To make sure your hen night goes off with a bang, make sure it has a theme of some sort.
The theme doesn't have to include costumes - it might revolve around forfeits, daytime activities or style of dress, for example... Here's a few pointers we've picked up when it comes to getting the recipe just right.
Tailor Make Your Theme
Like forfeits, themes must reflect not only the desires of the bride but the sliding scale of exhibitionism in the group attendees. It's no use drawing up a 'strictly uniform' agenda (of Nurses, French maids and the like) if it is likely to make one or two of those going dread the experience and look for ways not to go. Part of the skill in bringing off a top class hen weekend is to look at all the characters going and tailor the theme accordingly. Compromise doesn't have to mean diluting the fun!
Keep It Practical And Keep It Simple
If the theme is to include costumes, you want to keep cost down to a minimum and not don something impractical. Do you really have the bottle to wear very a bunny outfit on a November night in Edinburgh, for example? How funny will a long, flowing skirt be to you after 2 hours of being out? It might be good for kleptomaniacs in Safeways, but a "Gone With The Wind" theme is not going to be very popular in a packed club - providing you even get in, that is...
"Sorry Darling, Not With Those Horns You're Not"
Some venues won't allow your group access if they feel the costumes are likely to 'inflame' an atmosphere. Translated, this just means certain randy bouncers won't let a group of Devil Wig & Horns in because you haven't flirted with them on the door, but either way it's important to check in advance (with your event organisers) to make sure the club you try at the end of the night is 'theme-friendly'.
A Few Theme Ideas To Get You Started
Presuming that you've done all this, the kinds of themes you might want to look at could include: Bond girls, Horror, Cowboys & Indians, Pop Stars, Hippies or Punks, School Days, Aliens or Initial Fancy Dress (where each guest dresses as something which begins with the same letter as their own Christian name!)
Get It Right Or There'll Be Hell "Toupee"...
There is an infinite number of possibilities. You might, for example, want to restrict the 'costumes' side of things to Wigs alone as many hen groups like to Print a T-shirt with the weekend nickname of each person on the front/back. Many hen trips away will include two nights, so you may want a different theme for each part of the weekend, in which case you should write to or email each of the group in advance with an agreed itinerary and instructions on what the theme is for the respective Friday and Saturday evenings. Altogether now... Veils at the ready... one, two, three, GO!