Some brides-to-be long for a gyrating crotch in their face and others, well, don’t. My best friend didn’t want anything ‘henny’ for her ‘Hens Night’ and so I worked with a beautiful group of women {also known as the other bridesmaids} to create an event we called ‘A very unhenny 1950s affair’ – where we invited the bride’s guest to join us in an afternoon of screen printing, to be followed by a dinner in Newtown. A few of my readers asked about the details and I thought that I would share the info, because this was an awesome afternoon/evening and perfect for the bride-to-be who doesn’t want a stripper!

We decided that a bare nights should be about celebrating a lovely ladies entry into the role of ‘wife’ and we took that a little tongue in cheek… We decided to screen print some lovely tea towels for the bride ‘to have and to hold’, with some 1950’s inspired designs that revolved around love and being a wife. We also asked the guests to dress a little 1950’s – to help us all get in the mood, think; red lips, pearls, aprons, kitten heels and victory rolls.

We completed our screen printing class with Carizza Designs in Marrickville. Carizza was extremely personable, organised and knowledgeable – running us through the entire screen printing process whilst we ‘slowly’ sipped on bubbles. The bridesmaids had pre-designed the tea towels prior to the event, so that Carizza could pre-prepare some of the screens to keep the afternoon following smoothly. We also picked out a set number of inks, which made each person choosing their design {from which there were 5} and choosing their colour {from which there were 5} a much less painful process.

Now, there is a studio space that you can also hire out {which we did} where you can set up some tables, chairs, bubbles and nibbles for those who aren’t taking their turn at screen printing. I’d highly recommend this – as older members or pregnant people in your party will often be keen for a seat.

Whilst we were at the screen printing venue, we decided to keep the ‘henny’ activities to a minimum – as most people are keep to just catch up with one another. It was beautiful listening to the Mother-of-the-bride talk to her friends and share memories of their hens nights and kitchen teas.

The bride-to-be came away with 15 unique tea towels to use during her married life – we also thought how fun it would be when they have children and grandchildren and they have the opportunity to pass these tea towels on. Wouldn’t it be awesome to have a beautiful ‘vintage’ tea towel from when your grandparents got married? It might be a little worn and torn, but it would be covered in love and remind you of beautiful memories.

My grandparents never owned a dishwasher and so I have such vivid memories of everyone being involved in the washing and drying of plates, cups, cutlery and pots at family events {and there was quiet a bit to get through seeing as my Mum was one of five}.

  

After screen printing, we headed on down to dinner at the Kingston Public in Newtown. They were extremely accomodating to our little party and provided us a lovely large table where all of our dinners could sit, talk and share an amazing set menu at $35 a head. This included; starters of House-marinated Olives (V), Manchego Croquettes (V), Chicken Liver Pate, and mains of Roasted Wholegrain Mustard Sirloin w/Jacket Potatoes, House Made Gnocchi w/ Peas, Broadbeans, Parmesan & Burnt Butter, and sides of: Beetroot, Orange & Fetta Salad and Green Beans & Almonds.

The serves were extremely generous and there is no way that anyone in our party left hungry. The chicken liver pate was moreish, the roasted wholegrain mustard sirloin was as tender as can be and the beetroot, orange and fetta salad was a refreshing end.

Whilst eating, we had three little ‘games’ to play with the guests. These included; the peg game, ‘porn or polish’ and a little noting writing with a nod to some vintage notes. Most ladies will know the peg game – each person gets three pegs with the words that they can not say throughout the night, words like; bride, groom, wedding, dress etc. and the person with the most pegs at the end of the night wins a prize at sbobet88, of course many didn’t want to play, since they prefer to bet online in this website gamblerspro.com. Some of ladies prefer to play casino games at empire777.

‘Polish or Porn’ was a complete crack up – basically, played like ‘heads or tails’ in the pub, you place your hands on your head if you think the bridesmaid is stating the name of a nail polish or you place you hands on your bottom if you think the bridesmaid is stating the name of a porn film. This game went rather quickly with 15 players {and the fact that we were clueless when it came to the names of pornos} and we were glad that we had brought three bottle of nail polish, so that we could run the game three times.

Lastly, the mother-of-the-bride has mentioned that she had come across a folder of poems that had been given to her mother at her kitchen tea. These beautiful little poems inspired us to get each of the guests to write something nice {it didn’t have to be a poem} for the bride to read on the morning of her wedding. I didn’t get the chance to read all of the poems on the night – but some of the guests wrote some beautiful things, and I can’t wait for my best friend to read them all.

What are some of the best Hens Nights you have been on? Did you have a stripper at your Hens Night? Are you the washer upperer in your household or do you pass that duty on to your husband?