Any thoughts on where to have a more civilised hen night?

2006-11-17T10:54:20Z

I’m getting married in August and want to have my hen night in this great city of ours. Any suggestions of any different group activities/venues suitable for a party of about 15? Google’s just sending me down the usual tacky strippers and L- plates route, and I’m after something a bit more civilised…’

Pixie

2006-11-17T10:54:41Z

Depends on your budget, but how about booking into the Sanctuary for a day? You could then spend the evening in Covent Garden!

Malc London

2006-11-17T10:57:24Z

My friend took over this ceramic cafe for her hen where they give you paints and you decorate plain white china plates, cups, etc, and we all painted her an expresso cup and saucer, then they were glazed and fired and now she has a set to remind her of us. They let us bring our own booze in so the artistic results were interesting, to say the least.

Then we went up the river on a boat cruise and drank more champagne, then out for Tapas. It was all very civilised and fun.

Badger Kitten

2006-11-17T11:09:58Z

had a lovely hen weekend recently – actually the hen in question is the one who introduced me to LBL in the first place – hiya!

Anyway, we rented out the lovely Peek House in the Rousden Estate on the south coast near Axminster at around £125 each for 13 of us. The place had seven bedrooms (some double beds, some twins, 5 or 6 of them en suite) a massive dining room, cinema room, games room, spa treatment room with a lady who would come in and give you massages and stuff and a private beach although it was a bit of a muddy trek to get there.

We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and were hugely impressed by how nice the house was. Great if you want something relaxed and a bit more civilised. Might cost a bit more in peak season though and may well have had something to do with the head bridesmaid’s razor sharp negotiating skills!

kaymonster

2006-11-17T11:12:53Z

Look out for promotions that the big stores put on. I started off my hen weekend at Harvey Nics, we’d managed to get tickets through the Sunday Times and basically we got a goody bag full of gorgeous stuff (Dr Haushka, Ren, Mac, and lots more) plus free manicures, eyebrow pluckings, makeovers, massages and champagne. Then we went to Brixton and did a pole dancing class which was a wicked warm up for the big night out (try www.polepeople.com) they provide cocktails to make you feel less inhibited.

Myhotel in Chelsea also does a great “Girls night in” package where the bride gets an upgrade to the Thai suite. Think you even get your own butler, girlie vids (and lots of booze). Otherwise an animal loving mate of mine is starting hers off at London Zoo…

kit

2006-11-17T11:13:21Z

A good start to a hen night is pole dancing. Loads of places offer an hours tuition for about £25, and usually you can take your own alcohol. Try either www.shakenswing.co.uk which is based in north london or do a google search. I think bar bollywood does it in Green Park. It’s a great laugh and good for getting to know people.

Claire

2006-11-17T11:11:42Z

How about going to Jongleurs comedy club, it’s a fab night out and they’ve got quite a few locations, the best thing about it is, you eat, drink and all from the comfort of you seat. Then you can boogie the night away after the comics finish. They cater for big groups too.

Crofty

2006-11-17T11:26:30Z

Ok Kaymonster – you made it sound fantastic, but I’ve searched high and low but can’t find any link to Peek House on the Rousden Estate on the net. Heeeeeeelp!!

Highbury Gal

2006-11-17T11:45:55Z

Highbury Girl, I suggest next time you’re looking for something, ditch the magnifying glass, metal detector, psychic hotline or whatever you were using to search high and low, and try Google instead. Searching for Peek House within or without quotation marks brought up the official site as the first response for me: http://www.peekhouse.co.uk This internet lark, it might just catch on, you know. Happy henning.

Vidal Bassoon

2006-11-17T12:17:31Z

Vidal – I swear to God I looked at Yahoo and Google, I’m too long a subscriber to ask without thoroughly searching first. But now I’m totally paranoid – Peek House didn’t come up two weeks ago, despite all manner of internet (and psychic) searching. How the hell did that happen?

Highbury Gal

2006-12-21T02:05:17Z

If you stay in London you could end up at Bloomsbury Bowl? You can go bowling, drink nice but not too expensive cocktails and get your own swish private karaoke room. It’s lots of fun, a bit different and a fun venue.

Peek house sounds lovely!