When someone says the words “hen party” to you, what comes to your mind? Of course, one would hope you would associate this key “rite of passage” event with good things, such as cheeky banter and lots of fun. And if you have attended a hen party or several in your time, ideally, this is exactly what you will have experienced.
Let’s face it, though; the imagery that pops up in many of our heads when the term “hen party” is mentioned, isn’t always positive. All those pink “L” plates and penis straws might be fun to see the first time around, but they can feel rather cringeworthy very quickly.
So, if – as we suspect – you have landed on this article having been handed the responsibility of organising a hen party for a friend of yours who isn’t a big fan of such stereotypes, you might be wondering what you can do to make it distinctive.
Well, the below ideas could be well worth considering.
Testing everyone’s sketching skills at a life drawing class
Now, you might imagine that we aren’t exactly straying far from the hen-night stereotypes with this one! We’ve mentioned it in this rundown, though, because a hen-night life drawing class isn’t quite what you might imagine it to be.
Especially if you’ve never attended a life drawing class previously, you may wonder how sketching an attractive nude male or female model in the company of the bride and the rest of your female friends wouldn’t induce a few giggles.
And of course, hen-party drawing classes (as opposed to the more serious and academic “high art” kind) will certainly be marked by some cheeky banter; it is a hen night, after all.
But don’t worry – if you Google something like “life drawing classes for hen parties” and book one of the classes offered by the many companies that specialise in this kind of thing, you can expect the models involved to be accustomed to, and comfortable with, any joking (within reason).
Plus, it will provide yourself and every other “hen” in attendance with the chance to test yourselves at drawing a beautiful unclothed human figure, which isn’t something most of us get to do every day. You might even realise you are capable of drawing something more advanced than “stick men”.
Enjoying afternoon tea at a cat café
One can safely say that “cat cafes” have become a bit of a “thing” in recent years, so there’s a decent chance that there will be one close to you. But what even is a cat café?
The short answer to that question, is that it’s more-or-less like any other café, with added cats. If you’ve been to such an establishment before, you’ll know the gist of how they work. You book an appointment at a certain time, and when you turn up, there will be an assortment of cats in residence, milling around and generally doing what cats do (looking cute, being furry, and possibly taking a concerning level of interest in your chocolate tart, among other things).
If the friend for whom you are planning a hen party is a cat lover who has slightly more sedate tastes than the traditional debauchery-piled-upon-debauchery hen-party image, afternoon tea at a cat café could be the perfect occasion for them.
Still, before calling your nearest cat café to enquire to them about whether they accommodate hen parties, you might want to first check whether any of the prospective hens have a pet allergy that could end up putting a “claws” to proceedings (sorry).
Living it large at a rooftop or pool party in Ayia Napa
OK, fine, so this suggestion is veering back towards the stereotypical again – but bear with us. Quite the opposite to the cat café suggestion, this idea could be just the thing for brides and hens who don’t exactly believe in living life by percentages.
Instead of settling for a bit of an underwhelming hen party at just “any old” pub in the dark, grey, and drizzly UK, why not head to the ever-hard-partying Ayia Napa in Cyprus?
Even better, rather than depending on just “whatever’s happening out there”, maybe you could be deliberate about it, by turning to a dedicated clubbing holiday specialist, such as Party Hard Travel.
Take a look online at the many enthralling Ayia Napa events for August on the site’s packed calendar, and get drooling about the prospect of a never-to-be-forgotten pool party or glamorous rooftop bash… or a dizzying combination of them, courtesy of the Ultimate Events Package.
After all, your friend may only have one hen party in her lifetime… so, there’s a school of thought that says you might as well make it “the big one”. Hopefully, all the above will have given you plentiful inspiration for a hen party, whoever you may be planning such a night for. As you can see, there’s a lot of scope in the 2020s to be a bit less “conventional” in one’s thinking about hen parties – and as far as we are concerned, that’s a Very Good Thing.
Photo by Quan Nguyen on Unsplash
