Of course I had to get a photo with the Ring Balloon

A Friend Who Doesn’t Want a Hen Party?

What do you do when a bride doesn’t want a hen party? This happened to me! And the first thought that popped into my head was – is planning a hen party not the ultimate role of a bridesmaid?

What do you think of when you think of a hen party? To me it is all about the send-off! It is your nearest and dearest giving you the best girlie treat ever before you get hitched! And so on this basis Jenny (the other bridesmaid) and I organised an intimate hen (aka. girls night away) for our dear friend, Zoë!

After plenty of chats, Zoë agreed to a low key girls night away – just the 3 of us! She is not one for any fuss or any attention so the next thing was to find the perfect spot…

As we were thinking of locations, Zoë’s wedding dress arrived into her bridal shop in Kilkenny and so by pure luck we managed to get an appointment for the weekend we wanted to go away! To add to the excitement we didn’t tell Zoë much!!! We booked the Lyrath and got a triple room which was perfect! Ironically I had my hen party in the Lyrath too so lots of memories here for me!

We had a lovely bottle of bubbly in the room getting ready and gave Zoë her only accessory for the night …  a giant ring balloon! She wasn’t too keen on it initially but she got into it and it came out with us for the night! We booked dinner in the gorgeous Italian, Rinuccini! As soon as we got into the restaurant Zoë thought the waiter was coming to take her coat but instead he snatched the balloon from her and put it under the stairs!!! We just found it hilarious and it added another story to our balloon! And don’t worry the balloon reappeared when we were leaving! We headed off to the Left Bank for a few and then back to the Lyrath for a night cap 😉

Thankfully the heads were in good shape on Saturday morning when we headed off to the Spa for a few treatments! When I was in Penney’s during the week I couldn’t resist picking up the “Bride” and “Bride Squad” swimsuits! We had such a laugh with them and got some great photos in the Thermal Suite! They even matched our bridal flip flops too!

Following this we had afternoon tea looking out over the gardens of the Lyrath and we spent hours just chatting and drinking tea! I really think this is such a lovely idea for the hen party – great way to get to know everyone; lovely way to catch up with friends! Even nicer if you add a glass of Prosecco with it too! You can really dress it up too with signs, candles, banners, canape flags, drink parasols etc

The Saturday afternoon was so exciting collecting Zoë’s dress. I had never been to this bridal shop before and I loved every minute of the experience! We got a glass of champagne as Zoë tried on the dress (which is just out of the world! So perfect!) There is nothing more special than seeing your best friend in their wedding dress. I cannot wait to see it again in a few weeks! This was the perfect way to finish our girlie night away.