The Hen Party Guide for The First Time Maid of Honour

Written by: Aemilia Lvy

Planning, organising and hosting the perfect hen do is not a one day job. If you’re chosen as the maid of honour for your best friend’s wedding, then gear up for some big responsibilities and a bigger hen night. The hen night is one of the most enjoyable events in a wedding for all the bride brigade and one of the most important nights for the bride, to celebrate her last day as Ms. before she becomes a Mrs.

You may be clueless or may have some cinematic references as to how a hen night is supposed to go but the booze and the dancing is just the end result of a whole lot of planning and organising. Don’t worry if this is your first time hosting a hen night. With this step by step guide, you will be able to organise the perfect hen do smoothly and successfully.

The first step is to decide on a list of people who will be invited to the hen night. For this first step you will have to speak to the bride and take her inputs. She should be able to decide who she wants at her hen do.

So make sure that you don’t just assume the bride’s friends, but ask her who all would she like to invite to her hen do.

To finalise on the date for the hen night, you will need to consult the entire invite list and arrive at a date when everybody, including the bride, is available to attend the celebrations.

If there are some people who will not be able to make it on a particular date, then try to see other options of dates where everyone can attend.

Although, it might happen that on each of the date options that you have, someone or the other from the invite list is busy and not able to attend.

In such a case, ask the bride to finalise on a date, because it is her hen do after-all.

If you’re planning to travel for the hen night then you need to decide on a destination. Consult the bride and ask her what she would like to do and accordingly decide on a destination.

For example, if the bride wants to go to a beach then cold places will be out of the list.

If you wish to surprise her with the destination and venue details, then make sure that you choose a place which is close to the bride’s liking.

Similarly depending on what the bride wants to do, you’ll have to decide on a venue. If she wants to go out drinking, then decide on a pub or bar which is her favourite and get the bridesmaids to help you out in deciding the place.

Brainstorm with the rest of the bride brigade for some hen party ideas. Plan some surprises for the bride at the hen do venue or come up with some drinking games or quizzes that’ll make for a fun activity.

You will need to pre-plan these activities and make sure that all the bridesmaids are in on it. If you need any props for any of the games or activities, get them to the venue ahead of the hen party.

While you’re planning and putting together the details of the hen do, don’t forget to keep in mind a budget for the hen do.

If you think you are not going to be able to pull off the entire expenditure of the hen do, ask the bridesmaids and other friends of the bride to chip in for the hen do. They will surely love to help their bit out in throwing their friend the best hen do.

Planning a hen do for your friend requires a lot of time, effort and money. So don’t overburden yourself with all the responsibilities.

Ask the bridesmaids to help and get them involved. Sharing the burden and responsibilities of the hen do, will ensure a more smooth execution of the hen night. Be responsible, safe and have a lot of fun organising your first hen do!