As I have mentioned on here before, Rich's sister is getting married this August, and on Saturday all of her close friends got together to celebrate her hen do. We had such a good day, expertly organised, at some amazing venues, which I felt deserved a platform up on here. If you are planning a hen do, then take note! I cannot take any of the credit for this one - it was organised by her two bridesmaids and best friends - and was completely perfect. Apparently there were a few glitches along her away (i.e. Vodka Revs letting them down 3 days before the actual event!) but on the day it played out perfectly....
Heaven - Nutfield, Surrey
So we started off in Heaven; "a place for grownups and under 5s to relax, play, eat and shop - together and apart - all under one roof". Heaven is such a great concept; part pamper studio, part crèche, part cafe and part shop - there is so much going on! Now obviously we didn't have any little ones with us on the Hen, so we had an entire area to ourselves upstairs where we were set up for manicures, lunch and champers.
We hid when the bride-to-be arrived, and surprised her as she walked up the stairs! We then all had manicures, and the bride-to-be had a massage as well, as well as a continuous supply of bubbly. We then had a gorgeous lunch followed by deeeelish cakes, while we chatted and played a hilarious game of Mr and Mrs - how well does Amanda really know her husband-to-be?! Cue lots of giggles, reminiscing and hilarious stories.
Heaven also sells a range of gorgeous products both for yourself and your home. It really was heaven!
We were so impressed with Heaven and all the staff; they even gave Amanda a card signed from everyone as she left, and really catered for everyone. Heaven is on Nutfield High Street, Surrey.
BrightonAfter a chilled morning, 6 remaining hen's jumped into a taxi and were taken to our next secret destination - Brighton. After a walk down the sea front, we arrived at Bar 76 for cocktail making.
Bar 76 - Brighton
At Bar 76, the VIP treatment continued! We were taken by the Bar Manager (and son-in-law of the owner) to our own private booth for a couple of hours of cocktail making. Now I've seen pictures of people having a similar experience in Vodka Revs, and I can safely say ours was 100x better! We were put into pairs and guided through making each cocktail; mojito, cosmo, strawberry daiquiri, raspberry collins and finally a baileys layered shot. We were also given a fishbowl of sex on the beach to sip throughout. Scott was great, giving us little facts about each cocktail alongside some (read: lots of) hilarious sexual innuendos and banter. We were able to try his expertly made cocktail, make it ourselves and in turn consume far too much alcohol before 6pm! I am pleased to say my partner and I created the 'best cocktail' twice...! It was a great experience - really personalised and carefully crafted by Scott and Bar 76. I would really recommend you do this, it was so much fun!
Breeze Brasserie - Brighton
So next up we went for a mooch round Brighton to our next destination; Breeze Brasserie for dinner. I ordered amazing breaded and baked camembert, followed by lamb miele. It was amazing! So so tasty. We had a bottle of prosecco and again lots of laughs - perfect!
After lots of booze and food we all started to feel a bit lethargic, so went for a walk through the laines and towards the sea front. We got into our flats and walked over the pebbles down to the sea and all said how we would move down to Brighton in an instant to be near the sea and for a chilled life!
What I wore...
Dress: MangoShirt: New LookWedges: H&MNecklace: H&M
We then went back to Bar 76 as we had free entry, and knew how well we would be looked after. Oh, and the topless waiters were probably a swaying factor! Cue more cocktails, dancing and looking relatively classy next to some pretty smashed 'greek goddesses'. Bar 76 was packed with hen dos and stag dos, with people dancing on the bars and doing shots (... and licking whipped cream...) off topless waiters. I felt like I had gone back to Kos '06!
The day after the night before
I was impressed with my lack of hangover (they are usually horrific!), and the girls had planned to go to Cafe Rouge for breakfast with some of Amanda's other friends who weren't at the hen. I had an ammaazzzing eggs benedict with smoked salmon - new favorite breakfast - while we filled them in on the night's events and looked through our pictures. We then went to Priory Park in Reigate and had an ice cream in the sunshine! I can honestly say it was the perfect weekend; Amanda had an amazing time (as did we all!) and is definitely one we wont forget! As I say, I would thoroughly recommend all the venues we went to - they were so accommodating and really looked after us, making it that bit more special.
