DIY hen party decorations

Spring has sprung and rumour has it that summer may soon be making an appearance (fingers crossed). This means only one thing: wedding season is in full swing! More weddings, of course, mean more pre-wedding day events and none are more celebrated (and feared) than the hen party.

Hen parties may have had a bad reputation in the past, but if you look at the modern hen party it has evolved from just a night of drunken debauchery featuring not-so-polite festivities into a weekend-long event, in some cases. And an important part of making the bride-to-be feel like the only hen in the world is adding standout decorations, customised for the event. Stags, you aren’t being ostracised in evolution either as sites like iamstaggered.com show that stag parties are becoming big events, too.

So how does one keep the decorations fun, special and unique without breaking the bank? Well, before you make any decorative investment, I recommended looking at these few considerations:

Hen party guest list

If it’s just the bride’s close friends attending, then pretty much anything is fair game décor-wise. Of course if mum, mum-in-law and work mates are going, you may not want to reveal too much of the bride’s murky past in visual form, especially in front of Tina from accounts. She’ll never let the bride live it down, come Monday.

Hen party itinerary

What is the game plan? Is it a weekend, or just an evening-long event? Does it start off in a hotel or is everyone meeting somewhere for food and then going for a dance after? You need to know this information before you start spending on hen party extras. A printed collage is great, but if nobody has anything to carry it in and it’s a wine-fuelled evening, it may get lost in transit.

Hen party budget

How much can the attendees donate to the hen party decorations and presents? Make sure you know what is in the pot in advance. For those who can’t donate much, let them feel valued by getting them to do something with their time rather than with their money, such as sourcing images and questions from the groom for games.

Hen party theme 

Do you need to follow any theme guidelines? Does everything need to be monochrome or in the style of Sex and the City?

Once you know the above, you are good to go. So what, from my experience, has gone down well? Here are a few tips I have used in the past:

Pictures are worth a thousand words, so photo bunting can be a great way to make the hen party feel unique to the bride, for minimal cost and effort. Just add some nice photos of the bride and attach them to some string, for some snazzy decorative bunting. Want to be a bit more crafty? Use items like Instagram prints to give them a bit more style.

Tip – Photo decorations such as collages and bunting can then be used to make a photo book for after the party. You can even add pictures taken during the event to make it an even more precious keepsake.

You don’t have to shop for expensive hen party products, you can create them yourselves and even make them part of the event! For hen party sashes, all you need is a length of ribbon, some fabric paint and if you’re feeling extra creative, some glitter. Then each attendee has a unique sash to wear for a fraction of the cost of something shop-bought.

Tip – Add a bit of string to the mix and you can make hen party masks and hats, too!

Not overly crafty or short on time but want to make decorations that are unique to the bride? Worry not; stickers are an amazing way to help non-artistic types. You can buy then from craft stores or even design your own stickers . They’re not expensive, and you have something that adds that extra magic touch.

Tip – Get your stickers in advance and you can put them on the hen party invites and other documentation…

So has anyone else ever had to decorate for a hen or stag party? Let us know your ideas below as I’d love to see them (and may need to use them in the future!) If you think you have a really clever idea, why not use #ProudlyPrinted as well?

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