Keep your Hen under Budget
We love it when a plan comes together! Planning a fantastic hen party can often take months of liaising, communicating, checking and double checking, to ensure everyone in your group has a night or weekend to remember. Everyone loves being invited, but let’s face it – the budget is always a huge consideration.
We’ve been in this game a while now (and heck, we’re pretty good at it), so we thought we’d a share a little helpful advice to keep the “B” word from becoming the cloud to rain on your parade.
Avoid the Holidays!
We know it can be tempting to plan your hen around Patrick’s weekend or a Bank Holiday, but you’ll have to set aside a lot of money to do it! You’ll be contending with thousands of others for accommodation, activities and meals and the prices will soar.
Be Organised
Ask your guests to have all their money paid up in advance rather than fixing you up with the remainder of cash on the day of the hen. Break up each element of the day (activities, food, transport etc.) and put the funds for each in separate envelopes so everything is ready to hand over, and you can have peace of mind on the day (and enjoy yourself!). Of course, clever hens will book everything through our package builder, utilising our handy group payment system and letting us take care of it all!
Timing is Key
When it comes to organising 15-20 gals all looking at you for direction, it’s so helpful to have a schedule down on paper – just something simple outlining key times and locations. This is particularly important if you’ve people joining at different times during the day or evening. This way every member of your group will know exactly what to expect, and when to expect it. Once you confirm your booking with HenFree, we’ll send you your itinerary. One less thing for you to worry about.
Break the Ice
Get everyone talking with an ice-breaker. For example, ask everyone in the group to bring a photograph of themselves and the bride-to-be, and ask each of them to share a personal story about the bride. This will give everyone the heads up on who’s who, and get people mixing.
Look After Everyone
The bride is the lady of the hour, but don’t forget to make a fuss of the guests too – you’re the organiser after all! Many of the guests might know each other and be best buds, but there are usually some guests who are coming solo. Make sure to get talking to each guest and help along those shy gals – there is nothing worse than that feeling that everyone at the party is pals and you don’t know anyone! This also goes for the mums and older guests too.
Work Together
Most brides have at least two bridesmaids, so work as a team and delegate jobs on the day or for the weekend so that everyone has a role to play. It’s important that all the girls feel involved, especially if one of you is based abroad. Have this all planned out before the day or weekend so everyone knows who is doing what, from decorating to keeping guests entertained.
Don’t Over-Plan
While it’s important to have a loose schedule and plans in place, don’t forget that your guests are all adults and don’t like to be ordered around every minute of the day with back-to-back activities. Leave a little room in the schedule for chilling out.
Get The Party Started
Okay, so the organising is done, and while you have to keep everyone on track, don’t forget to enjoy a glass (or two!) of champers and celebrate your best girl. She chose you as your bridesmaid because you’re her fave person to hit the dance floor with, so make sure you do!
Planning your first hen party is quite a daunting task! But fear not – help is very definitely at hand! Try our fantastic step by step package builder for the hassle free hen experience. Alternatively, give Melissa a call at 087 1856 900. We’re standing by and ready to help!