As us girls hit a certain age, the succession of engagements, hen weekends, weddings and babies soon follow. The problem is that the timing of these significant life events aren’t always in sync with your best friends, much as we would like it to be.
As you can imagine when my best friend in the whole world got engaged, just as I fell pregnant, it was mixed emotions. On one hand I was ecstatic that she was getting married but the thought of being a bridesmaid and surviving her hen weekend whilst being 6 months pregnant filled me with dread.

Following her fantastic news came a series of bridesmaid fittings – a difficult scenario when you are completely unaware of the size you are going to grow to. The next thing to worry about was the hen party. After being friends for 15 years of course I had planned what we would do for her hen weekend in my mind for some time, but in this fantasy I had never imagined that I would be there and unable to drink carrying my unborn baby around. Never mind I wasn’t going to let that spoil the celebrations.

I organised a Bristol hen party for 15 girls. My friend trained as a dancer so a dance class was always going to be on the agenda and that spirit we did a fantastic Burlesque experience followed by dinner and dancing in bars and clubs. It was an amazing weekend, prior to the event we filmed a documentary and dressed up as all of her ex-boyfriends and got her husband to be in it to film a message for her, which she loved.

I wasn’t able to participate in everything during the course of the weekend, but it didn’t matter I had a great time, here are my tips on how to survive a hen do if you are pregnant:

Top 10 Tips

(1).Prior to the weekend double check if there is a fancy dress theme and if there is track your fancy dress outfit down a week before you go away, if you cannot find something that will fit your pregnant shape do not fret and just get an accessory that fits the theme, this way you we still be part of the themed weekend without feeling uncomfortable about the way you look.

(2).Take with you some refreshments and snacks: bottled water, savoury snacks- just in case there are long gaps between meals- this can happen when there are activities and a large group. It’s also a good idea to take some alcohol alternative drinks – Shloer, Appetizer, non-alcoholic beers – this way when everyone is drinking whilst getting ready to go out, you can still feel involved.

(3).Prior to going out, be aware that you may need to travel back on your own if you get tired so be equipped with the details of a local cab firm or bus routes etc.

(4).Remember to pack comfy shoes just in case your hotel/accommodation is not in the centre of town and you may need to walk a distance to get to the local facilities.

(5).Do some research into the places that you are going to so that you know whether you will be able to stay for a long period of time, if it is a busy bar find out what time it gets really busy.

(6).When organising the rooms and who everyone is going to share with, it’s a good idea to not share with the hen or any of the hard party enthusiasts. Not just for the sake of your night’s sleep, but for the party-enthusiasts too so they don’t have to creep around while you’re asleep.

(7).I would suggest if you can have a nap at some point during the course of the weekend this way you can be up late and be part of the fun evening festivities.

(8).As you will be the most sober person, make sure you get lots of snaps of the weekend – the hen will thank you for this later on and it will also give you something to focus on when everyone is doing drinking games or dares. Having a role can bridge the gap between any feelings of not being fully involved.

(9).One of the best things about being pregnant during a hen weekend is the fun you will have telling everyone the next day about the antics of the night before.

(10).Make sure you embrace the fact that you will be waking up from a hen party without a hangover and have fun watching everyone suffer.

So there you have it, a 10 point survival guide to the hen weekend – don’t accept that the weekend will be a write-off and you’re just keeping up appearances. Make yourself part of the fun and enjoy the experience of a hen party even though you’re expecting!
For hen party ideas, visit the Hen Heaven website or call 01273 225 075.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

Sister Before the Mister

Don’t leave the bromances just for the boys, this is your chance to do some top quality bonding before married life kicks in, the perfect chance to spend one more night as a single lady before married life. You can choose from any of the cities in our roster of Hen Party UK destinations where we’ll see to your mini hen party needs with the same precision as we will for your main hen night.

Weddings are a stressful affair from a planning point of view, which means, in our eyes at least, you’ve earned more than just one night out to blow off some steam on the dancefloors of your chosen city. We have the biggest “little black book” of contacts of any hen party planning company so you can trust us to send you to the very best and livliest haunts to mark your bride-to-be’s passage down the aisle.

Please visit our website or call 01273 225 075 to find out more about our fabulous hen weekends start putting together your little piece of Hen Heaven.

“So did you enjoy my big black present I got you?? (sic)” to which her friend and colleague replied: “Had a blast & your present was VERY much appreciated!!! xx.”

Talk about spicing up your life…

It hasn’t always been gifts and platitudes for the pair though, Bassingthwaighte (a nightmare to spell) and The Artist Formerly Known As Scary Spice had a very public spat which saw Yorkshire’s favourite pop star label her fellow judge “dishonest” before the bride-to-be hit back saying Scary “needs a slap”.

Mel teased us further on the hen party accessories front by tweeting,

“You guys should ask @nataliebassing what I got her last night for her hen night out, it’s up to her to tell you, but it’s bloody hilarious!!!! My lips are sealed @nataliebassing is the ONLY one that can tell you!!”

C’mon Mel, let’s play 20 questions… is it bigger than a bread bin? Is it something you can put in your mouth? Wait… don’t answer that…

“And @nataliebassing has the pictures to prove it, if she dare show you guys!! hahahahaha,”

Bassingthwaighte responded with: “Oh yes don’t we have some pics. I’ve lost my voice from screaming so much. x.”

Frankly we’re losing patience… I guess we’ll just have to leave it to our imaginations, though don’t spend too much time, will you, ladies? Only so much time should be devoted to imagining what a big black present could consist of…

We’re off for a stiff drink and a long hard look at ourselves in the mirror. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/hen_heaven.

The story began in 2001 on Catherine’s London hen party,

She recalls: “Kristian smiled and said: ‘Good band’ and I agreed. It was 80s night and New Order, one of my favourite bands, was on.”

“I ­discovered Kristian was five years older than me, a chef, and we shared the same quirky taste in music.”

The pair went back to his flat for a nightcap and kissed. Remarkably she still got married in the morning to Keith, but the relationship soon turned sour,

“Often we argued about something small and every day I thought of Kristian. One day, after a row with Keith, I decided to ring him.

“My hands were trembling and when the ­answerphone clicked in and I heard his voice my heart began ­thumping, but I asked if he wanted to meet for coffee the next day.”

It was there they swapped email addresses and began am email affair for the next 2 years. Suddenly the emails stopped and Catherine saw him in the pub with another woman,

A strange feeling of ­betrayal flooded through me. Whatever we had was over.”

Eventually Catherine called time on her marriage and she finally… ahem… consumated her relationship with Kristian, despite the girlfriend. Although he was reluctant to leave her initially, eventually they split up and the relationship was finally on. A few months later, exactly six years after they met on her sordid hen party London style, Kristian drove them to the nightclub carpark where they met. He proposed and in April 2009 they married.

“­People are amazed when I tell them that I first met my husband on ­­my hen night before my wedding ­­to Keith.

“But being apart for those five years only made Kristian and I realise just how much we belonged together.”

So there you have it, the evidence is in, what do you reckon? Romantic? Horrible? Can’t help but feel a bit sorry for the two people who’ve been messed around by this pair, maybe we should arrange a blind date for them both.

I dunno, weekend now, have a think about it over the weekend and let us know if you think it’s romantic or not. Thanks.

The daughter of Bernie Ecclestone, the Formula 1 boss, has recently starred in a brand new reality TV show in an attempt to reveal herself from her father’s ample shadow. It probably won’t surprise you to hear that Tamara is no stranger to partying and pampering but she’s also planned a hen party or 2 – most notably for her sister, Petra, when she was getting married to another entrepreneur, James Stunt. Tamara was responsible for throwing both the hen and stag nights, which took place at her home – Petra had been expecting a laid back low key dinner at the house but was suprised when Tamara arranged a no-holds barred night,

We had strippers. Male and female. We had this act from the club The Box, who were lesbians dropping boiling hot wax over each other. There was wax all over my carpets and I have OCD, so I was cleaning that up the next morning off my carpet. We had a sex workshop,

What else did we do? There were these girls with sex toys showing the boys what to do with them and all the guys were mortified. We had a shot bar and I was the bartender, making skittles shots and funny shots. It was the best night ever.”

Have to say, that’s pretty impressive, Tamara – if the well ever runs dry we might just have an opening for you over here at Hen Heaven. Give us a shout.

And that goes for you too, dear reader, if you have any hen party ideas or pictures from your big hen weekend packages, do give us a call.