I’ve dedicated a whole section to games as they are low cost and work well as ice breakers when you have a mix of people who don’t all know each other. Combine into a games night and you have a great first day activity.

Games

Porn or Polish?

You’ll have noticed many a ridiculous nail polish name in your time, but that’s what makes this next hen do game, Porn or Polish, possible.

Hopefully the name speaks for itself, but essentially take the names of 5 nail polishes and 5 porn films, read them out, and ask your guests to guess which is a nail polish name and which is a porn film name. Whoever gets the most right answers wins and can get a little prize (have a couple in case people tie) - a nail polish with a saucy name feels like the best option here. Rimmel has a great selection to choose from including Urban Affair, Down to Business and Roll in the Grass.

I’m working on my own template, but in the meantime it’s super easy to create your own - you can even use the names above for the polish section.

Pin the junk on the hunk…

Pin the junk on the hunk, essentially a more saucy and definitely not child appropriate, version of pin the tail on the donkey, is always a good laugh, gets everyone involved and is basically a bit silly. You can buy many versions of the game online.

You can adapt these ready made games to make them more personal to the bride-to-be if you so wish, for example by sticking a picture of the groom’s head on top of the model (which I’ve seen done, but feels a tad overfamiliar for my liking)!

Don’t miss the Mr…

And then there’s my own version which you can make (cheaply) based on the bride’s celebrity crush. Simply get a picture of your chosen “hunk” and stick him to a piece of A1 paper. Feel free to decorate around the edges. Guests are then blindfolded and asked to stick on your homemade “junk” as close to the correct position as possible. You could make out of card and use blu tac. Or you could mix it up and create lips to stick as close to the hunk’s mouth as possible. The options are pretty endless.

Just a side note that this idea was born when my best mate, one week prior to her hen do, asked for Daniel Craig to be involved (!). Even with all the time in the world I don’t think I’d have managed to get him strolling out of the sea in teeny trunks, but I did what I could with the time. We all get curve balls, but you can usually come up with some creative solution - even if it is a tad rough round the edges (see accompanying pic)!

Who’s who?

A fun, straightforward, and pretty much free hen do game to play.

Ask each guest to share a fact about themselves, which the bride doesn’t know, in advance of the hen do. Write each fact out on a piece of paper and lay out, alongside a polaroid pic of each guest (or the name of each guest if that’s easier) and ask the bride to match the fact to the guest.

There are lots of variations of this game. For example each guest buying the bride a pair of knickers, or a present linked to a special memory, and the bride guessing who bought what. These do feel more complicated though and involve the guests spending more money, whereas the above does not.

Mr and Mrs

A classic hen do game - how well do the bride and groom know each other? Simply ask the groom a series of questions in advance, ask the bride the same questions at the hen do and see how many they match on.

It’s fun to film the groom’s answers if you can as then you capture all the funny, and sometimes sweet, musings before he answers.

If the bride gets a question wrong, she can do a shot or dare - although remember to always stay safe. If she gets a question right, she can nominate one of the hen do crew instead.

In the past I’ve asked guests to bring a little gift under £5 - sexy, silly or sentimental - as an extra treat for the bride when she gets a question right.

One watch out though - you don’t want the bride to get every question wrong and start worrying she’s doing the wrong thing (I’ve seen this happen!) Hen do’s can get emotional and overwhelming - the games shouldn’t add to this. So, make sure you ask some questions that they’re guaranteed to get right, like the first time they met or where they had their first kiss. I’ve included some questions for inspiration below, categorised to help get the balance right. 10-15 questions should be plenty - you don’t want to lose the room or have a hammered bride.

Mr and Mrs questions

Simple - hopefully they’ll nail these!:

  • How did you meet?

  • Where did you go on your first date?

  • When was your 1st kiss?

  • Who said “I love you” first?

Sweet - cue lots of oohing and ahhing - hopefully…:

  • What is your favourite thing about the bride?

  • What made you fall in love with the bride?

  • When did you know that this was the woman you wanted to marry?

Sexy - perhaps avoid if you have mum’s and mother’s in law in tow:

  • Who is your celebrity crush?

  • Who is her celebrity crush?

  • What is your favourite part of XX’s body?

  • What is XX’s favourite part of your body?

  • What is XX’s favourite sex position?

  • What is your favourite sex position?

Silly - unlikely to get the right answer but good fun, especially if you record the answers:

  • If you could compare yourself to any celebrity couple, who would it be and why?

  • What is the bride’s most annoying habit?

  • What would she say is your most annoying habit?

  • If the bride could take one thing to a desert island (not including you), what would she take?

Hen do bingo

Hen do bingo is super simple to organise and a good first game to break the ice. Just like normal bingo, everyone takes a bingo card, you call out the words as you pick them out, and people cross them off as they go. The first person to complete a row up, down, across or diagonally wins a prize, and then you carry on till someone gets a full house (i.e. they’ve crossed off every word on their card).

I’m working on some ready-made hen do bingo cards for you, but when I’ve hosted hen do’s in the past I’ve just created my own using hen do and wedding related words. I also like to throw in “special” words marked with a star - when you land on these you have a drink. I only include one or two of these to keep things under control.

It’s always fun to have prizes, such as mini boxes of chocolates or small bottles of fizz (I find Wilko is great for stuff like this and is a bit of a hen do treasure trove in general). Keep the cost of these low - they are just little tokens to help guests feel special and get people in the party mood.

Here’s some word inspiration for you if you’re making your own - just make sure you don’t create two cards with the same word combination!

Hen do bingo words:

Altar, Best man, Bride, Bridesmaid, Cake, Church, Confetti, Diamonds, Dove, Dress, Garter, Groom, First dance, Flowers, Flower girl, Forever, Hearts, Honeymoon, Hymns, Love, Maid of honour, Mother of the bride, Mother of the groom, Page boy, Rings, Tiara, Veil, Vows, Wedding, Wedding Cars, Wedding Breakfast

Special words to cue drinking:

Bubbles, Celebration, Cheers, Speeches, Toast