On Saturday 6th June one of my oldest friends is getting married. After going to school together we went on to attend the same university and went and explored South East Asia together.
She has seen me go through my emo stage - where my height of fashion was pink buffalo boots, Marilyn Manson hoody and pigtails. I was never really popular with the boys and I cant think why. During university she partied hard with me at student nights and I think most nights ended with dancing to the Baywatch theme tune (standard uni tune). After finishing university we decided to go travelling together and we left with our backpacks and a bag full of Primark vests and skirts. Four months later and we were still going strong until my bank card got stolen and I had to come home. She carried on though like a trooper. We are now both getting married this year and will be bridesmaid for each other so this weekend we went to Bath for her hen do celebrations and I was in charge of party bags and games.
Have you been on a lot of hen dos and now suddenly you are in charge of the finishing touches and not sure what to do? Here is how I put together a little something for the hens.
1. The Party Bag
I went with a brown paper bag which can be purchased from here Brown Paper Bags and I chose medium size so as I could get everything in but also be able to transport them easily. By having brown paper bags it meant I could personalise them myself by individually stamping each bag.
Getting married this year means I have invested in an alphabetical stamp which you can purchase here for £7.99 70 Piece Stamp and the rubber stamps you can buy from WhSmith or find them on eBay for £1.99. I chose to stamp the bags with 'Charlies hen do' however you can pick anything you want. I added small pink hearts in pink pen with baby feet on one as one of the girls is pregnant so her party bag was slightly tailored.
I also added some cute little brown kraft tags that I found here Love Brown Kraft Tags and they had two different styles. You could add the name of the person to the back of the tags but I chose to use something else for this so they were more of just an extra crafty accessory.
2. Badges
I wanted everyone to have their own hen badges but I really don't like the loud pink and red ones you can buy in the shops. We were going to be having afternoon tea at The Pumps Rooms in Bath so I wanted something that wasn't as garish. I found these on eBay and they were really lovely and all the girls commented on them Hen Party Badges You can add what their names are of all the hens and I even added "bridesmaid" etc to them to make them ever more special. They are pastel coloured and have small hearts on them so they really do look cute. I attached these to the front of the bags so everyone knew whose was whose
3. What to include
- Games : You don't want to spend the whole evening playing games as the result will be that the bride ends up very drunk and possibly going home early. I included a Mr and Mrs quiz, plus some dare cards which could involve everyone. The Mr and Mrs quiz I ordered online and was only £3.99 Hen Party Quiz and then asked the groom to be the questions before hand. You could make these yourself and find the questions online however to save time I just ordered them straight from online. These questions were stored in a big envelope marked TOP SECRET and every time she got a question wrong she had to drink.
Ideally she got a mixture of questions right and wrong so she was comfortably drunk but not paralytic. The dare cards can be bought online (again I got them from eBay) and I put a bundle in everyone's bags. They were great for in the club and ensured all the girls were involved in the fun
- Willies : My bride to be requested lots of tack so we had a good balance. Inside were willy straws for all the girls to use and glow in the dark ones were also provided for in the club. You could also add shot glasses and sashes if you wanted, however I chose to do badges instead and the bride to be had a nice big sash to wear for the evening. I did put in some whistles that were pink and feathery and were awesome in the club. I found myself thinking I was at a rave
- Cakes : I love cake and everyone that knows me knows I love cake. Cake of all types. I am not fussy so I had to add some cake somewhere. I found these cute boxes on eBay (insert link) as well as these really cute cake toppers which arrived the next day (insert link). After tracking down some fairy cakes in Sainsburys' for under a £1 I iced them with some icing sugar and water and added the cake topper. These were a hit with the girls and great when you have had a little bit to drink
- Sweets : Fill the bag with some sweets as they are great for the morning, plus you can get big bags from Poundland and they give people something to munch on during the day. I chose Haribo and some chewy sweets
- Hangover Cure : You can buy these pre-made online however I saved money doing it myself and it meant they mirrored the rest of the style of the bag. I had some wedding favour bags which I was going to use for the wedding and now haven't. The link is here Silver Organza Bags but you could also use an envelope or some zippy bags. I also had some brown Kraft labels from the wedding left over so I stamped each one with "Hangover Cure" and put these inside. Each one had: Chewing gum, ear plugs, ibuprofen and a little chocolate bar
- Baby on Board : One of the bridesmaids is pregnant but don't panic as you can tailor the bag for them. I added in a rattle from Poundland and a dummy with a moustache on it, plus instead of the 'hangover cure' I changed it to 'baby on board' which had them same things inside
Organising a hen do is fairly stressful and I think any hints and tips are really good for making sure the bride and the hens have a great time. I was very lucky as one of the bridesmaids is pregnant so she did a lot of the organising, however stay tuned for "part 2" where I will give you some hints on how to make sure it runs smoothly and things to avoid.
LJ xxx
No comments
Post a Comment