Organising a hen party is no easy feat. You have a venue to think about, the guest list, maybe even co-ordinated outfits to get sorted. It’s not just the preparation side of things that you need to keep a handle on either, once everybody is together, it’s your job to make sure they have fun! More often than not, at least a few of the hens present will be brand new acquaintances. The quickest way to have everybody getting along like a house on fire? Hen party games, of course.
Don’t forget to take plenty of hilarious pictures to stick in the hen book and bring a few biros to have everyone muck in on making those memories!
Before the hen night begins, draw up a list of words and phrases that will be banned throughout the evening. Anyone caught uttering a banned word by mistake has to pay a forfeit. How difficult (or lethal, if you choose shots as your forfeit!) you make this game is up to you, choose your words and phrases wisely and keep that list short or you’ll never remember to listen out for them!
Have bingo cards made up with classic hen night scenarios made personal to your flock. Hand them out to each hen upon arrival and give the promise of a prize for the first hen to call bingo!
Write down questions – be they saucy, funny or serious – and slide them into balloons before blowing them up. Throughout the night, present the bride with one balloon at a time and insist she pops it then either answers the question hidden in the balloon with complete honesty, or pays the price. This game will ensure a truly blushing bride.
image: Sonya Green
This one is a popular classic for so many reasons. It’s cheap, it’s fun, and it makes the bride look hilarious. Split the group into two teams, assign the bride to one team and a volunteer bridesmaid to the other. Both teams have 10 minutes to fashion a dress out of toilet paper for their bride or bridesmaid. Finished ‘dresses’ can be judged on originality, style or fit and the losing team buys the next round.
Gather your hens! Get all the ladies to write a favourite (or hideously embarrassing) memory of the bride, fold it up and throw it in a bowl – if it’s easier, you can get the hens to email you their memories prior to the night and print them all out. The bride has to unfold each memory one by one and guess who it came from.
Ask each hen to bring along an item of fancy dress or easily donned clothing that represents their friendship with the bride and bung them all in a box. Once everyone is together, the bride will put on everything from the dressing up box and then guess who brought each individual item.
This is a great game for hen nights taking place somewhere a little more chilled out than a bar, or for hens who aren’t old enough to go out and get wild just yet. Have each hen bring a pair of knickers to the celebrations and provide them with materials (anything from marker pens to glitter) once they get there to decorate their pair. Hang them out on a washing line to make a memorable picture for your hen book.
This game is a hen night classic that has countless varieties. We all know the drill. It’s based on the childhood classic, pin the tail on the donkey and has three definite factors: a great big picture of a man, something to stick on said picture of a man, and a blindfold. Blow up a picture of Ryan Gosling for maximum whooping, or get hold of a snap of the groom if you want to have everybody falling about with laughter.
Before everybody gets together, have the hens dig out an old embarrassing picture of the bride. Pin them all up onto a board to put on display at your venue of choice and have the bride guess who brought which pic!
Give everybody a few sturdy biscuits (ginger nuts are a solid choice) and instruct them to bite each one into a different shape – go as rude as you fancy with this one. It’s bound to get everybody cackling.
The Maid of Honour or chief bridesmaid often has a difficult task, trying to pull together a Hen Do that keeps everyone happy and entertained. Our Hen Party Message Books make it easier to get the party started and keep it going, and with a combination of message pages, space for photos, conversation-starter features and loads more games to play, you’ll end up with memories to treasure rather than just a hangover!
