So you’ve been asked by your bestie to do the honours as bridesmaid. That means discussing exciting wedding plans, going to bridal fittings, providing plenty of emotional support during the planning and of course, planning the all-important hen party! For those who have never organised a hen party – or even been to one – they can seem quite daunting to plan. But as always, we are here to help.
Costumes and hen party themes add fun to any hen celebration. Having a dress code helps put everyone in a festive mood, highlights the trend and is great for fun hen party photos #SquadGoals. Most of all, wearing special outfits makes the event more memorable. It’s a time when you laugh together commenting on how awesome or silly everyone looks. Plus, how good do you look on the snap story!
With that in mind, below are some costume and hen party theme ideas that you and your fellow bridesmaids (or brideslaves) can consider if you’re organising a hen party.
GLAMPING GALS
Glamping offers the fun of camping in the great outdoors, but with a bit of home comforts – which makes it the perfect hen party idea for a group of gals. Sleep under the stars in a bell tent, tipi, shepherd hut or a yurt. Every part of the country has its own little hidden gem, the hardest part is picking one! Your butler can even attend for part of this adventure, hey, how about a stripper dressed as Tarzan?!
TUXEDO PARTY
Another gender-bending idea that you can try is to have every member of your hen party dress up in tuxedoes. Stress not, you don’t need a full tux; you can simply wear a white shirt over black trousers, and then wear a bowtie to complete the look. The look above looks cool, fun and edgy. We can promise one of our boys will at least wear half a tux!
SEX AND THE CITY
Nothing says fun and chic like a sex and the city hen party theme. Have the cosmos at the ready as a welcome drink, have them served by your washboarded butler and ask the girls to dress up in iconic Carrie Bradshaw-inspired midi tutus paired with simple tops and statement heels. Add some jewels for extra glamour. If you don’t want a room of Carrie’s, you could ask each of the guests to dress as their favourite SATC character.
Bring this theme to life with some SATC inspired hen party games like dirty charades or the infamous bride quiz!
POP CULTURE ICON HEN PARTY
Of course, you can always go with traditional hen party attire like the custom t-shirts, sashes, tiaras, and tutus with naughty accessories. BUT, if you want something a bit more fun but equally raunchy, you can dress up as your favourite racy fictional characters.
Take for instance Felicity Shagwell, the leading lady from one of the Austin Powers films who became a pop culture icon. The character is a 1960s-era CIA agent who uses her sexuality as a weapon. Hens who want to dress up as Felicity Shagwell have two options to choose from: a dark blue romper with thigh-high boots and a pink-and-orange crocheted dress.
COACHELLA HEN PARTY
Just because Coachella is celebrated on the other side of the Atlantic doesn’t mean that you can’t channel it from down under! It’s the ultimate go to festival for cool style so a no brainer for inspiration for a ‘henfest’ or ‘henchella’. Tap into your inner flower child by dressing up in boho-inspired outfits, complete with flower crowns!
Why don’t you try Floral Stylist Co as a pre-hen party activity to hype up everyone before your butler arrives!
SUPERHERO HEN PARTY
I’ll tell you what I want, what I really, really want… A Spice Girls’ hen do! Take you and your girls back to the glory days, this theme is sometimes hard to pull off when there’s more than five of you – no one wants to be the manager!
HISTORIC OR VINTAGE HEN PARTY
History is filled with many interesting female figures that you can mimic as well. There’s Cleopatra, the Queen of the Nile; Bettie Page, the pin-up legend; and Mata Hari, an exotic dancer who was secretly a spy during World War I.
Alternatively, you can go for a vintage theme, with Stag & Hen Weekend suggesting to extend it to things like a vintage service car, bar and all sorts of activities. In the same vein, a more particular motif would be the 1920s. You can watch The Great Gatsby to get some inspiration on how to pull off this look.
