I have been waiting on the edge of my seat to see and hear all about Adeline’s Hen do in sunny Brighton. Adeline and her hen’s had a fantastic weekends, full of ideas you can steal for your do too :-) Take it away Adeline…. XOXO Lou

Here Come The Girls……

I feel that I am truly blessed to have a very close group of girlfriends that I rely on for everything! Don’t get me wrong, Andy is my rock and my best friend, but when you just need a natter, a gossip and a moan, no one beats turning to the ladies in your life!

I have lots of close friends and wanted them all to feel like they had a part in my wedding. I didn’t want to have lots of bridesmaids so I only chose 3, which were supposed to just be family members, but I changed those around slightly after upsetting one with our ‘no children’ rule…. whoops! I had 3 very special roles to fill, which I left to the other girls. It was fitting to have my friend Stacy as our witness because without her new years eve meddling 7 years ago, Andy and I may not have ended up together! I also needed someone to help me on the day, but didn’t want to stress my bridesmaids out with it, so asked an old school friend, Alice. She will help me get dressed on the day and make sure that everything runs smoothly!

This left one very important role to fill and one lovely lady to fulfil it….. To plan my HEN PARTY!!!! Step up Emma! The most organised person on the planet and a fellow bride-to-be! No one was going to be better equipped for this role than her!

I gave Emma some guidelines as to what was needed of her! I chose the weekend, let her know that it needed to be within half an hour of an airport (as myself and friend, Becs would be heading South from Edinburgh) and that she needed to find a weekend cottage for 12 of us to stay in!

I also sent her a link to a 50′s Mad Men hen party I found on Love My Dress that really caught my eye!

From it, Emma produced an amazing and fun filled weekend! She had input from my future sister-in-law, Sophie (who is the drinking/ice-breaker game expert) and Stacy (who knows everything about me!)

Firstly, Emma found a wonderful cottage that would sleep up to 14 people in Brighton! Not only was the location fabulous, but the cottage was a former sweet-shop that had been converted to a Kath Kidson style 50′s house! Perfect or what!

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During this girly night in, one of the girls, Stacy, produced 12 pairs of fluffy boots. This is something I used to wear regularly on a weekend when I was 17 with one of my bridesmaids, Emily. Something that I really wanted to leave in my past, but was fun to have everyone wear for the weekend! We even had t-shirts made by the talented Dolly, who produced all my wedding stationery, which had the French versions of all of our names on the back (as a nod to my French roots!)

After being the last to bed (along with Emily) and a few hours sleep, I was first awake (again with Emily!), which was probably a bad move! With 12 girls and 2 bathrooms, we did well to be out of the door in time (albeit feeling a little queasy!) We headed out in our matching t-shirts and fluffy boots! We went to the lanes and found the nearest coffee shop! I NEEDED to order a water, iced tea AND a coffee! (yes I had drank that much the night before!)

Around the corner from the coffee shop was the Angel Food Bakery. Emma had booked us onto a cupcake decorating class!

This class was awesome! Not only were a lot of us nannies (who LOVE to bake), but after a quick tutorial on how to make perfect cupcakes (and a take home recipe), we each got 12 cupcakes, YES 12!!! to decorate! Don’t ask me what we were going to do with 144 cupcakes, but we were allowed to decorate them however we wanted! They showed us some techniques and then gave us different icing and jars of sprinkles, star and chocolate bits!

We did end up making quite a mess though and were all covered in glitter/chocolate/icing…..

That didn’t stop us heading out to the pier for some seaside fish and chips though! We were so lucky with the weather that the coats and cardies even came off! We grabbed some food (so did the seagulls… typically I was the only one attacked by them!) and we headed to the amusements!

This was an interesting part of the day. Half the hens got on the rides, half (very sensibly may I add), watched from the side lines! I was made to go on the Waltzers and the Mouse Roller Coaster. Not good with a hang over and a belly full of fish and chips! Only one of the hens (not me!!) was sick though! Not too bad!

We headed back for a bit of chill out time and more showers, so the girls could ‘glam’ themselves up! I was told to wear trousers, my fluffy boots and hen t-shirt. Again, all ready on time, we met downstairs where I was blind-folded and ‘dressed up’! This is what they did to me!…..

We headed out to a gorgeous Italian restaurant called Donatello’s in the Lanes which did an amazing 3-course set meal for £16.95. This included basically everything on the menu and was available on a Saturday night! It was perfect and everyone enjoyed the food!

We then headed to the Pitcher and Piano, where I was faced with more shots and lots of crazy tasks to do! Including heading to the men’s loos and crying (!) and getting a pair of socks from a guy (!!). Instead of dragging out the night and being a bit ‘square’, I took the challenges as they came and got on with it! After lots of dancing and ending up with my bra on the outside of my top, we headed back for more chatting and cups of tea! Emily and I were last to bed again at 4am!

Another sore head the next day took us to Bill’s for brunch. The food there was amazing! Sophie (my future sister-in-law) and I couldn’t resist a cheeky Prosecco with our food, everyone else stayed sensible and opted for tea and coffee!

After breakfast, the girls all started heading back to their lives. 5 of us went back to the pier for a little 2p gambling and one last go on the Waltzers (probably not the best idea!).

Sophie and I even went on the Air Diver Super Booster (uh-huh!) Apparently there are only 7 of these in the world! They hang you from 40ft in the air and drop you at 60 mph! Let’s just say, it wasn’t the best way to end the hen weekend! (*queasy*)

Now, my second hen party is this weekend… here’s hoping for a quieter affair……

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