Hen Do

Did anyone give any of you a "Hen Do?"  Mine is Saturday.  I don't think they do bridal showers here, or have any of you had one?  If I'm not mistaken, in my opinion, they give the sort of wedding gifts here that we would have received at our showers and usually, well, in Philadelphia anyway, at the wedding, normally money was given to the bride and groom.  Any opinions on this?

I had a hen night, courtesy of my MIL and SILs.  Prior to going out on a pub crawl, I was stuffed in a granny dress complete with L-plates and condoms.         Then given a tatty old veil with yet more condoms attached.  Then paraded from pub to pub in the village.  MIL and SILs got rat-faced, so my best friend/maid of honour and I ditched them and their buddies, and we went off to have a quiet drink before the big day.  Call me a party-pooper, but I had no intention of showing up at my wedding with a monster hangover and red puffy eyes.

We received gifts at the reception.  None were opened there; that was done at home, just husband and wife.

Caitlinn, I feel EXACTLY like you and I'm embarrassed to tell you that when my SIL to be asked what I wanted to do for my hen do, I told her I wanted to go for Afternoon Tea.  Well, she and around ten other girls are taking me for a full cream tea to a fancy little tearoom in Durham.

Afterwards we'll meet the guys, who will be hangin' @ "The Bridge" in Durham for my DF's stag night.  I totally agree with you, my idea of fun is not to be stinkin' sloppy drunk where I'd be puking my guts up....although, the wedding isn't till next Saturday, I still was just not interested in feeling sick, especially since we have to meet our men afterwards.  I know I sound like a dork, but see, I am getting so nervous about the wedding and overwhelmed by things I have to do beforehand, I just think that doing the 'tea thing' will be better for me.   God, did you suffer a little anxiety about a week before the big day?  I feel like I need to get s**tfaced right now to calm me nerves, arghhhhh!!!

You won't believe this, but a week before my wedding I didn't feel anxious.  As a matter of fact, I felt nothing at all.  See, I left the US on 13 Nov and was married on 21 Nov.  In the two months before I married, I:  applied for visas, packed up my belongs and shipped it overseas, gave up my home, got a passport for my son, moved into my mother's house (joy of its own  ), worked three jobs for extra $$, bought a wedding dress, dealt with selling my car and a host of other crap, whilst trying to have some input in wedding with all of the plans being made overseas by someone else.  Got to England, the cottage I was to stay in was not ready, barely had the basics, and then found out that most of my in-laws were on the slightly nutty side.

By the time my wedding came rolling around, I had emotionally shut down; it was the only way I could cope with the tremendous amount of changes.  I really just wanted it all to be over so that my husband and I could get back to some semblance of a normal life.  On the day, everyone kept asking me if I was nervous and couldn't believe that I wasn't.  To me the wedding was just the last hurdle before getting back to 'normal'.  Don't get me wrong -- the wedding was wonderful and I loved every minute of it, but boy was I glad when it was over and we could return to business as usual.

Don't be embarrassed for wanting a cream tea for your hen do.  If that's what you want, then you should have it and be bloody proud of it.  I think it's unique and much more classy than a pub crawl and piss-up.  More power to you!

Plum Pudding-- Agreeing with Caitlinn. An Afternoon Tea sounds wonderful. There isnt a law that says you must get drunk. Alot of girls I know dont even bother with typical bachelorette parties here and tend to do spa days, Broadway shows, etc. Whatever feels good for you-- its YOUR day! 

Didn't have a Hen Do.  Intentionally picked a chief bridesmaid who had absolutely no spare time on her hands to plan such a thing! 

Well my bach. party was in the states.....and was it a do!!!!  Friends came to our flat (i was living with 2 girls from college at the time).  We drank, a limo with a hot driver picked us up.  Went and saw the Chippendale dancers.  Hit about 5 other bars.  It was insane.  THe only thing i got there were dirty gifts which have kept dave and i occupied for a while. 

I did have a traditional shower with about 30 ladies and the generosity that was shown by my friends and parents friends was second to none.

I hope you have a good one!

LOL, Peedal. Ive done the exact same thing-- chose a chief bridesmaid- maid of honor-whatever that is SO busy she could never have time to organize such a thing. She got married last year in a beautiful, simple wedding and she knows I DO NOT want any parties thrown in my honor {she didnt want any either!} I really do not want a bridal shower either altho my mom seems to think I am crazy. I cant see myself sitting round opening up gifts and having women coo at me for a few hours. Yikes! 

I really do not want a bridal shower either altho my mom seems to think I am crazy. I cant see myself sitting round opening up gifts and having women coo at me for a few hours. Yikes! 

hooray! I thought I was the only one 

TOTALLY off-topic, but every time I see this thread I think it says, "Don Ho"

  Tiny Bubbles 

yeah, thanks.. cos THAT'S not gonna be stuck in my head for the next 17 hours