Brighton is one of the best places in the country to hold a hen weekend, and that’s because there’s so much to do, and the city is happy to host hen parties too. However, it can be a little hard to work out how to start a hen weekend, and that’s where we come in.
What’s the best way to start a Brighton hen weekend and why? The Grand Bike Tour gets you warmed up nicely, introduces you to the important spots in town (including the pubs), helps you bond with each other, stimulates conversation and builds an expectation of fun activities in a spirit of togetherness.
And if that wasn’t enough, we’ll also show you how to plan your Brighton Hen Weekend so that everything goes according to plan right up to the moment you arrive and begin your Grand Bike Tour.
The Grand Bike Tour Is The Best Way To Start A Hen Weekend In Brighton: Here’s Why
To get a hen weekend going in Brighton, you want a fun activity that everyone can enjoy. It doesn’t want to be too strenuous because then everyone’s exhausted by the end of the day, but it also wants to be a little physical because it gets the blood flowing.
That’s why we’re 100% certain that the best way to start a hen weekend in Brighton is a Grand Bike Tour.
These are guided tours, and your guide will provide bicycles and make sure they are adjusted, so everyone is comfortable, letting you see the entire city.
You’ll get
to see quite a lot of Brighton across a period of about 2 hours. That includes:
- Brighton Dome
- Brighton Pier
- Brighton Rock Garden
- British Airways i360
- Eagle – Great Eastern Pub Stop
- East Street- Brighton’s oldest street
- Fishing Quarter
- Graffiti Adorned back streets
- Graffiti adorned Kensington street
- Grand Hotel
- Grand Parade
- Icons Wall – Banksy
- Little St Peter’s church
- Pavilion Gardens
- Pavilion Gardens Cafe
- Pet Cemetery
- Poppy Filled Wild meadows
- Preston Manor House
- Preston Park
- Preston Twins
- Royal Pavilion Palace
- Secret Garden
- St Bartholomew’s church
- St Peters church
- Sydney Street
- The Lanes
- The Level
- The North Laine – Bohemian Quarter
- The Railway Viaduct
This is a great way to see what Brighton has to offer and to get acquainted with the geography of the place, which can be very useful when you wander out of a nightclub at 1 a.m. and wonder where exactly you are.
It’s also very convenient to fit into a day, you can start at 10.30 a.m. (so that nobody has to get out of bed too early) or at 2.30 p.m. We’ve found that most hen parties prefer a morning slot because that gives them the afternoon to get ready for a night on the tiles.
Why did we choose the Grand Bike tour as the best way to start a hen weekend? Well, for these key reasons:
- It’s an easy way to get into the weekend. You don’t need to be a champion cyclist to tour Brighton by bike. The ground is so flat that the bikes practically pedal themselves for the most part. This means you’ll get your blood flowing, but you won’t end up panting for breath and exhausted either. This is fun and not a Physical Education lesson. As long as everyone has ridden a bike at some point in their lives, they’ll be fine and if there are any truly non-cyclists in the group, just let the tour guide know when you book, so they can help you work that out.
- It’s a great bonding experience. You’re outdoors, exploring a new city, and you’re free to have as much fun as you like. When you’re all on bikes, and the rest of the people around you aren’t, it helps create a strong group dynamic. Your guide will also help you take group photos that cement those bonds.
- It’s a nice way to have your first drink. The Guide can introduce you a couple of places to drink that are very hen-party friendly. You can ask as many questions as you like to help shape the rest of your weekend. They know the lay of the land and bring huge amounts of local knowledge to the party. You can also have a drink on the beach, or if you want, book a slightly longer experience, bring your own Prosecco, and relax on the beach.
- It’s a superb way to break the ice. Something about being in motion stimulates conversation, and all the fresh sights certainly don’t hurt either. Even complete strangers come away from a tour feeling like they’ve always known each other, and there’s never any pressure for people to come up with topics to talk about.
- It gets people in the mood for more activities. Cycling gives everyone an energy charge and sets the tone for an activity-based hen weekend. Everyone comes away feeling more like a unit and ready for as much fun as Brighton can throw at them.
Certainly, every hen party that starts on the Grand Bike Tour of Brighton is perfectly prepared for a weekend of real happiness.
How To Plan Your Hen Weekend In Brighton
OK, now you know what you’re going to start the weekend with but are you ready to plan a hen weekend in Brighton yet? If not, here’s what you need to know to make sure the weekend goes smoothly.
Getting The Guestlist Right
We know that purists out there believe that the bride should only find out who is on her hen do on the day. We think they’re bonkers. It’s a much better idea to consult the bride about who is coming and who is not. There are a couple of reasons for this:
- You don’t end up inviting somebody she’d rather not see. Sure, she might have been best chums with Caroline at school, but they fell out in college when Caroline usurped her position as head of the science club or worse, Caroline usurped her position with her boyfriend. The hen weekend is supposed to be a happy time rather than a forced reunion with people she secretly loathes, even if they are Facebook friends.
- You don’t end up leaving out someone important. The new sister-in-law or the lady at work who isn’t on Facebook still needs inviting even if they aren’t in your usual social circle. When the bride has an overview of the attendees, she can make certain that she’s not starting married life by slighting someone. Failing to get an invite to the right person can lead to long-term family and friendship feuds.
Once you’ve been over the names. It’s a good idea to establish any important relationships between the bride and each guest. If she’s inviting her granny and great auntie Maud, you’ll want to bear that in mind before you book an evening at The Dreamboys. It’s a bad look to make grandma cry at the activities.
Try not to over-invite, if you have some idea of the activities you’re likely to want to do – it’s best to try and build your hen party around that. For example, perfume making is a lovely touch for a smaller group, but you’re going to be better off with Go Karting or Tag Archery (yes, that’s a thing) for a much larger group.
It’s best to create a spreadsheet with everyone’s names, basic details, contact info, and phone numbers. You can also allocate columns for when they are available and when they’ve paid up.
Once you have the names and information of everybody who is coming to Brighton, you can move on to the next part of the job.
Work Out The Budget For The Hen Do
Now, sometimes a well-to-do bride may be sweetening the pot for some or all of her guests by paying for some part or all of the hens weekend, but traditionally, each guest will need to pay for their own way on the hen weekend.
That means it’s a good idea to talk to the bride-to-be and determine how much her friends and family are really going to want to spend on the hen weekend. When you have this “per person” amount, you can then scale that up by multiplying by everyone who will be invited to start planning the expenses of the trip.
One nice thing about the Brighton Grand Tour Bike Ride is that it’s not expensive and should be easy to accommodate in most hen party budgets.
You’re going to have to account for:
- Accommodation. Everyone needs a bed to sleep in, and you’re going to need to think about whether everyone will have to share a room with someone else if the budget is tight.
- Activities. Hen dos are best when you’re mixing up the drinking and eating with doing exciting and interesting things. There are a ton of cool ways to spend time in Brighton on a hen weekend.
- Food. We’ve all got to eat, and you’d be amazed at how much of the budget good food can take up. Fortunately, there are plenty of options for all different budgets in Brighton that will keep everyone happy.
- Drinks. There are definite cost advantages to a teetotal hen night, but let’s be fair about this, this is England and drinking traditionally plays a big part in the festivities. You’re going to want to allocate a fairly substantial slice of the budget to the drink’s kitty.
- Transport. Getting to and from Brighton and to and from each stop on your itinerary can add up quickly too. It’s best to budget for this from the outset.
When you have all your expenses worked out, you can start to phone around, get quotes for each item, and see what works and what won’t.
One important thing to consider is that some hen parties will “treat the bride” and cover her costs and in small groups, this can have a huge impact on how much you have to spend on the hen weekend in Brighton. Check with your guests and make this decision early.
Set The Dates: There Are Two Important Dates
Once you have your plans for the hen do, it’s a good idea to have a quick meeting (either in person or online) with the bridesmaids and any other important guests identified by the bride.
This is just to ensure that everything you’ve thought of is in keeping with the overall spirit of things. The objective is to find out if there is anything people strongly object to and not to change every item to suit somebody else’s fussiness.
Once this is done – you need to set the dates. Two dates to be precise.
- Date 1: The Date For People To Pay Up – it is vital that you make a decision on which day people must be fully paid up. This is really important so that you can book everything, and you won’t be out of pocket. Set the date and stand firm on it. If people don’t pony up on time, make it clear they can’t come. Do send out some reminders during the time between setting the date and it arriving, but don’t be afraid to enforce the cut-off, either.
- Date 2: The Date For The Hen Do – The big diary date. Once you’ve analysed when everyone says they will be available, you’re going to have to set the date for the event itself. You will always risk disappointing someone, so try to give as much notice as possible and be prepared for some people to drop out.
Get The Money In
This is the hardest part of organizing a hen; the longer you have before the big day, the better. Many hen parties offer an instalment plan so that people can space out the costs over a few months rather than coughing up a big lump sum in one go.
What’s for certain, though, is you need to be clear that if people have committed to coming to Brighton for the hen weekend, they need to pay up and if they don’t make the cut-off date, they aren’t coming.
You don’t want to have to rearrange all of your plans at the last minute, particularly as costs can go up closer to the day.
Get The Bookings Confirmed
Once the money is in, you need to get the bookings confirmed. That means reviewing the guest list – ensuring you know exactly who is coming and who isn’t. Get back in touch with the group of people you had the meeting with and let them know what’s going on.
Make sure you reach an agreement on what to book – there’s nothing worse than somebody turning up on the day feeling aggrieved about the itinerary and shouting the odds that they “told you it would be a disaster” because they tend to be a self-fulfilling prophecy at that point.
It might also be worth checking in with the bride. You don’t have to reveal everything that’s going on, but some broad brushstrokes can help her decide if it’s going to be her sort of thing – given that the hen is her celebration, this can be a great idea. But do try to hold a couple of surprises back, the day ought to feel fresh rather than like a script.
The biggest priority when booking is accommodation. If you want a private home for your hen party, you will want to get booked early. Not all places will accept hen parties and they can be quite expensive – so once you’ve agreed on that, you’ll know how much money is left for the rest of the weekend.
Make sure to keep records of what’s been booked, what’s been paid for, how much money is left, etc. Accounting is a really big part of the job of arranging a hen do in Brighton or anywhere else. Your friends are going to want to know where their money went.
Once The Bookings Are Done: Let Everyone Know
Once you’ve made all the arrangements, it’s a good idea to let everyone know. Send them a list of what’s going on and when. If they have to arrange their own transport – make sure that they know this and, if possible, give them some options (Brighton is very easy to reach by rail from the North but from somewhere like Basingstoke, for example, things become a bit more tricky).
Get The Accessories And Decorations Bought
It’s not a hen party without some accessories though we recommend that you know the bride’s tastes very well before you decide a black bin liner covered in condom wrappers is the way forward for her attire for the weekend.
If you want it to be a surprise, we’d say that subtle is always best. Pick a theme for the hen party and try and mould everything around the theme. You could try everything in pink or something Summery if you’re stuck for ideas, but there are a lot of choices.
You can also go for T-shirts, balloons, etc. with the hen party details on them. This can make everyone feel like part of a team for the weekend, which is always good.
Don’t Forget The Hen Party Games.
You should have some games to play while everyone’s in the hen home for the weekend. Things that are quick and easy and go well with alcohol are probably your best bet. These are to help break the ice if members of the hen party don’t know each other so well. Just make sure they’re appropriate to the people involved, again the objective is not to leave granny crying her eyes out.
You might also want to bring a playlist of music that can be piped in. You can ask your guests for a suggestion or two while you’re in the organizing phase and build a playlist that has something for everyone. This can be a bit time-consuming.
Once you’ve done this, you’re ready for the perfect hen weekend in Brighton! Get your glam on and party!
Conclusion
What’s the best way to start a Brighton hen weekend and why? It’s the Brighton Grand Bike Tour. The best way to see the city and really build bonds and create conversations with the girls. Planning the perfect Hen Weekend in Brighton should be the first thing on your list.
