with how I can add in some nice little surprises here and there and fill in a gap between some of the activities.

The plans so far are a pamper party at a local beauty salon where we will each be having a treatment of our choice. I was thinking I would pop in before hand an put a few decorations up, lay out some goody bags for the ladies and get some bubbles on ice. Then we will be going for a late lunch at a nice little restaurant a short stroll away to get us all fed ready for the cocktail making class we will be attending in the evening and then finish up in a club.

I was going to do a mystery room escape where in groups you have to try solve the clues to escape a room within 1 hour, however the group weren't too keen on it and it was going to be pushing it if we were going to be able to fit it all in as it was a little bit further away from the other activities. I want the day to be relaxed and fun so don't want to try and cram too much in, however I am now left with a bout a 2 hour gap between the lunch and cocktail making.

I was thinking of booking a limo for an hour as a surprise for everyone which would be able to drive us around and then drop us to the cocktail making which I thought would add a bit of fun to the day. as it was a surprise I was going to be paying for this myself which I didn't mind doing, however since then my financial circumstances have changed and I am not sure I would be able to afford it. I don't want to ask the group for any more money either as I know a lot of them are on a tight budget too and it would also ruin the surprise!!

so basically.... has anyone got any ideas about what we can do to help fill the gap and any other little surprises I can add in to the day?

Thank you in advance

Jcem x

arbrighton

What else is around in the area where you could do something silly but fun and cheap e.g. comedy photos in the park, maybe with a glass of bubbles there each too?

I wouldn't like the idea of the mystery room thing either.

Would you be able to change the timings of the day so it's the lunch then the pamper session?

michelle09

At my hendo, the person who organised it filled the gap between the main activity and dinner by making a slightly more adult pass the parcel game. We sat in a pub and did that. Cheap but thoughtful and we all had a laugh at everyone's expense.

BritishBibliophile

Are you sure it'll be 2 hours between the lunch and the cocktails? If there's quite a few of you and you're all chatting then it should spread out a bit better.

At a friend's Hen Weekend we had an early afternoon tea that we hosted at a place that had a giant outdoor chess set. So while a few of the group distracted the bride the rest of us sat and filled out cards made by the Maid of Honour, and then those that were finished first went and swapped with those playing the games so they could fill out the cards as well. If memory serves there were 3 bits to fill out; How do I (the guest) know you (the bride)? What is your best (or possibly earliest?) memory of the bride? Your tip for a happy marriage. The card was A5 size so it was good to have limited space to work with and still think of a good response.

We then moved a bit further down the lawn and sat in a circle together. The bride was then given the cards and she read them out loud. Quite a lot of giggles and "awww"s, and it lead to various stories being swapped by all of us. It really helped spread out the time between the afternoon tea and going back to our accomodation to get ready for an evening activity.

I believe the Maid of Honour then took the cards and got loads of photos off Instgram (remember you need a unique hashtag!) and turned them in to a scrapbook as a wedding present.

If you look up something like "cheap hen party ideas" on Instagram you'll probably find a few similar things that will help fill the time.

Sophie2016

I did my sisters and I got all the bridesmaids a little something for them to keep. This women's stuff is beautiful and different and good value for money. Hope this helps x

facebook.com/CustomMadeUniqueGifts/?view_public_for=1384521728493300

Dizzy_Ditzy

I did my best friends hen a couple of months ago. We split it over the weekend. We started off with breakfast then on to a spa day. From there we went for a quick bite to eat before going for cocktail making lessons - which by the way were huge fun! The next day we went for a meal. People could do any of the activities they wanted to.

Her wedding was abroad too.

For surprises I did personalised sweetie bags for everyone, goody bags for those on the cocktail session and homemade crackers (of the Christmas type but not Christmassy iyswim). I arranged with the groom for a present for her from him and gave it to her on the night.

It was bloody hard work organising it all and all the people - I started my new job the day before the weekend started so I took the goody bags and crackers to their respective venues a couple of days in advance. She had an amazing weekend and everyone enjoyed themselves

I did it all on a very tight budget too, spending about £30 for everything in the end. 20 crackers and fillers, 16 goody bags and contents and 40 sweetie bags, including the personalised bits and sweets

Good luck!

arbrighton

queen_of_cheap wrote: »

I did my best friends hen a couple of months ago. We split it over the weekend. We started off with breakfast then on to a spa day. From there we went for a quick bite to eat before going for cocktail making lessons - which by the way were huge fun! The next day we went for a meal. People could do any of the activities they wanted to.

Her wedding was abroad too.

For surprises I did personalised sweetie bags for everyone, goody bags for those on the cocktail session and homemade crackers (of the Christmas type but not Christmassy iyswim). I arranged with the groom for a present for her from him and gave it to her on the night.

It was bloody hard work organising it all and all the people - I started my new job the day before the weekend started so I took the goody bags and crackers to their respective venues a couple of days in advance. She had an amazing weekend and everyone enjoyed themselves

I did it all on a very tight budget too, spending about £30 for everything in the end. 20 crackers and fillers, 16 goody bags and contents and 40 sweetie bags, including the personalised bits and sweets

Good luck!

But how much did all the activities cost???