Who to invite on a hen party

Who gets an invite to the hen party?

Published on Jun 15, 2017

Only the most important people make the list!

Hen parties have been a tradition for centuries in which a ceremony is held in celebration of the bride to be. The big question ringing in every maid of honour’s mind is “who should I invite and am I completely certain that they are still friends?”. Now, it’s probably a good idea to team up with the bride on this one but if you’re trying to keep it a secret then taking a peek at the wedding guest-list will probably be the best start – usually received via a not-so-clueless groom or groomsman.

Some brides will want their Mum or Gran there, some won’t. You’ll need to adjust the hen party plans accordingly to accommodate the age range. It might be that you choose to do an activity during the day for the ‘younger’ contingent and then have a meal and drinks in the evening where any ‘oldies’ can join in. Or why not have 2 dos! Go away for a weekend with the girls and then have a second do somewhere local maybe in a restaurant so that the relatives can join in.

When putting the hen party invite list together, think about group numbers. Too small and it can be difficult to book the best activities as there are minimum group sizes. Too large and it can get a bit of a nightmare trying to co-ordinate everyone.

If there are people that you have to cross off the list, then just send them a quick note to explain why. That way there’s less likely to be any awkwardness at the wedding when you see them.

Mother hen

Perhaps a somewhat controversial choice, but some brides are going to want to (or they’re expected to) invite their mums and grans. By inviting the mother hen you’ll earn a few extra brownie points – mums and grans are perfectionists and want to be involved in everything! Obviously if you’re doing something a little intense like It’s a Knockout, 80 year old Eveline isn’t going to want to take part and bust a hip, but most events will allow spectators anyway! If you’re venturing away from home to gallivant around the country then it may be worth finding mother hen a family friend to keep her company back at home for a bit of peace and quiet – she’s still got the wedding to look forwards to.

Friends

This one goes without saying. If they’re a regular face at the cocktail bar then the bride is sure to want her there. Think back to her Myspace top 8 friends, check to see who’s posting on her Facebook wall, peek at who she’s texting; you’ve got yourself a guest-list.

Colleagues

She sees these people every single day, but has she invited them to anything before? If the answer is no, chances are she doesn’t actually like these people and will definitely not want them at her hen party. Your job is to invite people that she feels comfortable around that make her feel warm, loved and get her excited for a damn good weekend! Is she going to be confident singing Girls just want to have fun in her undies at 2am in front of her colleagues? This is the type of question you need to ask yourself.

Distant relatives

If you’re going to invite people from afar, it may be worth considering getting them to the wedding first. If the wedding is shortly after the hen party, see if they can extend their stay (the wedding is always the priority though). If they can’t make the wedding, see if they are free for the hen weekend instead!

Friends of friends

Can I bring my friend? Can my friend bring her friend? On the most part you will want to say no. If they haven’t ever met the bride then why should she be at the hen party? They will probably be together for the most part of the weekend and then your party stops being one big group and turns into a couples retreat. If you’re close to home, by all means invite them for the night out, but once you’ve said yes to one, you can’t say no to the long queue of people waiting behind.

If you need help arranging accommodation for your hen group, or need some exciting activity ideas, talk to us, we can help you!