Organising a hen party for your best friend can be a whole lot of fun, but trying to get a group of girls to agree on anything, let’s admit, it can be a nightmare! If the task has fallen to you, fear not. Spicy Hen has gathered top tips from the sisterhood to make the experience a happy one. Stay calm, step away from the inflatable willies and get it sorted. You will have won your Hen Planner stripes in no time!  

 

Save The Date Start early, as those diaries fill up fast. Send an email out as soon as you can to all of the hens, checking availability for a limited number of dates and ask for a response – whether they can or can’t do the dates. Once you have found a date that works, get everyone to block out their diaries. Now the plotting and planning can really begin… Ask The Boss Bride After getting a guest list of her nearest and dearest gals, check with the bride how much input she would like to have. Some brides like to be very involved in the hen party planning process, whilst others like to be surprised. A balance is probably the best bet – ask for her preferences on location, cost and general activities, but keep a few things secret… she will be glad you did. If you are arranging a surprise, make sure it is something that the bride would really love. Be honest with yourself; is she a burlesque dancing, male stripper, all night drinking session kind of girl, or would she prefer a cookery class and a manicure? Mum’s The Word Decide early if her Mum and (perhaps more crucially) his Mum will be invited to join in the fun and if this means that certain activities will need to be tempered. A good idea is to invite the Mums for part of the evening so that they have the option of retiring before the real mayhem begins. That way, they will feel included but the bride won’t feel as uncomfortable when the stripper finally arrives… Don’t worry too much though. You can bet that they have seen it all before! Decisions, Decisions It is becoming more common for hen parties to take place over an entire weekend. Taking a trip to a different city for a hen party can be a great way to get that party feeling. Many hen party groups opt for going abroad. Unsurprisingly there will be a larger range of activity options for you and for your friends in the UK. No matter what the tastes and preferences of your group are you’ll be able to find something that suits all of you. The options available in the UK are as varied as the hen parties, whether you are looking for beaches, big city excitement or buzzing nightlife, you will be spoilt for choice.

Do Your Homework Find out as much as you can about your chosen location, start amassing information early, and shop around for the best deals on hotels and activities. A little local knowledge goes a long way. Taxi numbers, tourist information and opening hours information for shops, bars and clubs can prove invaluable.

Rally The Troops Need help? Ask for it. A band of bridesmaids and bessie mates will be on standby to help with party games, ideas, cocktail mixing and general crowd control. They will generally be glad to get involved. This can also help to break the ice between girls who have never met in advance of the party. Cash Is King Calculate a general cost figure beforehand, add a contingency (any £ left over can go in the drinks kitty), let everyone know how much it will be early on – ideally before they commit to coming – give the guests lots of time to pay and get the cash upfront. Follow this advice to the letter and save yourself hours of stress. Seriously! Be A Flexible Friend Try to cater for all price points and be open to suggestions. Want to head to warmer climates? If the hens have to pay for flights perhaps pick a cheaper hotel. Pregnant ladies in the group? Add dinner to the drinks and dancing. Make It Personal The best hen parties are those that celebrate the lady who has brought you all together: the bride to be. Tailor the day to her favourite things and quirks and add personal touches wherever possible. Does she love Sex And The City? Serve up a round of Cosmos on arrival. Is George Clooney her thing? Hire a look-alike to deliver a kissogram. You get the idea. If in doubt, quiz games based on a list of funny personal questions always go down well (get the groom to fill in a questionnaire), as do signed picture albums from all her hens. Ignore Dissenters You simply cannot please everyone and there will always be one in the group who disagrees with your choice of venue, party game, whatever. Trust your intuition and do what is best for the group in general. The bride to be picked you for the job for a reason. Roll with it.

4 Months till the Hen Party Ask the bride-to-be to give you a list of all the girls she wants to have go to the party. Make sure she includes the email, phone number, and address of each girl. Check with the bride-to-be where she wants to go. Then ask the girls what date is the most suitable for them. Remember, you will never find a perfect date for everyone so pick the best date for the majority! When organising the hen weekend the following questions should be answered.

• Home or away? • One day or a weekend? • Transportation? • Budget? (Many times an issue. Check with the girls how much they are

happy to spend for the weekend!) • How much of your budget is going for gifts and entertainment? • Are you going to pay for the Bride-To-Be? • Are you going to have any hen party entertainment, will there be any hen

weekend activities, such as dance lesson, cocktail making, photo shoot? 3 Months till the Hen Party Send out an initial email between 3 & 4 months before the party. Let the girls know the scoop, including where the party will be, how much the basic cost will be, what girls will need (i.e.type of clothes, anything they need to bring, etc.), travel arrangements if possible and any other important information. You can create a group for the hen party on Facebook where you can post all your ideas. You may want to have some of the girls to give you any suggestions they still have on making the party more of a success! You can also send a group email so you can communicate to each other as a group! Make sure to have the girls RSVP to you since there are always the slackers who don't respond until you send them a few emails or calls. 2 Months till the Hen Party About 1 to 2 months prior to the hen weekend make sure everyone who is going knows all the information necessary. Book the hen party entertainment. 1 Month till the Hen Party You are getting real close now! The excitement should be building! Send out an email with the final plans! Confirm the following information:

• Hotel • Transportation • Food/Drink • Entertainment • Who is responsible for bringing what • Gifts/Games

2 Weeks until the Hen Party By now you should have everything that you want to bring ready to go! Make sure hotel and hen party activity is paid upfront. It is important to receive and pay the money before the party so you don't have to think about it when you are having a good time! 1 Week until the Hen Party Send out an email to all the girls to increase the spirit and excitement for the party!!! It is always good to go over all the basics one more time too.

There is so much choice out there and it is (hopefully) the one and only time you will be throwing your friend the party to mark her last night of freedom. As we know with choice, we often struggle deciding what we want and end up spending more money than necessary....

Book early to get the best rates The key to hen party success is in expert planning. Booking in advance saves yourself stress in the long run, as well as enabling you to take advantage of the best possible rates. Your accommodation Think about your hen accommodation, many hen destinations range from budget hostels to luxurious 4* hotels so if your main priority is enjoying a big night out with the girls, you probably don’t need 4* accommodation. Pre-book meals Remember that set menus are often cheaper than a la carte and can save you the hassle of calculating who owes what at the end of the meal! Invite all your friends! Bigger groups are more likely to enjoy bigger discounts like the hen goes free! Check out our pre-made packages Our hen weekend packages have been specially designed with value for money in mind and often include freebies such as VIP guest list club entry.

We came up with 4 Hen party Games that don’t involve man-handling strangers in bars! Print out the rules, let the cocktails flow and wait for the good times to roll…

Quiz the Groom A week or two before the party, have everyone come up with a question about the bride to be for her fiancé to answer, and then email them all to him. Take turns reading her the questions, and having her guess his responses. If she answers wrong, she has to take a sip of her drink. When she gets it right, everyone else has to drink. Some questions to ask: How did you meet? What’s your favourite body part of your partner? Name one thing he/she would save (apart from you) in a fire? What’s his/her most annoying habit? Favourite film/book? Post-It Note Game We love this game as it’s a great way to give the bride to be a sweet momento of the night. Give everyone a post-it note and pen. Each hen writes a short sentence of a memory they have of the bride to be. When everyone is done, place all the post-it notes on a hard surface for the B2B to read one by one. As she reads them out she has to guess who wrote it and explain the story out loud. Tales of childhood, old boyfriends and drunken nights welcome. The bride to be can then add these into a nice hens night keepsake. Which One is the Lie? This is a hen party game that everyone can get involved in & is perfect for breaking the ice. Not only will you have a barrel of laughs together but you'll get to find out fascinating things about each other too. The hens should take it in turn one by one to share two personal facts about themselves. Only one fact will be true and the other one must be made up! Now

it is the task of the rest of the hen party to try and work out which is the lie! Rate the Man This is an ideal game for going out on the town. Each hen has cards from 1-10. When a guy walks by or comes in the door, the party rates him. The fun part is asking the rated man for a photo, and holding up his scorecard without him seeing!

All that dancing and having a good time might have left you feeling a little worse for wear now, so you might be a little delicate. It's important to make sure that you all have a good hearty breakfast (or lunch!) the next day, before you decide to do something else, or go home. A really lovely & thoughtful idea is to make a 'Survival Pack' for the morning after the night before with all of the things a girl could need to perk herself up after a heavy night!

§ Can of Full-fat Coke § Alka Seltzer § Eye Mask § Lip Balm § Mini Shower gel § Blister Plasters § Paracetamol/Ibuprofen § Rehydration sachets § Chewing Gum/Mints § Chocolates § Bottled Water § Hair bands § Energy Drink § Fruit/Granola Bar § Small packet of Multi Vitamins § Mini Perfumes

A day filled with Shopping & Spa treatments could be the perfect hangover cure. Best not to plan anything until the afternoon though! Many women treat themselves to Spa Days a week or so before the Wedding so why not combine the ‘Morning after the Night Before’ Spa Day with the Pre Wedding Day pamper session – It’ll save money and those who didn’t fancy a night of partying can still join in on the Hen Party fun!

It's no myth that most women love to be pampered! So grab the girls and enjoy a day (or a weekend!) at a fancy Spa and relax, unwind and let the stress float away.

           

Set backs are bound to happen when you’re working with lots of ladies schedules and, of course, everyone has their own opinions on how the hen night should go. Being Hen Party Specialists, we’ve seen it all. So we’ve compiled the top 3 Hen Party Dilemas we most often see with our best solutions to help you along the way! Dilemma 1 Should the hen night be a surprise or planned with the bride? The majority of hen nights are arranged in consultation with the bride. They may not know everything that is going to happen on the night, but they usually know the date, who has been invited, and where the party is going to start. If you are arranging a surprise, make sure it is something that the bride would really love. Be honest with yourself; is she a burlesque dancing, male stripper, all night drinking session kind of girl, or would she prefer a cookery class and a manicure? Also consider whether you have the resources to pull off a surprise party. Will you be able to contact all the people she’d want to invite? Will you be able to arrange a date when you know for sure she doesn’t have anything else planned? Dilemma 2 Hen Night or Hen Weekend? It is becoming more common for hen parties to take place over an entire weekend. Taking a trip to a different city for a hen party can be a great way to get that party feeling. Many hen party groups opt for going abroad. Of course these types of hen party can be very expensive, and you will need to judge whether the people the bride wants to invite can afford it. Dilemma 3 What hen party activity? Struggling to decide what activity to choose for your hen weekend? Have you thought about a dance lesson? Dance activities have become extremely popular for hen parties. Why? Dance lessons are unconventional, a fantastic bonding experience and create memories that your group can look back on and laugh heartedly. Remember, hen party dance activities are extremely popular amongst ladies and are typically booked months in advance. So, if you want to take a dance lesson on your hen weekend, it is imperative that you plan ahead and make the necessary arrangements. Look through the dance activities providers’ websites, gather all the information you need and make reservations for the dance lesson well before the hen weekend to avoid last minute disappointment.

Party Planner vs No Party Planner Agencies like Spicy Hen have worked hard on achieving the best deals on your behalf. That means your hen party could end up cheaper when booked with Spicy Hen as we strive to pass the value on to you! Plus it will save you heaps of hassle. Even if there are bespoke details you want to add to make the weekend perfect - it is a good idea to book the bulk of your weekend with one company. That way they can ensure activities are close to each other, your weekend isn't disjointed and you only need to make one phone call to book multiple activities. Spicy Hen will also ensure that your Personal Party Planner will take your entire booking from your first call to your event date. Wether you’re looking to book a full weekend or just one activity with us. Oh and BTW they are the Dance Class Experts with 100% customer satisfaction rate!

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Good luck with the planning!

 

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