Hen Party V

{Images by hen party guests}

After the afternoon tea we played party games:
a bride's quiz with prizes
20s style crosswords and quiz
a picture round {famous wives}
names on backs {famous couples}
design the best dress out of recycled newspaper
and a bride-wars style fight afterwards
lots of drinking games {with dancing}
and then supper

all in all, the best hen weekend I could ever have hoped for.

and now, a week to go until we leave for the wedding...

Hen Party IV

{Images by hen party guests; food, crockery and decorations by Iced}

And after the sun bathing came afternoon tea, 1920s style. We sat by the swimming pool in the late afternoon sunshine and ate a beautiful high tea, courtesy of Hannah at Iced.

Each cake stand was laden with sandwiches {cucumber, beef or turkey}, fruit and plain scones, teisin lap, vanilla cupcakes decorated with blue flowers, pimms jellies, lemon tarts and fruit tarts, chocolate covered strawberries, mini frasier cakes piped in royal icing with 'R's' for Rachel, sandwiched mini meringues and ginger lime tarts, all served on mismatched vintage 1920/30s crockery and accompanied with pots of delicious tea.

All the girls made a huge effort with their outfits which I would have loved to show you, but in the interest of friendship, unless they expressly allow me, I shall keep those photos to myself.

Hannah provided 1920s music which we danced the Charleston to as we drank champagne by the pool before hand and which continued to play through out the tea party. It was wonderful and the food was so delicious I lugged the leftovers all the way back to London to share with M the next evening!

And then came the games...

Hen Party III

{Images by A2 and another hen party guest}

The bridesmaids dressed me in a neon pink veil,
My finger and toe nails were painted to match.
I was given a {handmade} garter
which was then removed from me before I was thrown in the pool...
We lay around in our bikinis all afternoon
and then changed into our 20s style outfits for the tea party.

Hen Party II

{Image by A2}

...guess which one is me?

Hen Party

Dancing in the waves wearing a neon veil

{Image by A2}

My Hen Party in numbers...

1 hen
Two sisters
3 bridesmaids
16 guests
2 days of hot sunshine
2 afternoons of pool side lounging
8 cake stands with 3 layers of cakes
5 recycled newspaper wedding dresses
endless drinking and laughing and reminiscing

Head Bands

{All photos from Author's personal collection}

Please excuse my bare face, dirty hair and distinct presence of clutter in my sitting room.

I have been creating headbands today. Above is my effort for the reception. I think I might add a peacock feather to fit in with the theme and make it look like the blue headband was a choice rather than simply one I had lying around.

The one below is for my 1920s themed hen party. It is only pinned at the moment so it might look a bit better when it is sewn together. Not quite sure that the ostrich feathers are what they would have used in the 20s but this excerise was all about recycling things from my sewing box rather than buying the perfect accessories. Teamed with pearls, clean hair, make-up and my vintage dress {which is more green than those photos suggest} I think it will look alright.

A dress for my hen party

{Image by VolenskaVintage}

I may have been sofa bound but I have managed to do a few things. Like buy myself a dress for the hen party.

{Image by VolenskaVintage}

We are having a 1920s themed vintage tea party. I couldn't find anything I liked which was truly 20s within my budget and I didn't want to wear a high street version.

So I decided to find something vintage which reflected the flapper theme which I could dress up *retro* with pearls and a headband and so on, but which I would actually wear again.

I can picture this over some skinny jeans and a shrunken fitted black blazer.

Plus, it's my favourite colour. And was £13. Including postage.

Hen Party

...

As far as wedding planning goes, we are getting there. Most of the big outline decisions have been made (venue, dress and so on) and it is just the sketching in of the details to bring the event to life which are needed. And most of them are in hand, so I am not worrying too much. We still have seven months to go.

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What is worrying me though is the hen party. Traditionally one or all of the bridesmaids would organise this event. My involvement would be limited to deciding who is to be invited and giving a broad outline of the type of party I would like. Sadly, in my case, this is not the case.

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Bridesmaids, as I've said before, are sisters A1 and A2 and sister-in-law-to-be. A1 lives in Australia, A2 is in her final year of university, SILTB is a busy bee in the fashion industry. No one has anytime for hen party planning (least of all me, but someone has to do it).

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I have invited 19 or 20 people. Some can make it for the Saturday only, some can come for 2 nights. I initially wanted to go abroad for a mini-holiday for some sun and relaxation but that plan didn't work. A2's exam dates came through so we moved the weekend to 2 weeks before the wedding.

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I decided we should stay in the UK. I decided I wanted a 20s themed afternoon tea. I found someone (more than someone, I will reveal details when deposits are paid etc, but she is a fab find) to do the tea party.

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I tried to find a house, or collection of cottages which will sleep 15. The one place I found is already booked. Some cottages will not cater for groups of 15 at 'that time of year', others will not do a short break in the school hols (my chosen weekend is the last weekend of half term). I am pretty flexible on requirements save that it must be in the Vale of Glamorgan (because of the afternoon tea). I do not know where to turn now.

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If anyone knows of a solution to this problem, I would be very grateful to hear it.

...

Save the Date

image by me

...

So, with 8 months left until the wedding we have sent our save the date e-mails (see above, without the blue crosses, obviously) and have attended our formal, family, engagement party. It went really well and all sides of the family present got on very well, which was somewhat of a relief.

8 months is a long time, but what a lot there is left to do. Aside from booking a venue and photographer we have yet to physically book a marquee, caterers (although we have decided who), crockery, tables and so on, transport, bridesmaid dresses, groom's attire, honeymoon, wedding night accommodation... the list is endless and I must stop now before I descend into panic.

Actually, the thing that is panicking me most at the moment is my hen party. I have two sisters and one sister-in-law-to-be. All three are my bridesmaids. One is in Australia, one is in her final year of university, one is a full time fashion designer. All are very busy. Having researched some places I know we need to book asap as many places are already booked for April and May next year. We had an idea. That idea will not work - wrong time for one, too expensive for some, my teaching friends can only come for 2 nights - so it is back to the drawing board. I am starting to wonder if I even want a hen party.

The stag party, of course, is hugely popular, everyone said yes to the proposed date and it is well under way to being organised. This makes me more stressed than ever.

...

Save The Date & Hen Party Planning

At last, we are moving forward with the hen party plans. A decision has - roughly - been made and initial e-mails sent out to all my nearest and dearest girlfriends. Those who are invited now know this and we can start sorting out where we are going. I am actually quite looking forward to it now and everyone seems very enthusiastic about the idea.

Save-the-date e-mails are also ready to leave my inbox and wing their way around the country (and in one or two cases, world) just as soon as we have finished compiling the definitive guest list and contact list. The website with all the details on is well in hand and I have made a start in sorting out the accommodation list to, so I feel almost in control... almost...