Tips for a successful Hen-tastic party

The main areas to tick off are: Who? Where? When? How to get there? and What to do?... everything else is just icing on the cake!

Who? Assuming that the bride has selected her sub-committee of hen organisers, and that this power lobby includes you and a maximum of 2 other people, the chances are that she has given you a list of names that include the following brands of hen guests:-

Definites. This is the hard-core souls who the bride wants there no matter what the circumstances. You will probably be on this list and will not have to persuade the others to attend. But you will have to take heed of any dates they will not be available.

Possible’s.  This will include people who she hasn't seen for a little while and isn't sure of how likely they are to come, what with commitments, children and the like.

Have-To's.  Include the prospective in-laws' relevant members being invited to proceedings, usually with the bride's secret hope that they can't actually come so that she can totally enjoy herself without being on her best behaviour but will still look a great daughter-in-law for having offered in the first place

Where? The bride will doubtless have penciled down a shortlist of possible locations, though she probably won't care as long as it meets all her requirements. This is where your real work begins, for the venue has to be somewhere that will be easy enough for everyone to get to without it being somewhere they've all been plenty of times before; somewhere that is an exciting prospect, but not so far that the travel costs put people off; somewhere that is original and memorable but isn't going to be jam-packed with other hen parties doing exactly the same thing. A budget return fare by rocket to a health spa/pole dancing class on the moon might be ideal.

If you are planning for a UK-based weekend, we recommend sorting it out at least 3 months before; if the bride specifically wants to go out of the country (abroad) for her bash allow 6 months.

At this point, whilst deciding on where you want to base the fun and frolics, you will also need to know what approximate budget everyone is looking towards. It is no use going off and doing loads of research on a crammed itinerary in Newcastle if the cost per person doubles that of what most guests can afford. As the coordinator, you have to disprove the famous adage and keep all of the people happy absolutely all of the time.