Hen's Parties - some girls hate them?

Hen’s parties: do you love them or hate them?

The other day I chatted with a friend who hates them. Anyone organising a hen’s night should read what she said; will help you understand why some girls don’t come.

Jane: My mum did absolutely nothing to celebrate her ‘last night of freedom’ in 1980. And most of her friends didn’t either. Sometimes they would ‘indulge’ in a quiet meal and drinks with a close friends and family…nothing more.

With this lack of real-life stories, as a child, my idea of a hen’s party was what I saw on TV: a night at the pub, beer and steak, a stripper blessed with drunk women shouting ‘get it off’. Soap opera hen’s parties were cheap and wonderfully short.
Me: Fast forward to 2015 and things look way different. Surveys calculate the average cost of a hen’s party to be $125 per person, a fifty per cent increase since 2005. If I base my forecasts on this trend: things can only get worse.

Hen’s parties sometimes last an entire week-end and involve inter-state travel with guests asked to pay months in advance for what in fact is a mini-holiday they barely have control over.

Some girls fly down from Sydney to Adelaide for a weekend, rent a luxury apartment for 20 people, have all-round male topless waiter services and dine in top class restaurants before doing the obligatory pub, disco and stripper joint crawl.Say you go to three hen’s parties a year (a conservative number if you are in the age group 25-35), by the time you’ve made it to your ‘Big Day’ yourself, you have spent tons celebrating all those you’ve secretly envied (or mercilessly judged).

Jane: Regardless of how much they earn, almost every girl I know (the exceptions are the couple of exceptionally rich and extroverted ones) complains about hen parties They complain about things that range from having to sacrifice annual leave to the fury at having their in-boxes clogged up with emails from girls obsessing over every last detail. Or being forced to do something they’d never, ever, ever do: being forced to receive a lap dance reduced one of my friends to tears, not to mention the PTSD.

However, last year when my mum’s sixtieth meant I couldn’t make it to a close friend’s hen’s weekend, I was shocked to realise that I’d been struck down with FOMO (for the acronym-challenged amongst us: Fear Of Missing Out). I imagined the immense fun I could be missing out on, not the $450 I’d saved.

Me: So hen’s night parties can actually be really fun; you get to spend quality time with girlfriends. There’s always the possibility that some random activity you’ve always run a mile from, say life-drawing, might be your secret talent. And it is a chance to get to know the others before the wedding.

I know a group of girls who got on so well at their hen’s night, in addition to having the time of their life, that they’ve had reunions which everyone has volunteered to go to…and paid for without complaining.

Jane: Pleasing everyone (18 at times known-to be bitchy girls) is majorly challenging. However, when my lifelong friend asked me to be her Maid of Honour last year, I decided to say yes. It would finally be my time for revenge: I’d do it my introverted and carefully budgeted way.

But OMG…..what did I organise? A cottage in the hills for the weekend, a cocktail making class upon arrival, a tea party the next morning, a hot balloon ride at sunset then a night out in town. The following day: a Bollywood dance class in thelate morning, followed by an evening life drawing session (scrumptious male model) with an MC and topless waiter.

Why? Well, I didn’t want my friend to feel like she had missed out. We tried hard to keep costs down; but I reckon it ended up costing everyone about $300 each.

In other words, I SUCCUMBED.

Me: Given the prospect of another 10 years of increasingly expensive hen’s parties, here are some suggestions:

Keep it local, focus on what the hen wants rather than trying to outdo the last hen’s do she went to. Most importantly, keep it short and simple, no more than an afternoon and night.

That way you’ll end on a high with everyone benefiting from a healthier bank balance.

 

Hen"s Parties - some girls hate them?

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What to wear to a Hen’s Night Party

One big question for us girls is: 
What should I wear to…? Even first Ladies ask it ;-)

So it’s not surprising at all that exactly that question pops up when it’s time to go to the 'long awaited' hens party: 
OMG...what on earth should I wear it to this hens do?

Looking good is important in our times where people are often judged by what they wear. So you’ll doubtlessly want to make every effort to look your best.

Choosing the right hen party outfit can be tricky if you’re out with girls you don’t know in a city you may never have been to before.

That’s why we’ve created this short guide to help.  It will give you lots of ideas to make sure you can be true to your individual style and stand out from the crowd without looking out of place.

Do you need to travel to get to your hens party?

The key to travelling to your hen party destination is simple: Comfort.

Wear clothes that can be relaxed in – you don’t want anything digging in or rubbing when you may be travelling by plane, train or car for many an hour.

Try to put on a few layers so you can add or take away depending on the temperature. It might be freezing in Tasmania, but when you arrive at the Adelaide airport on one of our heat wave days you’re bound to be in for a shock.

Wear comfortable shoes – travelling can mean walking around airports or stations or city centres looking for the right hotel.

Take a handbag that zips up or wear clothes that will let you safely store travel documents and your precious belongings.  Tourists in any can be easy prey for robbers.

If you want to impress the other girls then take a quick change of shoes and top in your hand luggage or some fun accessories to spruce up your outfit.

Is your hen’s party a hen’s day?

Similar to travelling, comfort is if you need to get up early and are out all day.

Think about what you’ll be doing.  If you’re off to the CBD to do some lingerie shopping then smart casual is fine.

If you’re doing something sporty then ask the organiser if to suggest any special clothing you may need.  Don’t forget to take a change of clothing if what you’re doing will have you end up wet or dirty.

Is the hens party going to be a Fancy Dress Do?

This is probably the most challenging part of any hen night.  Some girls are fine with dressing up but others can’t handle it at all.

Sometimes it can be better to avoid fancy dress. Why?

• It puts pressure on people who may not want to take part
• City centre bars and restaurants are clamping down on it so you’re more likely to be refused entry to places
• It easily identifies you as a hen party, making you more likely to end up in trouble or a victim of crime

If the hen’s friends and of course the hen herself love taking the challenges then we suggest the following:

• Call the clubs and pubs and let them know you will be coming in fancy dress to avoid any problems
• Same goes for restaurants
• Don’t spend heaps on fancy dress outfits and wear other appropriate clothing underneath so you can take the fancy dress off if things change.
• Never humiliate the bright – you may think dressing the bride up as a giant penis is hilarious but Saturday afternoon shoppers won’t, and the hen might just not like that hot idea either.

If you don’t want fancy dress but do want something to make your hens feel special you could always try a theme based hens party.

You could always choose a hens party theme!

A theme is a nifty idea if you want your hen party girls to have something in common but don’t want to be totally obvious as a hen party group.

It also gives the girls much more freedom in how they interpret it. Let’s say you choose the colour ‘pink’ as your theme. Then your hens can go all out with pink outfits or just choose to add some pink jewellery accessories. This is guaranteed to make everyone feel much more comfortable.

One great idea is to match the theme and the hen.
Does your bride to be have a favourite colour? 
Or does she have a favourite movie that you could pick a theme from? 
What about a clothing style: like a 60s hens night?

Or perhaps you’ve chosen a hen’s party package such as 

a Draw The Man, Life Drawing Hen’s Night Party,  

a Paint The Man, Life Painting Hen’s Night Party, or 

a BollywoodDancing Hen’s Night Party

For life drawing or painting you might want to bring along a big T-shirt to cover your silk dress. The Bollywood dancing you need to wear clothes you can move in.

Are you going to a hens party in the evening?

Even if none of the above applies to you, you still will face the challenging task of choosing an outfit if you’re off to a hens party in the evening. Here are some hot tips for your hen night party:

• Out of touch with the latest style? Then pick up a couple of glossy fashion magazines. You can get them for free from your local library.
• If shopping is part of your hen party then get input from the other girls.  But make sure you bring a back up just in case in case you don’t find anything!
• Make reservations at clubs and pubs. This beats queueing for ages any day or night.
• Check out online photo galleries of the venues you’ll be visiting. That will give you a feel for what the style is.
• Take a range of outfits from mild chic to full on glamour so you can be sure you’ve got all bases covered.

Last but not least, the most important thing about the hen night is to enjoy yourself! 

Yes, what you wear is important but celebrating with your friends is what I hens party is all about.

If all this doesn’t help and you’re still in dire straits with regard to what to wear then contact us at Hens Party Ideas Adelaide and we'll come to the rescue!

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5 Hot Tips for Planning your Hen's Party

Some people don’t know what a hen’s party is. One reason for this is that in other countries hen's parties have a different name: 


In France for example they call it 
'enterrement de vie de jeune fille'
which literally translated means 
'burial of the life of a young girl' LOL

Here's a photo of a French girl taking the mickey out of her 'enterrement de vie de jeune fille'.
On her sash she has written: 
'J'enterre ma vie de jeune fille' 
which means:
'I am burying my life of a young girl'


So let’s start this article with a definition of what a hen's party actually is: 


"A hen's party, a hen's night or a hen weekend are events organised for a woman who is about to be married. It is usually organised by a close friend of the bride-to-be and involves the hen celebrating one last night (or a weekend) of 'freedom' with her close friends before she is marries."

Some people think hen's parties should be a night, day (or weekend) of alcoholic excesses. But....alcoholic extremes aren't really something the hen may want to or even be able to remember. That’s one of the reasons the business Hens Party Ideas Adelaide was created: to offer fun, creative alternatives to girls and parties they’ll all want to remember ;-)

What are the special ingredients to creating a successful party? We've asked the professional party planners at Hens Party Ideas Adelaide.
Their answer was:

Work out:

a. who to invite 

b. when to send out the invitations

c. where to go 

d. what do to do

e. what to wear. 

a. Who to invite to your hen's do?

Ask the bride who she would like to have come to her hen’s party
– don’t be a wicked fairy godmother and forget someone or even worse, invites someone who the hen now hates.

b. When to send out the invitations for your hen's night party?

Get everything worked out as early as possible and send out the invites as early as possible too. Then you’ll have a greater chance of getting everyone the hen would like to invite come along. And don’t expect people to answer your emails or snail mail. Follow up: call them, pester them and give them deadlines.

c. Where to go  for your hen's night party? 

Speak with professional party planners – they know all the good venues and can give you advice. Even if you are staging the party in your home city, don’t assume you’ll know all the best venues.
Check out the different venues, make a list of the best and then give your hen that list. The she can choose the venue she likes best…and that will make her happy.

d. What do to do at your hen's party weekend?

Some will choose a particular party package while others will organise the party to take place at sporting events with for example a day at the Adelaide races or a night at the greyhounds. Horse racing courses and greyhound tracks often have special events for the hen's party or for group bookings so it is worth checking out what offers are out there so you can get what suits your hen best. 

You could also spend a weekend camping with the girls at a beautiful location - eg Innes National Park on the Yorke Peninsula. It's about 3 1/2 hours drive from Adelaide.

e. What to wear  for your hen's night party?

The event could for example include all the guests wearing a special t-shirt in honour of the bride, or costumes, sashes, badges or other innovative props to help the party to be fun and memorable.

To complement the chosen fancy dress theme, you can use hen's party accessories to make the fancy dress even more fun. One fun thing about a chosen theme dress is that it can be kept by the guests and the hen to remember the night (or weekend) out.


Whatever form the event does take, the hen's party theme chosen should be one that allows everyone AND ESPECIALLY YOUR HEN to enjoy the event. 

You'll find many ideas to help with your hen's night preparation on the ‘Hens Party Ideas Adelaide’ website. You can browse and  contact their team to ensure that your special hen’s day, night or weekend is an event you will never (want to) forget.

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Awesome Hens Night Party Gift Ideas

 A quote I love:

“Give others all that is alive in us—our interest, understanding, our knowledge, our humour, everything in us that’s good. In doing so, we enhance the sense of aliveness in others while enhancing our own.” Erich Fromm , a social philosopher, on the art of gift giving.

“What can we give her?”
“What present should we buy her?”
“What gift should I get her?” or even just
“What about gifts?”

Do these questions sound familiar? Probably! - they get asked prior to birthday parties, dinner parties, hen’s parties, weddings, farewell parties in fact prior to almost any social gathering where one person is the focal point.

Giving that perfect gift can be a major challenge. The task can be fraught with fear:  Aahhh!!! What if she hates it or is embarrassed by it?

Everyone has their own likes and dislikes, be they cultural or personal, so find out what they are. Luckily, very few people are bothered by someone asking what kind of things they like, so just ask.

For example: “What gift would you like to get most of all?” To that you could add: “And what would you definitely not like to get?”

What if you friend can’t come up with anything? Just share some of the gift giving ideas we’ve listed below with her and remember which ones made her eyes sparkle.

If being that direct feels too daunting you could always ask someone who knows the party princess better than you to do the questioning.

Here at Hens Party Adelaide (specialists in creating classy, fun and creative party packages for women) we think that gifts rule.  They inspire the gift giver, strengthen the bond of friendship, and make the recipient totally happy, too!

The key question is: What distinguishes a brilliant gift from a merely ordinary one?

Three qualities:

1.       Positive evocation: The gift evokes positive feelings for the recipient – it smells, tastes, looks, sounds or feels wonderful to her.

2.       Mnemogenicity: The gift reminds the recipient of you the gift giver – regularly if possible!

3.       Longevity: The gift is something the recipient wants to keep for a long time.

Make sure your gift has these three qualities and you can’t go wrong.

Remember that to come up with something truly spectacular may mean sharing costs with other close friends or associates – much better than lots of little things that aren’t really wanted or needed!

We girls from Hens Party Adelaide find that exploring gifts in terms of categories is helpful:

Three gift categories:

·         The gift of experiences
Giving your friend
- tickets to a concert or show
- a voucher for a restaurant meal
- creating a fun event for her eg a life drawing or life painting party with a gorgeous nude male model

      and a charming topless waiter

      at a cool venue in Adelaide (like the Prince Albert Hotel, the Cuckoo Bar or the Edinburgh Castle).
- If she’s a daring kind of person,organise a session where she and her friends get to paint (on) one of Hens Party Adelaide’s gorgeous models.

·         The gift of consumables
This could be wine, food or art related.
- Champagne is always a winner, or a good bottle of red.
- Yummm, those delicious chocolates you can buy at Adelaide’s central market.
- Some art from ART LOGIC, a grassroots Adelaide based art business. You can choose from over 1300 works of art on their website, they have all different price ranges.

·         The gift of something homemadeHomemade gifts are really personal. And in the age of cheap mass produced goods, the love that comes with a handmade gift makes all the difference.
- A favourite cake or pie or something with a longer shelf life like chilli oil, custom spice blends or infused oils. You could include little recipe cards with each gift to give ideas how to use each item.

-          Not that practised at creating home-made presents? Book into one of Hens Party Adelaide’s craft-art classes with Lou.

         
-  Have our bookmaker Ky make a handmade book for you. For example a book with photos of your friend doing things she loves. Or a book with photos of all her good friends and family with something personal each of them has said about her next to it. This can be done whether you live in Adelaide or in some other part of the world.

Well...those are some of our ideas. I hope they've inspired you. Let us know your ideas too please.

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Getting Creative and Having Fun

How often have you heard people say, "I've got two left feet", or "I can only draw stick figures", or even "I'd love to but I’m too scared of making a fool of myself"?

Well, prepare to tell your friends (and maybe even yourself) that those excuses no longer stand! Courtesy of Hens Party Adelaide there are a lot of new parties going on in Adelaide.

Hens Party Adelaide

The Hens Night Party scene was sorely lacking in Adelaide when Lou Gannon (artist and educator) and I first started to hatch our grand concept. Our research showed that there are many women who want something more than a stripper for their last night of ‘singledom’. You wouldn’t know it when you look at what was on offer!

Getting creative and having fun with friends is the name of the game at Hens Party Adelaide, with the opportunity to further or find your hidden skills!

After an initial flood of fun ideas for hens parties, we decided to focus on a few main concepts to start off with, including life drawing and painting, dancing and, of course, food.

It’s no secret that being creative often means you have more fun and because Lou and I are insiders within the local artistic community it’s easy for us to find that perfect match for each party.
We have both seen how social circumstances can lead even the most stubborn naysayers (the ones that say: “I couldn’t. It would turn out terrible. I’d look stupid.”) to give something new a try and discover that they actually enjoy the experience.

So if the goal of your evening is fun, creative indulgence and stylish celebration Hens Party Adelaide is just the thing you’re looking for!

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The Leo Hen

Whether you believe in the predictions coming from the Zodiac, 

or you occasionally read the horoscopes in the paper for a giggle in the morning, or if you don’t even remember what sign you are, at the very least what the stars allegedly have to say about us can be good for a spot of fun. And what is more necessary when planning a Hen’s Party than fun?

Since we just entered the territory of Leo, we thought it would be quite interesting to look at what sorts of activities a Leo Bride-to-be might like – although anyone with a strong, passionate personality (as, supposedly, Leos have) might like these too!

According to astrology, Leos love to be the centre of attention, which is handy since the Hen’s duty during the celebration is to have attention and adoration showered upon her! 

Some things which would help her stand out are our dancing packages (if she likes to ‘move it’, as it were), or if she’s a more stationary kind of woman, maybe some body paintingwould be right up her alley! 

 Body Painting with Aleisha

Having lots of energy and creativity bursting out of them might not mean they’re so comfortable with literally being painted, however – so why not have them create art of someone else? We have several different packages for the creative Leo (pre-existing skill in art definitely not required!), perfect for the Hen and party to exercise their own desires. 

 The Hens Party Adelaide Life Painting Package

Is your Leo Hen competitive? Cooperative? More likely to paint like Picasso than Monet? Whichever way your Hen leans,  www.henspartyideasadelaide.com.au  tailors packages to the hen!

Keeping in mind that the ‘typical Leo’ like to keep the reigns firmly in their own hands, make sure to ask your Leo Hen if she wants the day to be a secret – she may want to plan the entire thing! At the very least, an assertive Leo may have some activities that she will not accept missing out on.  Whatever you do, 

don’t anger the lion!

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Planning for a Great Party Event

Being responsible for designing a hen’s party event can be an enormous task! You are the person closest to the bride-to-be and you want to make it the best possible celebration for all who will attend. Not everyone is a natural organiser and these days you don't have to be - just do lots of research and team up with other bridesmaids for support. With a little planning and some foresight you can put on a function that will be memorable and great fun for all. Before deciding where and what to do, it makes sense to decide who to invite, then plan a reasonable budget per person and set a date. Deciding on a date can be a challenge, especially if guests are coming from interstate or overseas. The main criteria are that it suits the hen and doesn't clash with any other pre-wedding commitments. Once you have your attendance list, an agreed budget and a date placed in the diary, it’s time to focus on the fun part - where to go and what to do! Here are five things to consider:

The Location

Location is very important, so one of the first things to do is to find out if there is something in particular the hen would like to do on her special night. This could be anything from being pampered to dancing the night away at Maslin's beach in South Australia. You could be inclusive of other invited guests and share the load by asking them for some input, or make it a surprise for the majority of the group. Once you have an idea of what the activities of the party will be you can focus on the top locations that can best cater to your requirements.

The accommodation

This may seem like an obvious thing to say, but people are peculiar about where they get to rest their head at night. Some people are quite happy waking up on a strange floor or sofa, but they are mostly the exception rather than the rule. Paying extra for comfort will be greatly appreciated by all. Consider booking accommodation close to what you intend to do or you’ll spend large amounts on taxis. Pick out an attractive place to stay or host the entire event – contact our Hens Party Ideas Adelaide Team for some great ideas on self catering and venues.

The activities

Boredom will be your enemy. Make sure there’s always something to do, even if it's a game or two between other activities. You don’t want your group to be kicking their heels all day while waiting for the main event to kick off. Book activities in advance: there is a broad range of activities to consider – from paint-balling to high wire activities, from cocktail making to sunset cruises, from Body Painting & Make-up to Bollywood Style Dancing lessons and experiences. Your aim is to generate continuous fun, from relaxed laid back moments to fast paced frivolity.

 

The Party

The main event is everything, so make it memorable. You don’t usually go to a concert to see the support act. You go to see the main attraction. Once you have an idea of what the hen wants to do and an idea of where best do this, you can source a location to suit. This can be anything from a high energy party to some seriously classy pampering. The more you plan and book ahead, the more likely the party will be a great success.

 

The traveling

A large part of the event and fun can be travelling to the location together. The event starts the moment you step out of the house. It’s not every day or weekend you get the chance to hang out with all your friends in such a warm atmosphere and celebration of marriage, so make the most of it! You can hire transport to accommodate groups, or travel on the same train or plane together. The Hens Party Adelaide Team can help at all stages of the planning!

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