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fun things to do in London I’m sooo excited to be back at work after a lovely Xmas party season and now I am looking forward to a Spring filled with fascinator making hen parties.

Myself and The Glam Hatter Girls are so busy at this time of year. A lot of couples get engaged during the Xmas holidays and the first lunch hour they have when they get back to work is spent trawling the net for hen party ideas!

hen do London ideas

This time of year you can hear me tap tapping away answering enquiries form lovely friend’s of the brides-to-be, giving advice, tweaking the fascinator making packages on my website and generally being a helpful ball of energy planning other people’s hen parties. (And reminiscing about mine and how much fun it was).

2015 was my year for getting seriously focused and along with that came getting seriously organised. The major thing I learnt last year was to work to schedules- and to schedule everything – oh and I also got to grips with spread sheets in a big way. (If you’re running 6 hen parties in a day in different parts of the country with lots of Glam Hatter Girls you’re gonna need a spread sheet!!!)

planning a hen do

So I thought I’d pass on some of my new hen party scheduling tips to you guys and help you to schedule your hen party by creating a 12 step hen party plan.

Here goes….

The most popular month for hen parties is May – I know…. you thought I’d say August didn’t you?! I think August may be busy for stag do’s as guys don’t mind having a party right before their wedding but us girls are more savvy – who wants to turn up to their wedding with puffy eyes and not feeling their best. No, my girls like to party wayyy before the wedding so plan hen do’s ahead of time.

The first thing you need to do when tasked with organising your BFF’s hen party is work out who her friends are – her actual friends, not her FB friends, twitter followers, work colleagues!

hen party activity planning

Get 3 of her besties on side, go out for a glass of wine, take an ipad and brainstorm. Work out exactly what kind of hen party activities she likes doing and make a short list. Once you have a shortlist you can put out a doodle poll (super simple to use – follow this link) and the wider circle can choose between 2 activities as a day time thing (for example a Glam Hatters’ fascinator making workshop!), 2 bars for cocktails, 2 restaurants for the evening dinner and 2 venues for dancing/divaing later on. If you’re planning on having the event further afield than your own town you’ll also need to put a couple of hotels/apartments in there. See this earlier blog for help finding these…)

12 Step Hen Party Plan.

  1. Choose 3 close friends and go drink wine and brain storm hen party ideas and activities.
  2. Discreetly run a few ideas past the bride-to-be to make sure she doesn’t find any of them appalling.
  3. Put out a Doodle Poll to the wider circle of friends.
  4. Demand everyone answers the poll within 1 week or their vote won’t count (and they’ll have to come anyway!)
  5. Find out minimum numbers needed to book each part of the day.
  6. Ask friends for deposits to be paid into your bank account within a week (just lie and say it will be fully booked otherwise).
  7. Pay holding deposits for activities.
  8. Check in with the group for any special needs – dietary or otherwise and make sure the activity providers/caterers have an option for them.
  9. Keep track of any potential drop outs (about to drop a baby/elope with a lover/start an amazing job in Singapore).
  10. 3 weeks before. Finalise numbers and make sure hens know they have to pay now or forever hold their peace!
  11. 2 weeks before. Pay all the service providers and at the same time ask for direct names and contact numbers of the person (teacher/apartment host etc) who will be at the venue on the day of your hen party.
  12. 1 week before. Email all hens attending the hen party with directions and addresses for all aspects of the day, plus a time table – that way if any hen runs late they can text you to let you know where they are and rather than you coming up with a plan B for that hen they can meet you at the next activity/part of the day that is booked in.

Good luck ladies and if you need more help with your hen party planning, get in touch – I’ve organised and few hen parties in my time and I’m super happy to help!

With Love & Laughter, Glam Hatter Girl xxx.

 

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Planning a Hen Do?

Read on for The Glam Hatter Girl’s Guide to the tips and tricks of hen party planning.

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