Lipstick and Nipple tassles....

40's Glamour & Cocktails

The Hen do came after possibly the busiest week I've had since I started planning the wedding. Mr O was out of the country working, the invitations had turned up and after a few extremely late nights collating all the invitation bits and bobs I was in need of some raucous laughter and silly drunken behaviour, and that's exactly what I got.

Bristol was the location. I initially opted for Brighton, but changed my mind (as I tend to do!) I booked the event through chillisauce, I literally told them what I was after, and once a price was agreed I booked it and got numbers confirmed! I think 2010 is THE year to get married because trying to find a weekend where everyone was available was hard, and we all have an abundance of other weddings and hen do's to attend so I had to plan my own hen night quite far in advance of our wedding. This didn't bother me in the slightest, I love a good hen do and was more than happy to have it sooner rather than later! The theme went without saying, 40's glamour and Cocktails. Who doesn't love a cocktail?!

Being the control freak I am, I had total control of booking everything, confirming numbers, getting payment etc, it is a pain in the backside and I wouldn't do it again! In the end I enlisted the help of my Vegas bride friend Chloe, who now that she was married had a whole heap of spare time on her hands and happily obliged with overseeing things! What a star she is!

We stayed in 4* serviced apartments in the city centre, which really were a home from home and once we dropped our bags off we went to a gorgeous café/art gallery in Whiteladies Road called The Picturehouse. Once seated at our table I marvelled at the beautiful piece of Marilyn Monroe artwork hanging on the wall behind us, enjoyed a rather large chilled glass of sauvignon blanc, some tapas and opened possibly the most thoughtful present I have ever received! My sister presented me with a beautiful lilac photo album, inside which were memories of me from birth, growing up (with dodgy ginger hair and a huge forehead) right up to the present day. There were messages and poems from all of my friends, including my very close friend 'EJ' who due to having moved to Australia two years ago was unable to come over (she's recently given birth too!). There were some lovely/dodgy/funny/filthy photo's to treasure of me, my friends, family and my late Mum, and feeling rather overwhelmed I couldn't read the words written for me so I promised I would read them all once at home, with a nice cup of tea and a cup cake of course. It was the perfect café to chill out in, and the fact Marilyn Monroe was everywhere I looked I felt hugely grateful to Chloe for booking us a table there. You all know how much I adore Marilyn!

We then moved on to Revolution Bar for our Cocktail lesson. I love a cocktail, I love how they look, how they're named, their presentation, and I love watching them being made. I didn't bank on there being a ton of other hen parties there so we had to wait our turn but we were plied with complimentary drinks until they were ready for us! So after consuming my body weight in mudslides, cosmopolitans, mojitos, strawberry woo woos, Long island iced tea, and flavoured vodka shots, we were ready for a party and headed back to our apartments so I could present my friends with their gift boxes, get our glad rags on, drink Prosecco and head off to Aqua Restaurant to line our tummies with some carbs!

Red lipstick and nipple tassles

We didn't get to Reflex in time for our guest list entry, so they wanted to charge us for entry, I thought sod that I'm not paying to get in so we found a few other bars and clubs to visit – Bijou was one of them, and I'm buggered if I can remember where else we went…. Tis all a wee bit hazey… I remember jager bombs, and plush seating areas, I remember hairy chests and my sister swinging me around the dancefloor, I also remember doing press ups (?!) and laughing, a lot of laughing! I remember a bare bum (you know who you are….) and talking in my dodgy herts/bristolian accent to any local that would listen!

We got to bed at about 4am with sore feet, a few of us wounded from falling down stairs/slipping off poles but we all lasted til the end and I can honestly say it was the best night of my life! I loved being a hen, and can't wait for my friend J's hen weekend in a fortnight's time so we can do it all over again.