AIBU to ask if you would like this hen weekend?

[DissertationDrama]

For 3 bridesmaids (who all know each other) and the bride.

Saturday afternoon
Meet at bride’s house late afternoon for drinks, nibbles and a few hen party style games. Get ready to go out together.

Saturday evening
Go into town together. Italian meal. Bar hop several different cocktails bars with different themes (e.g. one is like a science lab).
Go back to bride’s house and get into pyjamas for films and chocolate. Everybody sleeps over at bride’s (seperate bedrooms).

Sunday morning
Coffee and croissants at bride’s house.
Drive to afternoon tea venue, collecting daughters and grandmothers on the way.

Sunday afternoon
Afternoon tea for 15 ish guests.

What do you think? Would this weekend appeal to you?

Another one who thinks the timings are whack - you want to be having a lovely time, not marshalling each other around town. When I go out with friends for dinner it normally takes a few hours , and agreed that several bars on a Saturday night will result in a lot of hanging about, queuing to be served, finding seats etc. Assuming you've drunk at the house during hen games ( bleurgh), at dinner and in the bar(s), even if you haven't gone mad, I think you'll struggle to stay awake if you come home for films, which would presumably have to be after bars close, so around 1am earliest. So bed around 3am. Don't forget all of you are probably going to shower/ do hair the next day which if you're like my lot, will take the entire morning.

I'd drop the bars and stay in the restaurant. Or do restaurant and one bar, or restaurant and home for film. But not everything, you'll end up not enjoying any of it.

I never in my life thought I'd hear myself say this, but... too much food!
Nibbles, dinner, chocolate, croissants, afternoon tea... I would feel sick after all that.
A minor point, I suppose. But if you're going out for a nice dinner and afternoon tea I would skip the nibbles and croissants.

I think generally it sounds like a lovely hen weekend, but I wouldn’t plan the Saturday night too much, see what happens. As others have said, if, in the first bar, you manage to get a table and are having a lovely time, you don’t actually need to move. I hate if our group has a table then someone insists we move on and then we end up squashed in a corner in the next place and don’t get seats for the rest of the evening. Much rather be comfy than go to lots of places.
Would hen party games work with just four of you (especially four sober people?). Could you go to a bar before your meal and miss the games out? (I’m not really sure what hen party games are tbh- we haven’t played them at any of the hen parties I’ve been too).
Also, I’ve never got watching films after you get in from a night out. I normally stay out till I’m knackered and then when we get home straight to bed.

The afternoon tea is a lovely thought to include more people than just the very close friends, but I’d probably want to go home during the morning (but that could be because I’m at a different life stage to you and would want to spend a couple of hours with the children).

Will the drivers be sober enough to drive on the Sunday?

It sounds a lot like the hen do I threw for my friend apart from the order. We did the afternoon tea on the Saturday afternoon with the mums and aunties. Did a couple of family friendly things, Mr & Mrs style questions that the groom had pre-answered and everyone did a thumb print on a canvas that one of the bridesmaids had prepared.

Then back to the flat for pizza and nibbles. Some not-family friendly games whilst drinking and getting ready. Couple of bars til the bride was done then back to the flat. Pyjamas on and bed. No one was in a state to watch a film then or to drive on the Sunday.

Sounds great, personally I'd like the idea of the quirky science lab themed cocktail bar and would think that going there is enough and you don't need to bar hop. Depends if you're big drinkers though.

Just keep it simple, OP. The best parties are usually those where there are lots of contingency plans (e.g. in your case a list of a few really good cocktail bars up your sleeve, a few decent DVDs and a box of chocolates stashed at home) but also a willingness to be spontaneous and play things by ear. If your friends are having a ball out in town, stay out! If it turns out that everyone fancies going back early for cups of tea and girly gossip while a film plays in the background then do that. Have a loose idea of plans, and after that make those plans fit your own (collective) inclinations rather than the other way round. Only you know your own friends and what this particular group is likely to find enjoyable.