Hen NIght Inspiration - I'm Stuck!

Hi All,
Am really hoping you can help me, I've booked all my hens for 15th August and have been chatting with my MOH about what to do - and I just cant get inspired!! I really dont want a "L Plates and Fake Veils" kind of hen do, and just want something fairly girly (but not majorly) and mega relaxed. And I just cant find anything that excites me!!
Its got to be in Brighton, as I dont want everyone to have to travel and I want to keep it cheap for them. I would have thought Brighton would have had loads to do - but I'm really struggling!
I don't fancy a pamper day, there are no shows on I want to see, MOH has suggested cocktail making, but I can just imagine some horrid sleezy barman which really puts me off! I know I'm being impossible for my MOH, but I just cant help it!!

Has anyone got any ideas?

I think in an ideal world I'd know someone with a restaurant where we could go and have the whole place/ a private room for the evening, play our own music and have a boogie without anyone else being there - except the staff! But I don't LOL

Please help... there must be something out there for me!!

No One?

What about a restaurant or bar with a function room as if you all chipped in it wouldnt cost too much? Its hard I know, I;ve been trying to think of inspiration for mine! Have you just tried putting brighton hen do in google and seeing what comes up? Hope you get sorted hun xxx

Hi!
I am having a night at a 1950s themed bowling alley, so we are all going to get our best vintage outfits on, then it's karaoke in our own private booth and then a retro club night to end. All with lots of cocktails thrown in!!
My best friend had a pirate themed night - we dressed the garden up to look like a pirate ship, all wore fancy dress and had a treasure hunt, rum inspired 'grog' etc!
Another friend is planning to go 'glamping' at a Cath Kidston styled campsite in yorkshire, Silly games, more cocktails and bbq/campfire. She is going to get everyone to decorate their wellies in honour of it!!
Not sure if any of this is relevant to your night, but maybe there is something inspiring among it all!
Good luck - you'll have fun whatever you do!
x

Where is this posh campsite?!! I live in Yorkshire and very intrigued xxx

love the 50's bowling alley idea

The website is http://www.jollydaysluxurycamping.co.uk/

Although we are going in October, so we'll be packing our thermals!!

The bowling alley is in Bristol :

http://www.thelanesbristol.co.uk/

Thanks for all your replies - sorry I'm getting desperate LOL
I love the idea of the camping, but know my hens most certainly won't - even in August! Which is a shame, but I want them to enjoy it too.
I also love the 50s themed event, it was similar to what I thought of originally, but couldnt find anywhere suitable in Brighton.
The restaurant with function room could be an idea - I'll have to have a bit of a search and maybe phone some restaurants and see what I can come up with.
I have tried googling, but it just comes up with the standard cheerleading/ pole dancing/ chippendales type parties.
I know I'm being completely impossible!

http://www.thehanburyclub.com/events.php?date=15+Aug+2009

what about going to an event evening?

D&M - you and me both!

We're having afternoon tea at Hotel Du Vin in winchester - they are going to reserve a room in their restaurant for us, so it'll just be us. I've got a little hen with a wide range of ages (11-86) so something like pole dancing is out for me too (plus, I'd hate it!!). We're going out on a steam train in the morning (choo choo!) and then out for dinner in the evening too. Lots of mix and match things so the lass with a tiny baby can come to a bit, grandma can come to a bit and Dave's daughter can come to all of it.

I reckon it's worth asking smaller hotels/restaurants if you can hire a small function room - often places like hotels have meeting rooms for hire - just don't mention it's a hen do - call it an "event" and ask for what you actually want - you could have your own ipod disco and all sorts of fun.

Failing that, what about something like lucky voice - they have a bar in Brighton and it's supposed to be a wicked night out - I think Bennic did it for her hen do and had a fabulous time -great because there's only a little group of you again!

http://bars.luckyvoice.com/hello

I've had a little google for possible function rooms for you and came up with a coupkle:

http://www.circus-circus.co.uk/function.php
http://www.theroyalsovereign.com/function.html
http://www.rockinnbrighton.co.uk/functionroom.html
http://www.alduomo.co.uk/meeting_rooms/

Personally I reckon the last place sounds best - I know they are billed as meeting rooms but the place looks and sounds about right to me!

Good luck in your hunt - seems to be a nightmare if you know what you want and it isn't L plates!

Hi Again,
Thanks for all your replies,
Dusty - I think you may be on to something with the function rooms, altho I am worried about the potential prices. I've also done some googling and have contacted a load of them including some of yours (funnily enough I had my 21st at Circus Circus LOL). Alduomo sounds good tho! Thank you for that.
Hopefully they will come back to me soon as I'm getting a little panicked!!
I do like the idea of lucky voice, but have a feeling my hens won't - might be a fall back plan tho!
How on earth did you decide on the steam train!? Sounds really unique!

Thank you for all your help!!

Our old house used to back onto the Watercress line, and I loved hearing all the chuffing and steam and whistles. Whenever we walked anywhere I'd make an excuse to go past the station, and I want another trip on it! I might try and get a first class ticket and pretend I'm in Breif Encounter or something :\)

Try not to panic too much about what you're up to - it's over a month away. That's ages in the real (non wedding) world! It will be fine - I was having a bit of a stress (only sorted mine out this week) and then I realised the important thing was the people, not where we were - we'd have an equally nice time in my front room with a cake and a bottle of wine!

(Edited because I'm a muppet and muddled up my films )

[Modified by: DustyMoth on July 13, 2009 01:52 PM]

Hellooooo! I'm organising a hag do (only we're calling it a Penguin do) for my male gay friend in Brighton. He's inviting mainly girls but a few gay guys, so it's pretty much a hen do (he said he didn't want it to be called a hag do as it would be insulting to the ladies!).

I had a pain organising it as I usually go out in London, not Brighton, even though I live quite nearby (I work in London quite a lot and most of my friends live there). But there are some good places. I was also challenged as he wanted a lowish budget but I'm just going to sub it! I can't do really low budge!

Our itinerary is a kind of 'dip in and out' type thing... whatever people fancy.

Lunchtime-ish - Lunch/afternoon tea at The Tea Cosy in Kemptown. It is a really camp tea rooms thingy and the cheapest thing is about a fiver, so good for those with low budget. It is meant to be really good fun.

Afternoon - Pottery painting at The Painting Pottery Café - they cater for hen dos and birthday parties and you can bring your own nibbles and drinks. We'll probably bring some bubbly and snacks. You can either paint a piece for yourself, or everyone paints a piece of a set that the hen is given as a souvenir. You also all paint a platter for the hen. I've done this before, and even though it sounds naff (I think), it is actually really good fun and you get to chat to everyone. Also my friend who's getting married said he didn't want anything where you might break a sweat, and nothing tacky like L plates!

Alternative afternoon/daytime activities:
- I thought Bollywood dancing would be good fun. But that would necessitate breaking a sweat. A friend of mine did it recently and said it was brilliant fun. They do it in Brighton I think.
- I went to Go Ape for mine. Closest location would probably be somewhere in Kent, but it was absolutely brilliant - so much fun. You could hire a minibus and go there. Everyone loved it and it's really well organised and good for a group - there were 14 of us.
- Climbing. I would say that as I love that sort of thing, but then we have a climbing shed in our garden! There is a wall at Shoreham, or K2 in Crawley. Mail me if you want more details on climbing. Most people haven't done it before so it's a fun adventure. And it's quite easy to organise groups, and all equipment is provided.

Evening: We are going to The Royal York, where we are hiring one of their karaoke rooms for a couple of hours (our one concession to tackiness - he loves Abba and Eurovision). It means we can have some fun just with us, but then after that we'll be unleashing ourselves on the restaurant and bar. It's December so we can get a three course meal in the restaurant (it's meant to be really nice) and there's a disco afterwards. I thought it was easier to have everything in the evening in one place. That's what I did on my hen do (in London) and it worked really well - we had dinner and then moved to a different part of the bar (Floridita) and had cocktails, and my sister had hired a caricaturist, which was really fun.

Hope that helps!

We went to Madame JoJos which is in London - but I'm sure Brighton will have a similar drag queen cabaret evening!! It was brilliant and everyone loved it. We went for a cheapy meal at Pizza Express beforehand (there's often an offer on - we got 2 for 1 on main meals - look on the internet before you go) so it helped keep cost down and the cabaret ticket included entry to a gay bar next door for some cheesy dancing afterwards. It was brilliant. My MoH is lovely and the only thing I had to wear was a sash and a feather boa.

Hi DandM,
I had my hen do recently in brighton and went to the Marina - It was lovely we had a meal to start with then went to Karma which my MOH had hired a large maroccan table for us whilst we boogied - There was a quieter VIP area upstairs that was availiable to hire if that helps? It was an absolutely brilliant night and we all had a great time, lots of cocktails and a magnum of champagne x