6 Drinking Games you can play anywhere.

I firmly believe that you could have an excellent hen do just sitting in a room with your nearest and dearest. I’ve been at hens before when I’ve actually been kind of sad to go out, because I’m having such a good time staying in. If this is the kind of thing you’re after – or maybe you’re just planning one night in, one night out – here is a list of my favourite things to do when staying in – drinking games! Although many of them work for going out, too...

The Tap Game

The Name Game
You've probably played this before - the first person says the name of a celebrity or fictional character such as 'George Clooney' and then the next person says a name that starts with the first letter of the surname - so, C. The game continues in this way - George Clooney, Charlie Brooker, Brian Molko - until someone says an alliterative name that starts with the same letter such as Marilyn Monroe. Then the game changes direction, going back to the person who just spoke. The drinking element - you drink while you think.

The Tap Game
Everyone sits around a table, with their arms overlapping and palms flat on the table. So if your palm is flat on the table, the person on your left would place their arm over or under yours, with their palm on the right of your hand. You basically just take turns to tap on the table - so you tap, then the hand next to yours taps, etc. It's confusing due to the overlapping - you forget whose hand is whose! If you double tap, the direction reverses, which also gets confusing. When it inevitably goes wrong, the people who mess up have to drink.

The Thumb Game
Every so often, someone - anyone in your group - places their thumb quietly on the table and waits for someone to notice. When they do, they put their thumb on the table, and everyone else gradually follows suit. The last person to notice has to drink. It's simple, but a great one to play when you're out and about.

Monkey / Dead Ants
These two games are similar, so I'm lumping them together. When someone shouts 'Monkey' you have to get your feet off the floor. This can mean jumping onto a lamppost or even sitting down and lifting your feet up. Dead Ants is super similar, but you're supposed to lie flat on your back with your feet and arms in the air. If you don't do it, you have to drink but more often than not, everyone ends up on the floor. Not great when you're wearing a skirt. But quite funny.

Apple Roulette
I learnt this in America and it's not for everyone as it, um, involves thumping yourself on the head with an apple. Basically you pass an apple around the table and bang it against your forehead. With each thwack, the apple will start to soften, and eventually it will crack when it hits someone's head. That person is the winner! And either has to drink, or has to make everyone else drink. Downside - kinda gives you a headache.

1, 2, 3... Shot!
This is a fun one to play in a bar. Order a few shots, and place in the middle of the table. Everyone counts to three and then all point at the person of their choice. The person who has the most fingers pointing at them has to do the shot. The only problem with playing this at a hen do is that the bride would probably get chosen every time...

Apple Roulette

A Hen's Perspective: Sausage Making

When I started Happy Hen Do, I was keen to make it a collaborative blog with lots of experiences from other hens and brides. As much as I have a lot of hen do experience, it's going to run out sooner or later! First stepping up to the plate is the lovely Becks from Just Me. You can also find her on Twitter at @shippers1983.

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I am 30. This can mean many things to many people but for the purposes of this blog it means only this - I have been to more than my fair share of hen dos. I have been to hen dos that were just a night out in town. I have been to hen dos away. I've been to hen dos with lots of people and hen dos with just a few. I've drunk out of those horrible willy straws, I've visited most major cities in the UK and I've even been to one hen do for a marriage which lasted about as long as Kim Kardashian's did. (And no I'm not exaggerating. And yes I did think about submitting an invoice to the 'happy' couple for all the costs associated with said hen do).

There's not a lot that can surprise me when it comes to hen dos. Until August 2013 and a visit to Bath for my cousin's hen do. Along with the standard willy straws, game of Mr & Mrs and horrifyingly accurate vagina and willy cake - the hens threw the greatest curve ball of all time.

Clad in home-made/eBay bought lederhosen costumes we all piled out of our townhouse in Bath, into a minibus and set off to Lowden Garden Centre. One of my all time favourite moments of the trip was seeing my cousin's face gradually change from happiness to concern to genuine confusion as we pulled into a garden centre car park, got out of the minibus, dodged around the people buying their perennials, and made our way towards the Farm Shop. Once assembled inside our activity was revealed to the bride...


We would be sausage-making.

All stood around a table with buckets in front of us, we were introduced to the star of the show - Jon the butcher - who was to be our teacher for the evening.

And when I say we were sausage-making, I mean we were sausage-making. We were no part-timers. We were given our huge chunks of meat which we had to put through the mincer. We were given our packets and mix and instructed to get kneading and mixing. What started out as feeling a little bit gross soon became quite therapeutic and by the time the sausagemeat was mixed people were already practicing their moulding skills with their meat. I'll leave it up to your imagination - actually I won't. Penises. People made penises out of their meat. At this point I should probably tell you that most of this group are in their late-20s - early-30s and were mostly Doctors. A hen do is a hen do people, it all comes down to willies at the end of it.

After mixing the meat came the truly fun part. Putting said meat into the casing. This part of the sausage-making probably caused the biggest laugh for reasons that probably don't need explaining. I don't think anybody managed to get their sausages stuffed without breaking the casing at least once, even those of us who held back and tried to learn from other people's mistakes - let me tell you, that meat comes out fast and unexpectedly.


Whilst this was going on we were treated to a much needed buffet which went part of the way to soaking up some of the alcohol that we had in our system and we were muchly entertained by Bella the dog, who sniffed in and around our feet whilst we careered all over the farm shop.


The final stage was linking all our sausages. By this point we were beyond the point of giddy and probably beyond the point of a lot of things, thank to the steady amounts of alcohol that had been imbibed. Jon gave us a demonstration, we watched intently, got him to show us again, yelled "GOT IT! EASY!", went back to our table and prompting started twisting and turning our sausages with gay abandon and absolutely no rhyme nor reason. I tried my absolute hardest to do what Jon had told me, yelling out random instructions as I went along, "One, twist, two, twist, through the hole, pinch, twist", but it became apparent quite early on that I either hadn't quite understood the instructions or I had got them mixed up with the hip hop dance lesson we'd had earlier in the day and I was actually trying to make my sausages dance to MC Hammer, rather than turn into beautiful links. Jon came to my rescue as well as he could but I quite enjoyed freestyling and resulted in them most definitely looking "home-made".


Let me take a moment to try and explain to you what a truly amazing person Jon was - he had the unenviable task of trying to teach 14, over excitable women, dressed in lederhosen, drinking champagne/beer/cider/whatever we could get our hands on, how to make sausages. Just think about that for a moment. He took every innuendo we threw at him and never tired. He didn't lose his temper and didn't seem to tire of us, and most importantly he made sure that no-one lost any fingers. He had to cope with all of us shouting his name out at some point as we minced, mixed, stuffed and attempted to link our sausages together and he gave all of us his attention and made us feel loved. There aren't many people who could do all of that and keep a smile on their face.


We had an outrageous amount of meat to handle. Once linked together it was actually hard work to lift them all up. It was meat overload.

It was at that point that we realised that we hadn't factored in one rather important fact.

How we were getting the sausages home and where we were going to be storing them. After much pushing and shoving, we got what felt like 75 boxes of sausages loaded into the minibus around our feet and after taking out the shelves in the very tiny fridge in our rented town-house we managed to squish all the sausages in somewhere. Ever seen what a fridge full of sausages looks like? It looks pretty gross.


But oh how happy we were to have a fridge full of sausages when we woke up the next morning, feeling fuzzy headed and in need of something to line our stomachs. We had beautiful sausage butties that set me right up for my train journey back to the Midlands. As I said "They taste like real sausages!" Sadly my sausage mountain couldn't come home with me. I did contemplate taking them back home with me, but one look at the incredibly over-crowded train I had to get on at Bath station made me glad I decided to leave them behind. Just imagine how popular I would have been with my festering sack of meat on the East Coast Mainline. But never fear, they didn't go to waste - all the sausages were taken back to the bride's mother's house where they were popped in the freezer to be had at a BBQ for all the wedding guests on the afternoon after the wedding. Everyone's a winner!

It was absolutely, hand on heart, the most fun that I've ever had on a hen do. Alison, the lovely lady behind Lowden Garden Centre could not do enough for us - it's a brave person that willingly takes on a hen party and lets them come in to what is basically their livelihood. They made sure we were fed and watered and didn't blink an eye at anything we said or any nonsense that we pulled.

Should you be interested in adding sausage-making to your activity list for your hen do (and after reading this, why would you not want to?!) then please e-mail Alison Sinclair at info@lowdengardencentre.com or call 01225 702 345. It cost £40PP and there were 14 of us, but presumably the price is dependent on the number of people attending.

Interview: The Cheek of it School of Burlesque and Cabaret.

Photo: Tigz Rice Studios | FB
The thing that I love about hen dos is just how varied they are. I've already heard so many interesting stories about different activities to do, some of which I would never have thought of (sausage making is the weirdest so far!). I've been hearing lots about burlesque parties lately - it's something of a growing trend, but I also think there are a lot of misconceptions about it too.

So when The Cheek Of It offered me the chance to find out a little bit more about their Burlesque School, I was super excited to do a little interview and share it with you guys. So over to Felicity Furore...

1. Hello! So could you tell us a little bit about The Cheek of It?
The Cheek of It! School of Burlesque and Cabaret is based on three words; empowerment, inspiration and fun! We think everybody should have a bit of glitter in their knickers! We were founded in 2007 by Zoe Charles, or Lady Cheek if you catch her onstage, with the aim to make the world a little bit cheekier!

2. What kind of classes and courses do you offer?
We run Showtime beginners and Spotlight advanced burlesque courses throughout the year, with a big graduation show at the end – and our Cheekettes just keep getting better and better! Every Wednesday we have a mid-week wiggle at Pineapple Dance studios in London, and we're always sending out our hen party teachers to glamorous locations!

3.Are they suitable for people who’ve dabbled in burlesque before or squarely aimed at beginners?
They're suitable for anyone. I'd happily join in one of the parties even now. It's all about letting go, having fun with friends and feeling awesome, no matter how much experience you have.

4.I know people will be wondering... do they have to take their clothes off?
Not unless they really insist! We do have a striptease portion of the party, but this is generally limited to either scarves or gloves. I have a stash of lovely long black silky gloves that make you feel sultry and seductive the moment you put them on, let alone begin to take them off! I like to focus on creativity, learning about all the ways you can take the item off while thinking about your character. Sexy, cheeky or cheesecake pin up, a mere glove peel can speak volumes!

5.Do you find people are nervous about doing burlesque classes or does it vary?
It varies a lot! People can have very different perceptions of burlesque, and it can take a moment to get across the notion that it's not all about being overly sexy and getting your tassels out! We have a few warm up tasks that tend to help people relax, let their guard down and just have fun! But of course, there are some who are raring to get going before you can even say 'shimmy'!

6.Can you give us any information about how much your classes cost?
There's a few different options with regard to cost, depending on whether you'd like to have the party in your own home or if you'd like us to find you a venue. Parties are very competitively priced, especially when you consider we cater for groups up to 25 people! Parties are from £250 for a two hour workshop including a cheeky gift for the bride-to-be.

7.Is there anyone you wouldn’t recommend your classes to?
Not at all, I believe that everyone can use a little extra shimmy and sparkle in their life!

8.What do you think people take away from your burlesque school?
I am a great believer in the power of burlesque to inspire and empower. Having been with the Cheek of It from the very start, I know from personal experience what an amazing effect it can have. I even remember my first class with Lady Cheek, and how my confidence grew right from my very first shimmy! If people go away from a class with a warm glow, a cheeky grin, and an extra slither of confidence, our work is done.

9.Do people need to bring anything to burlesque classes?
It's good to wear something you feel fabulous in. I also find that bringing a pair of heels or other fabulous shoes really does help bring out that all important showgirl strut!

10.How did you/your colleagues get into burlesque?
I began burlesque after graduating and moving back home. I went to an arts university and missed being around creative and theatrical people. Alongside that and my addiction to both glitter and beautiful lingerie, it seemed to be the obvious path to follow! After a few classes, I got completely hooked and here I am, glad to report that my since the start burley journey, I have met many wonderful, inspiring, creative people, not to mention expanded my collection of sparkly underwear!


Questions? Comments? Check out The Cheek of It on Facebook and Twitter or you can Facebook or tweet Felicity.

Top 5 games to play on hen parties

It's not a hen do without games. Even if you're having a quiet, non tacky hen do, you'd be surprised at how much a few silly games can break the ice. One of the aims of hen dos is for the bride's besties to get to know each other, and it means that at the wedding, you'll all be a bit more bonded. A bit of healthy competition will do wonders for that.

Here are my favourite top 5 games that will be completely at home at tacky or non tacky hen dos. The great thing with all of these is that they're as naughty or clean as you want to make them - so can be tailored to the bride, or the hens - ideal if the bride's mum is in attendance!

1. The wedding dress game
In teams, hens have to make a wedding dress (modelled by one of them) out of toilet roll and anything else they can find lying around. You can also supply coloured tissue paper, foil, bedsheets etc. The bride picks the winner. I recommend putting hens in teams with people they don't know well - this one really brings the competitiveness out!

We were robbed.

2. Mr & Mrs
A classic! Beforehand, get the groom to answer some questions about the bride. She then has to guess his answers. If she gets them wrong, you could always have her do a shot. If you've got anyone technical amongst your hens, you can always get them to film the groom and play his answers on a DVD, but good old paper works well too. Here's a link to some good questions (but at some point I'll compile my favourites on here!)

3. Memory game
This was a really lovely one, and can be as rude or as clean as you want. Every hen brings an item - wrapped up - that relates to a story about them and the bride. She then has to open them all in front of everyone, guess who it's from and tell the story. You can go emotional, funny or rude (the rude ones were the funniest, obvs).

4. The play dough game
This is a great one to bring out when waiting for food at a restaurant or over drinks. Pick three or four hens to wear blindfolds and sculpt something out of playdough in 2 minutes. What to sculpt? The possibilities are endless, but male and female parts are always a winner...

Not my handiwork!

5. Pass the Parcel
Any kids party games will work a treat, actually - drunken musical chairs, anyone? For pass the parcel, include dares in between each layer and you can even make the person doing the opening do a shot. The present inside can be anything you want - booze, chocolates or even something more risque like a sex toy!

There will be more posts on games coming in the future - please let me know if I've missed your faves in the comments!

Hello!

One of the things I’ve realised as I’ve got older is that I’ve got a lot of friends. Like a LOT. I’ve realised this because suddenly I spend almost every weekend going to weddings or hen dos. Well, that’s an exaggeration – but this year I’ve got five weddings on the cards. It’s not becoming uncommon to go to four or five a year… plus the hen dos.

I’m not complaining though – I actually really love weddings, and I really love hen dos. But I’ve gone to so many hens, and I’ve organised a fair few of them, that I thought it might be worthwhile compiling my experiences somewhere. A big reason why I blog is to share things and provide a resource for people, and with so many more people planning weddings right now, I feel like there’s no time like the present.

 So this is my new blog project – primarily about hen dos, but with a few wedding titbits in there too. I’m not an expert by any means – nor am I married! But hopefully this blog might help you if you’re planning a hen do.

Every month I'll be featuring stories from real life hens, inspiration for activities, games, dares, location spotlights, etc. I haven't been everywhere and I haven't done everything so if you want to contribute, please get in touch! If you're at all interested, I'd love for you to get involved.