Organising A Hen Night

Your hen night and wedding celebration should be a pleasurable time, here are a few traditions from around the world which you may want to consider.

Austria: The bride should not practice writing her new name before the wedding. This is thought to bring bad luck by tempting fate

Cyprus: Money is pinned to the bride and groom throughout their first dance at most wedding receptions. The 'pin money' is used by the couple to help get them started in their new life together.

England: Tying shoes to the cars of newlyweds began in England during the Tudor period. Originally, wedding reception guests threw shoes at the newlyweds as they were leaving the church for good luck. The modern tradition is to tie shoes to the honeymoon vehicle. The English consider rain on a wedding day a sign of good fortune. ~ That’s lucky

Germany: In some areas friends kidnap the bride and the groom has to find her. Normally, he has to search in a lot of pubs and invite all people in there (or pay the whole bill). Sometimes this ritual ends badly.

Holland: The roots of the customary bridal shower originated in Holland. If a Dutch bride was father did not approve of her choice in husbands, he would not offer a dowry. Her friends would then "shower" her with gifts so she could still be married to her groom, without her fathers help.

India: Sweets, eggs, and money are woven into to wedding themes of India. They symbolize, respectively, a sweet life, fertility, and prosperity.

Scotland: Following the vows the groom often pins a strip of his clan’s tartan colors to the bride’s wedding dress to signify that she is now a member of his clan.

Wales: It is a marriage custom, in Wales, for the bride's family to kidnap her just before the wedding ceremony. The groom and his family follow in pursuit and whoever rescues the bride-to-be will marry within a year. (This kidnapping seems very popular).

Hen Weekend

Your best mate’s getting married and she’s just asked you to be her chief bridesmaid.  After the squeals of delight, a quick check that she not wanting you to be dressed up like a pantomime dame, it suddenly occurs to you that you’ve been given the responsibility of organising your best mate’s last night of freedom? One thing’s for sure though, a hen party’s not a hen party without a sprinkling of mischief, a bit of mayhem - oh, and plenty of screaming. So whether the bride to be (and the rest of the girls) wants an action packed hen weekend or a bit of pampering, planning a hen party requires military precision.  After all, you're hoping she'll do the same for you, aren't you?
 

A few tips to make your hen party go with a bang

Ask the bride-to-be who she would like to invite and what she would (and wouldn’t) like to do, would she like to spend a weekend being active? Being pampered? Being creative or cultural? Relaxing in the lap of luxury? Or just getting legless on a boozy night out? Then discuss the options and budget with a few of your fellow hens before calling Designaventure.

It’s a good idea to hold the hen party at least two weekends before the wedding - to allow plenty of time for the bride (and everyone else) to recover.
Make your booking with Designaventure as early as possible this will not only give you the best choice of locations and activities but it will also give you plenty of time to decide on a theme, buy the ubiquitous hen party novelty items and of course collect in the balance.

Give/send out the itinerary to ensure all the hens know the timings, location etc - so no one gets stranded, lost or misses out.
Have a kitty. That way everyone pays the same.

Hen Parties

Themed Hen Parties are always brilliant fun, so packing away your inhibitions and dressing up as something a bit daffy for the night.  Your group will stand out from the crowd and enjoy being centre of attention.  The lads will have an excuse to chat to you and you can have a good old flirt.

The theme you ultimately select is limited only by your imagination and sense of taste, or lack thereof.

A few tips to get you started:

Does the bride have any hobbies or interests?
Where is her honeymoon going to be?
What will you all look like in 40 years time?
What music era are you all from?
Pick something from the year she was born?
What is the location you’re going to famous for?
Make this a hen party/weekend to remember, let your hair down, go crazy and have some fun!

Hen night advice was written and very kindly donated by Anna Makin-Mabe of www.designaventure.co.uk