33 Days : Hen Party

The trip to Ireland for my Hen party didn't start quite as planned.  After over two hours delayed at the airport, I was beginning to think the girls would have to go on without me. *sob sob* Thankfully Easyjet finally managed to get me to Belfast where Fiona collected me and we went to her house and had some amazing homemade peanut butter stack cake  - unbelievably tasty, and it wasn't long before I was fast asleep!

Saturday morning we were up early as I had my make-up trial with the wonderful Ashley Morhej before getting ready to meet some of the girls at the Ivory for lunch.  Lunch was lovely and we took the opportunity to start on the cocktails - it seemed only right.  Fiona & Jenny had put together some amazing gift bags for everyone with hen party bits and pieces including one of Fiona's pink sparkly cake pops, dare scratch cards, glow sticks, tube shots and some rosettes I'd made.  During #weddinghour on Twitter, I'd been introduced to Vintage Hen House and loved the idea of the girls and I wearing rosettes at the hen party but I didn't think their vintage patterns went with our SATC theme, so decided I'd make my own out of old copies of Elle and Vogue.  I was relatively impressed with my crafting skills and they just about stayed together all night! (I may do a tutorial post at some stage.)

After a yummuy lunch in the Ivory (with guest of honour Miss Kiki), a quick dash to the bus station and some of Jen's charm, we were on our way to Dublin to meet the others.  

After the Premier Inn, our first stop was Temple Bar Hotel for a cocktail class.  As some of the girls didn't know each other, the cocktail class was the perfect way to break the ice. 

 

I'm pretty sure I had a cocktail in each hand at all times - special mention to SJ for her awesome Strawberry Daiquiri!

Photo Credit: Nicky T

Photo Credit: Rachel B

Next was dinner, a large plate of pasta followed by chocolate fudge cake  - fuel for the dancing - before heading to the Wright Venue.

We had the New York room, complete with retro Smeg fridge, great view of the dance floor, and a pole... 

THANK YOU  Nicky, Sami-Jo, Rachael, Jen, Aislinn, Nadine, Rachel and Caoimhe for coming along and making it a memorable night!! (Thank you Caoimhe for my post-Hen-Party care package - I wouldn't have made it back in time for my dress fitting without it!)

And a massive MASSIVE thank you for Fiona & Jenny, my lovely bridesmaids and sisters-to-be, for organising a great party :) 

Amy
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81 Days: Hen Party Planning

I’ve been really excited about my Hen Party since we got engaged. I’ve only been to two other Hen Parties; one was a family friend and the other was for one of my best friends Rachael (you can read her blog here, and see some marriage tips she gave us in my post for Hitched.ie).  Rachael’s Hen Party was so much fun; cocktails, hot tub, games, horse riding, pampering, dinner, more cocktails, dancing and lots of sore heads by the end of the weekend!  My Hen Party is particularly exciting for me as we’ve moved away from a lot of our friends so girlie nights out with my bestfriends don’t happen as often as they used too. 

I was confident that my Bridesmaids would come up with a good plan for the Hen Party, and they haven’t let me down!

Buskers Bar at Temple Bar Hotel, Dublin
Photo from Temple Bar Website

At the end of March a group of lovely ladies will be joining me as we head to Dublin, for a cocktail making class at the Temple Bar Hotel, dinner and a night out at the Wright Venue  for a sort of Sex and the City themed Hen Party.  I’ve heard really good things about the Wright Venue so I’m really looking forward dancing the night away!  A lot of what I miss is getting ready together with my friends, (sometimes Jim comes and sits with me while I do my make-up but it’s not the same) so we’ve booked into a hotel for some girlie pampering before we go out. 

City Themed Rooms at the Wright Venue
Photo from Wright Venue Website

I wanted something chic and not too stereotypically ‘Hen Party’ so the girls are all going in Little Black Dresses and my bridesmaids suggested I wear a different colour so I’ve started looking for a dress but it’s proving almost as difficult as finding a wedding dress!!

My favourites so far are below (Spring/floral theme).

Warehouse - £65 (currently 20% off)

Whistles - £165

Ted Baker - £139

We're going to put together some goodie bags for all the guests which I'm very excited about and I'm going to make some badges/rosettes on the Sex & The City Theme, possibly from old copies of Elle & Vogue - we'll see how that goes...

Very Rough Trial Run

Amy
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