Hen’s Party Ideas

Many brides-to-be are choosing from a wide range of activities in place of the traditional hen’s party. In the past, a typical hen’s party often revolved around a girls’ night out on the town or a night at home with female friends and family sharing a few drinks and playing party games.

The modern hen’s party is likely to see the bride-to-be and her entourage taking part in all sorts of creative, entertaining and even skill-building pursuits. The kinds of activities can range from luxuriating at a spa day, learning to paint through to adrenaline pumping adventure sports.

A destination wedding can provide expanded range of options depending on the location. Here’s what some brides have done for their hen’s parties.

Jackie from Sydney invited her adventure loving friends along for an action packed weekend in the Blue Mountains where they did some hiking, abseiling, horse-riding, canoeing and archery.  

Davina from Scotland took her friends along to a yoga and meditation retreat in the Goan region of India two days before her wedding there. Afterwards they feasted on delicious organic vegetarian food before blissfully floating back to their beach huts.

Kayla from London took a small group of friends and family along for a cooking class at the Underground Cookery School where they were greeted with wine and canapés and received instruction from a professional chef to prepare a delectable three course meal.

Julie from Los Angeles who married on the Hawaiian island of Maui, took eight of her closest friends to a local day spa where they indulged in day of pampering that included aromatherapy massages, facials, manicures and pedicures.  They finished off the day with a traditional Hawaiian luau complete with hula dance lessons. 

Hill Place, Hampshire UK

Hill Place, a beautiful Georgian villa in Hampshire, not only plays hosts to super romantic weddings in the English countryside but also runs Domestic Goddess weekends which have proven hugely popular. The kinds of activities included in the master class package include table setting/decorating, flower arranging, cupcake decorating and canapé making. Also on offer are make-up lessons, sailing and millinery skills.

Canape photo courtesy of Milli's Kitchen 

For the men, or women who want to try something different, Hill Place also offers a Country Sports package which includes clay pigeon shooting, deer stalking and falconry. And if all of that wasn’t enough, you can also choose from range of other activities including archery, duck herding, apache racing buggies, ferret racing, axe throwing and cannon firing!

For some more inspiration head to the ChilliSauce  website which features countless ideas for hen’s (and buck’s) party experiences. From pole dancing lessons, perfume creating, cocktail making, rally driving to llama trekking, you’re bound to find something to suit your taste and budget!

What will you be doing for your hen's party?

Destination: Wedding - A guide to planning the destination wedding of your dreams is available in paperback and digital formats at Amazon (UK), Amazon (USA) and from www.destination-wedding-book.com.