You or your best friend has just got engaged and thoughts immediately jump to organising the hen weekend but where do you even start?
We work with a lot of bride to be's/ bridesmaids/ chief hen party planners to arrange the best glamping hen weekends and we've learnt the best way to get started in planning a top hen weekend with minimal stress and no room for faffing from the invitee list.
So if you need help in where to get started, then you're in the right place.
Let The Bride Decide
It's become common that the hen weekend is a total surprise to the bride to be, however we'd argue this is where the complications start when organising a big group getaway. If you open up the planning to a group of 12+ you are going to get an influx of ideas, open the door to disagreements and potentially end up with a plan that doesn't suit the bride to be at all. You will never please everyone so don't try to and focus on tailoring the weekend to the bride to be.
The bride to be will have an idea of what she'd like to do and ultimately it's all for her so let her decide the location, type of hen weekend and date. The date is a difficult one because you want to choose a weekend that the majority of the group can make but can also cause big delays in planning a hen party. We'd suggest that the bride to be checks a date with the key people she wants there (i,e family/ bridesmaids) and then if everyone else can make it, it's a bonus.
We've found the smoothest bookings for our glamping hen weekends are the ones made by the bride to be. She is then able to hand over the surprises/fun bits of planning to her friends and family once the main bit is booked.
Create A WhatsApp Group
Again this is a task for the bride to be as she'll have everyone's number and know who she wants to invite. We find that a WhatsApp group is the easiest way to get messages out to everyone and then you have it set-up for the actual weekend so that everyone can share photos.
Send An E-Invite
A great way of letting everyone know the plan is to create an invite that can be posted in the group. We'd use Canva to make a simple invite containing the location, date and a rough idea of cost. By location - at this point you can have just decided a place or an actual specific venue - however a word of caution is to not waste too much time searching for a venue to host the number of guests on the invitee list as it's very unlikely they'll all attend. We'd advise having a rough idea of what you'd like to do and the type of accommodation for the invite. This is far easier to refer back to than a typed out message as it will always sit in the media folder of the group.
Request A Deposit
This bit is the part that most people skip before doing in depth searches for the exact venue. However, in order to get a realistic number of who will be attending you need to get a deposit from the guests. We charge a £50pp deposit to secure the date and we think this is a reasonable amount for any type of hen party booking as it's more than likely to cost more than that. You should always give a rough idea of how much you think the weekend will cost including activities/food etc so that your guests know what they're signing up to. By collecting the deposit at this point it also stops extra costs further down the line when you've committed to some accommodation that has a minimum number and then you get drop outs when it comes to paying increasing the cost per person.
Set A Deadline
Another part of the process that makes organisers uncomfortable is setting a deadline for the deposit payment however you are busy people and you can't spend your time chasing everyone individually. Set a deadline for the group for when you need their deposit by and make it clear that if you don't receive the deposit by that date that you cannot guarantee them a place on the hen weekend. We'd advise if you set a 14 day deadline that you remind everyone with 5 days to go.
All of the above will then allow you to find the perfect venue for your group and make a swift booking. The last thing you'd want is to miss out on an amazing venue or your chosen date because there are a few stragglers delaying the groups decision or not paying their deposit.
If you're looking for somewhere to host a glamping hen party in Yorkshire, check out our pop-up glamping sites at Birds & Bells & Wild Bells.
Available for groups of 12 to 20 (or more), sleeping in luxury bell tents with a large tent for gathering. There are exclusive use toilets, showers and wash up areas with power, water and appliances. The sites also include lots of extras from Silent Discos to board games and a BBQ! Open from April to September. Get in touch to book now.
We have extras available to hire including sports day kits, lawn games and picnic sets!
If you already have a site in mind, we also offer mobile glamping where we bring the bell tents to you. We also offer this service for weddings which is a hassle free way of hosting your guests overnight. No more late night taxi's or budget hotels.
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