Hen Party Ideas

The car full of girls gasped collectively as we pulled into the long beech-tree lined driveway, at the end of which was our weekend home, a stately red brick Georgian building. Everyone was delighted with the beautiful scenery and the lovely atmosphere.

We arrived after everyone else and went right to the garden to bask in the sunshine before the sun set. Drinking wine while the sun dipped below the cornfield at the end of the garden, I looked out over the group–15 girls, just released from a three-hour car trip were now yelling and playing on the freshly mowed grass.

I had been delighted a couple of months before, when my school chum Jenna requested I serve as maid-of-honor at her wedding. But then it hit me that it meant I had to throw the hen party. I asked various people for suggestions, because I had never ever thrown a hen party.

Most shared with me cautionary tales of town center calamities, exclusive guest lists that left hens out in the cold and fatal, drunk-driving accidents.

Our buddy warned me to ‘never, ever take for granted that the hen will want a stripper.’  The stripper she had arranged ended up bringing the bride-to-be to tears with his gyrating dance routine. Truer words were never spoken, and I was all set to make my maid-of-honor role a success. I came up with a plan to cosset everybody away in a plush country retreat–miles away from dangerous downtowns. The hard part was figuring out how to make it outstanding. And also, how to do it without spending too much, which was crucial.

Since it was summertime, I thought that most large country homes would have been filled up in the past months. But I could hardly believe the number that had vacancies and bargain prices for the weekend. It was also worth mentioning that a lot of places would give a 10 percent discount, particularly if  arrangements were made to utilize one of their service providers for catering or activities.

Finally the credit crunch worked to my advantage! A proprietor mentioned that fewer people had made reservations in the past 12 months. Families who usually make reservations for a minimum of two summer weeks are changing their plans and staying home so they can spend less money. That enabled me to negotiate a really good rate.

Online was a good place to begin looking for buildings, and I discovered various websites devoted to obtaining places to have big house celebrations and even bigger houses for renting. Some particularly helpful websites were www.thebighouseparty.com, www.thebigdomain.com and www.groupaccommodation.com.

The less helpful ones were ambiguous about the number of separate sleeping quarters and the overall size of the residence. You need to know what you need when you look for houses. I had a checklist, and that helped me decide which site fit the hen needs.

Located somewhere that was peaceful and rural is where I wanted the house to be, I knew that. It had to offer sufficient space for everyone to have a private area, which is essential in my mind for a successful hen mini-holiday. I also needed spacious communal rooms to eat and drink in as well as a tea room for afternoon relaxation.

After looking at lots of other places, I found the lovely Barrington House on a website at http://www.countrycottagesonline.net. In making suggestions for the weekend and organizing things, the owner Margaret was a big help, once I had decided on the property.

I was delighted to let Margaret organize most of the event and make the arrangements. Barrington House has a concierge service, with a fully staffed and catered dinner, and the arrangement of local outings, like kayaking in the river Wye. I told her with some hesitation that I was involved with a “dreaded hen group,” but Margaret took it in stride, especially when I stressed that we just wanted a nice relaxing holiday, nothing overly rowdy or drunken.

But I had not foreseen the influence that the fifteen girls would have on one another once they were all turned loose for the weekend. With no critical boyfriends around or pub closing hours, all of us relaxed and I was very happy that we all had fun. It was nothing like I had dreamed, but the hens used the large house and its privacy for girlish playfulness all weekend.

Barrington House echoed with giggles, and laughter came from the bedrooms where gals had doubled up for late night gossiping. Mornings were deadly quiet as we healed from being hungover and the evenings were as wild as it could be with water fights, elaborate dress and midnight adventures on the trampoline outside.

Fortunately, our rowdiness didn’t result in any serious damage except for a stained dress and a few broken glasses. Jeannie, the owner of Frome Wine Vineyards, served us a gorgeous, delicious lunch, which helped sober us up a bit for an information session on the growing of grapes and the production of wonderful English rosé and white wines.

Our antics were at the perfect location of Barrington House. The immense kitchen was equipped with two dishwashers and offered ample space for late breakfasts and anytime snacking. Margaret had food available for us to warm up, which made dinner less stressful, allowing us females extra time to catch up.

There was a big garden at the house that was great for relaxing in the daytime plus nighttime fun, as well as being in a rural location so when we were noisy, we didn’t bother anybody. Each woman had her own room with lovely linens, and lots of towels were provided. There was even a slipper bath in one bathroom for a relaxing soak.

It was easy for the big dining room to accommodate everybody for the organized hen meal I had intended, which fast became a wild confetti tossing (certainly!) Margaret had a wise idea to set up beauty therapists for Sunday morning to relieve our pain, as well as massages, manicures and facials relaxed us before we traveled back to London.

It was a good thing that the expenses for the hen party were divided between fifteen people, so the weekend was very affordable, specifically the beautiful garden that saved us money in the afternoon playing rounders. It cost less to eat, have a beauty remedy and local trips than it cost in London, so there were no empty pockets, which happens easily when hen parties are uncontrollable. It was also terrific to have a luxurious bedroom all to yourself.

The Price: The whole stay added up to less than the 250 pounds I had planned for. The highest price was the £190 accommodation, since Margaret offered us a cheaper rate for last minute reservations. Additionally there was a £6.50 add-on per person for lunch and the wine-tasting, and another £10 for the hot meal and pudding that was awaiting us.

The Barrington House food services cost more and we were content that we made the choice to keep the group private. It cost a bit more to bring in some provisions, like candy, potato chips, and bottles of wine. A kayaking excursion would have meant paying an additional 16 pounds each approximately. There were optional beauty treatments, for people that desired this, and very affordable at £48 for a whole body aromatherapy massage or £29 for a complete pedicure.

When we got back home, Jenna embraced me and said she was just thrilled about our delightfully rowdy weekend. I was overjoyed, so I didn’t mention that I had figured it would be a serene, relaxing weekend! It was a compliment to Barrington house that we were at ease sufficiently enough to hen-party diligently, and since we didn’t need to concern ourselves with organizing things, it meant more time to party.

It was a good thing that Debbie was smart, even though in the beginning I felt nervous about giving here too much responsibility, since I felt like I wasn’t doing my job, but I expected she would be able to accomplish the task and she did. There were a few shaky times, (such as when I couldn’t get in touch with her, or there was a quick menu alteration) and when these moments occurred, I thought I couldn’t handle this hen; however, everything was fine eventually.

It was good to have somebody to depend on for local wisdom – like finding instructions about activities in the area.
In the end, I felt confident that Debbie was capable of organizing just about anything. She even suggested Sumo suits for garden wrestling, which looking back, was an outstanding idea. This was the best girls’ weekend ever!

On Friday evening, we stayed at the house, brought food in, got a bit tipsy, and took turns singing karaoke. The majority of the women slept at the house. One friend had borrowed a key to get into my flat and festooned it with balloons and decorations, which was a terrific surprise.

Saturday morning we took the train to London where we were met by friends who brought along the requisite veil, sash and badges publicly announce my position. After we checked into the hotel, we grabbed lunch and then headed off to Vinopolis for an excellent champagne tasting. Next we went back to the hotel and got all dressed up, 80’s style (I was She-Ra Princess of Power!) and traveled to a Japanese restaurant to have dinner. It was a teppanyaki restaurant, so our very funny chef prepared and served the food right at our table. The area we ate in had been festooned with streamers and balloons. We had a lot of fun because the girls rented a limo to drive around London after dinner. Then we went to the roller disco and fell down plenty of times before going back to our beds at 4am!

It was amazing! I would totally recommend a hen weekend! You really feel special; everyone is so pleasant and nice to you. I had my very best friends, my mother and my mother-in-law-to-be along as well, and they had a grand time.

I have a lot of wonderful memories and I still get emotional when I consider how much consideration and caring went into making certain I had a good time!

One Response to “Hens Party for 250 Quid”