Planning My First Hen Party

This year, I’ve been given the incredible honour of being bridesmaid to one of my best friends in the whole world, Michele. I’ve been lucky enough to be a bridesmaid a couple of times as a child to family, which is just as special, but there definitely feels something very different about the prospect of being handpicked by my best friend to help her get ready for the big day, be a support to her during the wedding process and of course – organise a hen do!

Over the past two years I’ve attended two hen dos, both for my old uni housemates who actually both married their university boyfriends (n’awww!) but I have never organised a hen do myself. As Michele has chosen not to have a Maid of Honour and wanted us all to feel equally important, the hen party is going to be a divide and conquer effort between we bridesmaids! So far, this is where we are up to…

Getting to know each other

Don’t underestimate this one! The other bridesmaids have been friends with Michele for many years and have known each other for long time, some even going on holiday together. As a relatively new addition to the group, one of the first things we’ve been doing is having some nights out to get to know each other. It sounds planned out, but it’s all been pretty organic really! Naturally, as Michele’s friends, they are all absolutely lovely and we have had some great times together already, so I can’t wait to spend more time with them all!

Divide and conquer

Now we know each other a little better, it’s starting to become apparent what everyone’s strengths and weaknesses are. One is a creative, one is well travelled, one is party animal and well, I’m boring and quite like the organisation side of things! This has meant that it’s coming apparent who’s going to be the best at doing what jobs. Splitting the tasks our between ourselves based on our strengths means that, hopefully, no one will feel too responsible or stressed, and we all get to enjoy ourselves!http://www.lilykitten.com/wp-admin/edit.php?tag=wiwt

Decide when and where

With hen dos taking place all over the world these days, picking a location for it to take place is one of the first things you need to do before you can see what activities are available. I know most hens keep this a secret from the bride, but Michele doesn’t really like surprises or too much of a fuss, and so our bride actually picked the destination herself… Amsterdam! Of course, there’s almost limitless options for hen party destinations based on your budget or tastes, I know that as a Manchester gal our city is an amazing party town! Other popular options are to rent out a huge house in the countryside and hide out there for the weekend, go glamping or even hop across on a quick hour flight for a Carrick on Shannon hen party.

Of course, you need to pinpoint when the hen do is going to take place too, to ensure everyone has saved the date!

Book the accommodation and travel

Once the location and date has been decided, it’s time to book some accommodation. For us, we have pretty much decided we are going to stay in an Air B’n’B or a similar self-catering rental apartment. It means we get the flexibility of eating and drinking before going out, sharing out the rooms as we wish and making as much noise as we want without disturbing any other guests.

One of us is going to book the accommodation, and another the travel. Like I said, divide and conquer!

Make a wish list

Like I said, Michele isn’t keen on surprises, and so has given me a wish list of things she would like to do and see in Amsterdam – which actually makes planning out activities for the weekend super easy! A nice mix between casual and formal meals, a night out and a night in, and some sort of fun activity always go down well at hen parties and so making a wish list of all the things you want to do is a good way to get started. Go down the list, see what’s possible, what’s affordable and what the other hens will enjoy – and then get booking in advance to ensure it’s all sorted out in advance of when you arrive.

Of course, there are certain things you just have to do in Amsterdam (not everything it’s famous for though!) and so there are a lot of things on our wish list: a prosecco cruise, a bottomless brunch and an evening dancing the night away to name a few of the tamer options!

If anyone has any tips or experience of organising a hen do, please do leave your suggestions in the comments below – something tells me we’re going to need all the help we can get!