So, you’ve got a food loving Bride To Be on your hands, and you’ve been tasked with organising her (delicious) last night of non-married freedom? There’s no doubt about it - while the highly coveted role of Maid of Honour is, well, an honour, organising the Hens Party can be a stressful and overwhelming experience. Whether you’re the lucky lady getting hitched or are organising the special night for her, we’ve made your life easier by shortlisting 16 of the best - and tastiest - activities for the Foodie and Drinkie Hen, from cosy wine nights and bar crawls to boozy brunches and high tea.
1) Themed Potluck
There’s just something about food that brings people together, especially when a Potluck is on the table (pun intended). The perfect evening for any foodie Bride To Be, guests simply need to be asked to bring a homemade entree, main dish or dessert of the Hen’s favourite cuisine (think antipasti as an entree, pizza and pasta as the main and tiramisu for dessert), and a delicious, communal social extravaganza awaits. Make sure there’s plenty of bubbly too - this is a night of celebration after all!
2) Hens Wine Tour
Wine tasting has, over the years, become an increasingly popular Hens Party activity, and with a day of sunshine, friends, copious amounts of the region’s best wine and a happy Hen on offer, it isn’t difficult to see why. On the other hand, if the thought of calling different wineries, organising modes of transport and attempting to keep to schedule on the day is enough to send you into a stress induced meltdown, allowing someone else to take care of the planning for you may help the day run smoother - and will be a lot more enjoyable for you and the Hen!Thankfully, AmazingCo offers a fully organised Hens Wine Tour experience, in which you, the Bride To Be and a group of her closest friends are driven around through the scenic rolling countryside by your own private driver, stopping to taste delicious wine varieties from the best wineries your chosen region has to offer! Best of all, you don’t have to take care of a single thing, so sip back, and relax.
Check out AmazingCo’s Hens Wine Tour here!
3) Masterchef competition
Do you know a slightly competitive Hen who loves all things food? Let her embrace her inner chef in a delicious, unique and competitive way by throwing her a Masterchef Hens party! Simply allocate guests into smaller groups (sizes depend on the total number of the group) and randomly assign each team with one of the Bride To Be’s favourite dishes. Lay out all ingredients that teams will need out on a table, pop open a few bottles of wine, set a timer and get cooking! Leave it up to your Hen to see if she would like to participate, or rather judge without bias at the end!
4) Hens Mystery Picnic
So you’re organising a Hens Party for a Bride To Be who doesn’t quite get around partying it up until the early hours of the morning at a club or bar? Enter AmazingCo’s Mystery Picnic, a scavenger hunt-esque experience in which the Hen and her friends must successfully work together as a group to solve a number of clues and riddles in order to pick up their delicious picnic items (from local artisan stores, no less). Best of all, the final beautiful location of the picnic is a secret, and the entire experience is pre planned, so you don’t need to worry about a single thing except making sure the Bride To Be is having the time of her life.
Check out AmazingCo’s Hens Mystery Picnic here!
5) Bar Crawl
If you don’t know your Hen’s favourite bars, get ready to find out fast, because you’re about to be visiting all of them. Bar crawls never fail to provide a night of hilarious shenanigans, and a night of shenanigans is a strict requirement for a successful Hens night. Perfect for the Bride To Be who enjoys a night out on the town and a cocktail or three, make sure to keep the exact order of locations a secret so she enjoys an element of surprise. For extra fun, make a treasure map for the Hen to keep on her and watch her try and figure out where your next delicious location is!
6) Boozy Brunch
As the ancient proverb goes, a boozy brunch is a good brunch (this is definitely a real proverb), and provides for a truly unique Hens party activity. Perfect for the foodie Bride To Be fond of an avo smash or a stellar eggs benny, bottomless sparkling and mimosas (the usual culprits) help crank up the celebratory spirit. Ideal as a stand alone day time activity or a little something to get the Hen and her guests in the party mood for a night out on the town later on, there’s little room to go wrong when choosing a boozy brunch.
A number of cafes offer Boozy Brunches, but make sure to book a table to ensure there are availabilities for your group as places fill up quickly!
7) Rooftop Bar
Nestled high above the hustle and bustle of the busy streets below lie cosy, hip, other worldly watering holes. Rooftop bars provide the perfect oasis for the Bride To Be and her group of friends to have a cheeky wine (or three) before a night out on the town, or if your Hen prefers to stay in one place, are perfect for grabbing a larger table, some delicious bar snacks and cocktail jugs, and chatting (or dancing) the night away.
8) Dumpling Night
If your Hen is an avid fan of dumplings (and we can’t see why she wouldn’t be), consider celebrating the delicious Asian cuisine and the Bride To Be in style with a full blown, delicious Dumpling Night. Either gather the Hen’s closest friends at her favourite dumpling house (ensuring you have also stocked up on plenty of BYO wine!) and get the party started before heading on a night out after, or if the Bride To Be prefers not to wander too far, spend the night hopping from restaurant to restaurant in Chinatown, sipping on jugs of delicious Asian infused cocktails while you’re there!
9) Hens Cocktail Class
Be it their delicious taste or their ridiculously aesthetic nature, beautiful cocktails never fail to make any situation feel slightly more celebratory, and mastering the art of these creations makes for a truly spectacular Hens party activity. Perfect for the Bride To Be who enjoys the finer things in life, the Hen (and you!) will love learning the tricks of the trade from an expert cocktail bartender, as well as embracing your competitive side with games and activities (oh, and receiving an impressive drink on arrival). The experience is perfect as either a stand alone event, or unique activity before heading out for a night on the town. So what will it be, Espresso Martini, Pina Colada or Cosmo?
Check out AmazingCo’s Hens Cocktail Class here!
10) Crafts and Cocktails
Ever held a creative piece of home made artwork in one hand, refreshing cocktail in the other? No? Nor has your special Hen, we presume. But with a crafts and cocktails Hens Party, your (and the Bride To Be’s) wildest dreams are about to come true, and is perfect for a crafty Hen either wanting a low key (yet fun) night in, or a unique activity to get the party started before heading for a night out on the town. To ensure the night is a success, make sure to stock up on all necessary ingredients for your Hen’s favourite cocktails (and sufficient garnish for aesthetic purposes, of course - you can never go wrong with a sprig of rosemary), as well as the materials you’ll be needing for your crafty pieces of art (think ceramics, DIY terrariums, watercolour paintings, scrapbooks of the Bride To Be and her friends… ).
11) Hire a Personal Chef
There are times in life when hiring a personal chef is a very good idea, and a Party for a Bride To Be who loves all things food is one of these times. Sit back and relax as a professional does the work for you, and if you’ve hired wait staff, enjoy knowing that your washing up will be dealt with too (translation: you don’t need to do a thing except ensure the Bride To Be is having a blast). With so many personal chef companies available on the web, your cuisine options are plentiful, but to ensure the night is a success, make sure you have an indication of the Bride’s favourite dishes and make your personal chef aware of these.
12) High Tea
While no experts on the precise matter, we’re fairly sure no one has ever had a bad experience at High Tea. And amongst towers of cucumber sandwiches, mini meringues and intricate flower adorned tea pots serving piping hot contents, it isn’t hard to see why the afternoon makes for an excellent and unique Hens Party activity. While a number of fancy hotels provide High Tea parties in their dining halls (Melbourne’s The Langham is a popular culprit), AmazingCo offers a more flexible DIY version - perfect for the Bride To Be who prefers to be pampered in the comfort of her own home.Hot Tip- as the afternoon progresses, swap the tea with champagne (or start the bubbly early for a Tea Party spin on the classic boozy breakfast!).
Check out AmazingCo’s Hens High Tea Party Kit, as well as other Hens Party DIY Kits here!
13) Wine and Paint
There’s something about a boozy craft afternoon (or ‘crafternoon’, as the initiated call it) that gets the creative juices (and wine!) flowing, making it the perfect unique and memorable Hens Party activity. Of the many crafty activities out there, a late afternoon of painting is a favourite - and while a number of studios offer workshops, we think it’s just as much fun doing it yourself. Simply gather the Bride To Be and her closest friends, make sure you have all necessary equipment (if paint is too messy, watercoloring makes a great substitute), light some candles, crack open a few bottles of wine and get into the party spirit!
14) Picnic on a Boat
If your special Hen enjoys being one with nature and loves her food, consider giving her the best of both worlds with a picnic boat ride! A number of companies offer boat hire with the bonus feature of being licensed, meaning you, your Hen and her ladies can even sip on some delicious wine (or cocktails!) while enjoying your delicious picnic and serene boat ride - just ensure there’s no drinking and driving! The picnic is perfect for a bit of fun before a night out on the town, but a slightly longer boat ride also makes for a great stand alone activity.
15) Hens Wine and Cheese Trivia Night
If there’s one thing we know for certain, it’s that cheese and wine are a match made in heaven - a fact your foodie Hen probably knows all too well. It thus goes without saying that a combination of these two things creates the perfect and unique Hens party for your foodie Bride To Be. And with an addition of trivia, the Bride To Be will be able to not only eat and drink to her heart’s content, but also engage in some friendly competition between her and her best friends.
Check out AmazingCo’s Hens Wine and Cheese Trivia Night here!
16) Fancy three course dinner
Perfect for the Foodie Hen who enjoys the finer things in life, a fancy three course dinner party will let the Bride To Be sit back, relax, and enjoy her favourite cuisine with her best friends in style. A number of restaurants offer three course set menus, but to personalise the activity even more, consider hiring a personal chef (and wait staff so you don’t need to worry about any washing up!) to cook for the Hen and her best friends at home instead. To make the night as fancy as possible, ask all the guests to dress up in their finest, and decorate the table with candles (long candle sticks in empty wine bottles look beautiful!) and flowers.
