The Stag Company, Hen Heaven’s sister (or should that be brother?) company, have entered a partnership with Zoo Magazine to find Britain’s most under the thumb man. And the good news is, not only can you ladies help, but you also stand the chance to win a superb prize yourself!

We all know plenty of ladies who wear the trousers in a relationship, the ones who run the show, who dictate the state of affairs. Maybe this applies to you! If it does, there’s added incentive to enter this one. Whilst the winning bloke will get to go on a lads’ Newcastle stag do-styled weekend away, his partner will be whisked away for a spa-tastic time in the style of a Bristol hen weekend. So not only do you get a few days away from each other but you get the best deal with plenty of pampering. Result! Oh, and the man gets to keep this little beauty:

How to Enter

To put forward your nominations, send an email to underthethumb@zootoday.com telling us why you think your chosen candidate should win a trip to Newcastle and be crowned Britain’s Most Under The Thumb Man 2012! And if that man just happens to be your partner, you’ll be heading off on an all-expenses paid spa weekend to Bristol. Good luck!

Four Signs Your Chosen Man Might Be Under the Thumb

• He needs to ask permission to go down the pub.
• He’s seen more than one of the Twilight films at the cinema.
• He leaves the room when he has to pass wind.
• His friends are magically replaced by the girl’s friends.

As the days fall by and our advent calendars start to empty, Christmas and the New Year are being pulled in ever-closer on the horizon and it’s in that spirit that we unveil our inaugural Hen Heaven awards for 2011. It’s been quite the year for marriages, hen nights and proposals, with most of the country came to a stand-still in April for the Royal Wedding between Will and Kate – but it’s not just been royal affairs that have been filling column inches in 2011, as you’ll see below…

Hen Heaven End of Year Awards

Celebrity Hen Party of the Year

Winner: Kate Moss

You’ve got to hand it to Kate Moss, when it came to the hen party, she didn’t muck around, heading off on (on last count) three weekends of boozy fun, first at Glastonbury to watch her now-husband Jamie play with his band, The Kills, before luxury trips around Paris and on a London hen night with her girlfriends. Thumbs up, Miss Moss.

Weirdest Wedding of the Year

Winner: Renee Armstrong

We told you about this one back in the summer, Renee Armstrong got to be the chief bridesmaid of her best friend Jamie Wilborn’s wedding while still keeping thousands of miles between them. Appearing on webcam throughout the service in America, Renee got to see her best friend exchange vows while dabbing at her eyes for tears on an iPad screen. Only in America.

Most On/Off Couple of the Year

Winners: Mark and Lauren (TOWIE)

An absolute no contest, this one. You could fill a thousand novels with the sheer number of words that have been dedicated to this relationship in glossy magazines and tabloid newspapers over the past 12 months. We think they’re sort-of/kind-of back together now (at the time of writing).

Proposal of the Year

Got to be the flashmob London tube proposal as featured in this ‘ere blog a few months back. Here it is again, if you haven’t seen it:

Shortest Wedding of the Year

Winner: Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries.

Another no contest, the wedding lasted a frankly embarrassing 72 days before Kardashian filed for divorce. It has since been alleged that the wedding was a publicity stunt and that the reality TV star never got over her ex-boyfriend Reggie Bush.

Film of the Year

A modern comedy classic, Bridesmaids has packed out multiplexes and flown off the shelves at DVD retailers in the past 12 months. Including some of the best gross-out slapstick you’ll ever see and one of the smartest, sassiest scripts of recent times and you’ve got yourself Hen Heaven‘s film of the year.

A break from our normal run-through hen party ideas to bring you some wedding news hot off the press…

A Liverpool man has been found guilty of arson after setting fire to the castle that was the venue for his wedding. Peckforton Castle in Chester had to be evacuated after the row over the drinks bill that led to the wing of the building catching ablaze at Kay’s hands. The property developer denied a count of arson with intent to destroy or damage property and endanger life. The damage to the castle equated to £6million worth according to the prosecuting lawyer Duncan Bould, who also said:

“There were a large number of guests staying that night. Fortunately, the premises was equipped with an efficient fire alarm and the combination of that and the staff meant that all the guests were able to be evacuated.”

Patrick Thompson, defending Max Kay said in the Hunts Cross man’s defence:

“He has gone through great personal strain. He was made bankrupt and had various difficulties going on in his life.”

Kay was captured on CCTV making his way into the drawing room (it doesn’t say whether he had a can of gas and a pack of matches) where the fire reportedly started. The judge Roger Dutton sympathised with the groom but that sympathy only went so far:

“Not many people set fire to the place where it takes place.”

And he warned Kay: “I have to tell you, so you understand, that it’s inevitable in my judgement that you will go to custody when sentenced. This is an extremely serious matter.”

There will now be a psychiatric report into the man’s mental state before sentencing is carried out.

Quite unpleasant business, in happier news our brother site, The Stag Company has launched a brand spanking new website which you should all get over to at your earliest convenience – don’t forget to pass it onto the best man for your wedding to put together something special for the stag do.

As the title suggests, we’re on the lookout for your proposal stories. With the leap-year coming up we’re working with a top bridal magazine looking at women who might have popped the question to their significant other as the old tradition dictates. We want to hear your best proposal stories – the more original the better – if your hubby or hubby-to-be popped the question in an interesting way we want to hear from you… email stories to mark.booth@henheaven.co.uk

These will take some beating:

or this one:

But NOT like this one:

Got it? Good. Remember to email into mark.booth@henheaven.co.uk to be in with a chance of winning a discount code for our hen weekends.

This is a guest post from our friends over at Polestars…

Hula Hooping is not just an activity for kids – it’s always been a fun activity that brings people of all ages together, and is a great way to stay in shape. In recent years, it’s become so popular as a fitness activity that many gyms have begun offering hula workshops; In many of London’s parks, you’ll also find regular hoop groups that are very welcoming to newcomers.

To get started in hooping, we recommend you buy a good quality hula hoop, and begin a course or tutorial session in hula hooping – it might seem easy to get started and do it your own, but experts warn that to get the full fitness benefit of this activity, hoopers need the correct training. Once you have the basics learned, it’s easy to quickly move on to tricks – hooping from your legs, arms, or even neck!

The numbers – a properly trained hooper can expect to burn around 300 calories for every 30 minute session – that’s a Jaffa cake every five minutes! A recent study of hula hooping by the American centre of exercise suggested that it should be considered a total-body workout – not bad for something that we all loved as kids!

Another reason hula hooping is a great activity is because it’s very social – you can do it with your workmates during lunch; with friends on the weekend; or even at birthday or hen parties! As the beginning of a big night out, a hula hooping hen party is a great idea – it gets everyone warmed up, and, more importantly, means you don’t have to feel guilty about being a little over-the-top with the rest of the nights activities!

For more hen party ideas please visit our site or call 01273 225 075.