What things have you loved on a hen weekend?

[Gertrudejekyll23]

I’m helping arrange a hen weekend. There will be about 30 of us (half are family). Aged from 30’s to late 60’s. We’ve booked a huge airbnb in the UK. Looking to keep costs to a minimum so as much ‘in house’ stuff as possible.

What things have you loved on a hen weekend? I want people to have a lovely weekend away and try and avoid buying lots of tat for the sake of it. Is there anything extra special that you’ve particularly liked? Just looking for inspo really 😊

I went to a house-booking-hen weekend a year or two ago. The hot tub was a hit. So was the karaoke machine. Beyond that, people just enjoyed having plenty of drinks and food and mingling. There were a few games tossed in but nothing too 'forced fun'.

We had an 'ugliest shirt' competition for the first night, which was a laugh.

Second night was an 'Ibiza' theme so lots of bucket hats and neon. One of the girls brough a glitter tattoo kit which was fun. Most people just bought things from Vinted for both 'themes'.

Going home

Had a lovely picnic on a hen do where everyone brought blankets, fizz and a nice sharing dish.

A room to myself, a bed to myself, tequila, ear plugs.

Ditto the own room.

Failing that, a cab service home.

That is a LOT of purple to socialise with.

En suite bedroom to myself.
Going home.

I would be interested to know the details of the accommodation. We have a regular family gathering of about 30-35 people.

Good food and good music will take you 90% of the way there.

One of my favourite hen parties was the one where the bridesmaid was getting into such a tizzy about organising special fun that she kind of went out the other side, cancelled all the plans and sent an email saying she would just host a house party at hers. She got loads of snacks in, we all took turns putting on tunes, everyone was super relaxed, the weather was foul so everyone was also relieved not to have to go out in it, lots of drinking and dancing ensued, and around midnight the concurrent stag do joined us and the party continued into the early hours. Top fun, no notes. Bride loved it.

The last hen I went on, we did a cocktail masterclass in a nice bar, with a buffet and bubbles afterwards, it was really fun but quite boozy so possibly not for everyone!

I was going to say booking a big Airbnb. Loved that it kept costs low and avoided some common hen madness.

Plenty of good food and alcohol.

Bbq and fire pit, marshmallows/smores. Pizza. Games (just general games, not hen games).

Get everyone to make suggestions for a big music playlist.

Thank you. These are really helpful.
@PeonyPatch i hear you. I have managed to avoid hen dos for years as I am rubbish at big group mixing and forced fun. 🤣

Photo wall of the bride at various stages in life. Get all the hens to send you pictures and you can also make them into a photo book as a memento.

I love a quiz with funny questions about the bride. You can also do a Mr and Mrs quiz (record the groom answering questions and the bride has to guess what he said) but I've seen that go very wrong where all the questions were absolutely bonkers- "which of her friends would you most like to shag?" "what is her most annoying habit?" - perfectly designed to cause max upset 😂

Haha, me too 😂 I attended one last year and it was a whole weekend. With people I’d never met, and had to share a bedroom (and bed) with a girl I’d only met for a drink! They really are such odd social occasions I find. A lot of old school friends attended and there was a PowerPoint presentation with old school pics. I’m not sure what that has to do with getting married, but as a friend of the bride where we met later in life, I found it quite awkward! Xx

Packing my suitcase for the journey home.

Went to a hen where we hired out an Airbnb and had a private chef.

I echo the 'having space to one's self'. As an introvert these occassions are exhausting. Assuming everyone has (miraculously!) got a room and a bathroom to themselves, havign a balance bewteen 'all in together' forced fun and some more laid back time where people can choose to go for a walk/read the papers/chill in the garden etc to allow some downtime.