The hen night is one of the most exciting pre-wedding celebrations, and something that every bride looks forward to for months and months. If you’re hosting a hen party for a close friend or relative, you’ll need to know how to put together the perfect invitations.
This guide will talk you through why it’s important to send paper invitations for a hen party, and what information you’ll need to include. We’ll also explore the different themes available for your invitations, and explain when and how to order them.
Do You Need to Send Invitations for a Hen Do?
The hen night (or, as it’s called in the U.S., the bachelorette party) is a celebration for the bride held before the wedding. Only female guests are invited, and the groom isn’t present. It’s typically a much more casual occasion than the wedding itself – usually held at a pub, cocktail bar, or the host’s house. So you may wonder, are formal paper invitations even necessary?
In short, yes. If they get a paper invitation, your invitees will be much more likely to RSVP than if you simply send them a text, or invite them to a Facebook event. And you’ll need an accurate head count in advance if you’re serving food, or if you need everyone who’s coming to contribute to the funds.
Having a physical invitation that guests can pin to their fridge or notice board means they won’t forget about the party. It’ll also help to get them excited for the occasion, and make it feel special!
What to Include on a Hen Night Invitation
So, what information do you actually need to include on a hen party invitation? Here’s what the guests will need to know.
• The bride’s name, and a rough idea of what the party will entail (e.g. “Join us for an evening of drinking, dancing and karaoke at Nikki’s hen party!”)
• The name of the person hosting the party (so guests know who to contact if they have any questions or problems)
• The location – where everyone should meet to kick the evening off. You may, of course, move on to a different venue eventually. You can include details of this, or leave it as a surprise.
• The date and start time (you don’t have to include an end time, unless the venue is very strict about when you need to leave)
• The RSVP deadline – the date by which you need to know who’s coming and who isn’t
• Some way to RSVP. You could attach a reply card, or provide the host’s telephone number or e-mail address.
If you’re using a reply card, you should also include a stamped, addressed envelope for it to be sent back in.
Hen Do Invitation Themes
Now you know what to write, let’s talk about what the invitation should look like. Ideally, you’ll want to choose an appropriate theme and colour scheme, which has something to do with the party itself.
For example, if the party will be held near Christmas, you might choose a holiday or winter themed invitation. Or if your vision for the evening is a classy cocktail party, a design that’s elegant and formal would suit it better.
The theme of the hen party invitation does not need to match the theme of the wedding itself (although it can if you’d like it to). Here are some hen party invite theme ideas.
Contemporary
A contemporary, modern or casual invitation would be great if the hen night is going to be a fun and relaxed event, rather than a formal affair. You might be along the lines of a traditional British hen night – cheap drinks, karaoke, dancing, or games and trivia at the local pub. Something like this funky zebra design, or this cocktail-themed lime time invitation might be perfect.
Elegant
Are you hosting a more sophisticated, formal hen night? Perhaps you’re going to a posh spa or ballroom dancing class, or holding an evening of champagne and dinner at an upscale restaurant, for example. An elegant design with a cursive font, such as this black and white flirty swirl design, may be more appropriate.
Romantic
If your hen party will focus less on the “last celebration as a single woman” and more on the “you’ve found the love of your life” aspect, you might prefer one of our romantic designs. A romantic design is perfect for celebrating the beauty of finding your soulmate. For example, this perfect pair design, featuring two lovebirds.
Destination
If your hens are lucky enough to be jetting off to a fabulous holiday resort, or even if you’re celebrating in a local seaside town, one of our sun-and-sand themed destination templates might work well. You might choose this fun seaside romance invitation, featuring two starfish set against a wavy blue background.
Rustic
For a hen party that’s themed around the great outdoors, such as a mini camping weekend or a festival in a field, you’ll want a rustic-themed invitation that reflects nature. This green earth template features a plant swaying in the breeze against a grassy green and brown background.
If you can’t find a theme that works well for your needs, you can always use our handy tool to create your own design. You’ll start off with a blank white canvas and can choose your own colours, or even upload your own artwork.
FAQs: Does the Bride Get a Hen Night Invitation?
Most of the time you’ll want to send the bride an invitation to her own hen night. After all, she usually won’t have been involved in the planning, so she’ll need to know where to be and at what time!
The only exceptions are:
• If the bride has helped organise the hen night, and already knows exactly what’s happening and when
• If you want to keep the hen night a complete secret from the bride (not tell her where you’re going or what you’re doing).
In this case, you can either create her a personalised invitation that doesn’t give the game away, or simply tell her where to go and at what time.
When to Send Out Hen Party Invitations
You’ll want to send out your hen night invitations at least 6-12 weeks in advance. This will give everyone a chance to book time off work and/or arrange childcare for the evening, as well as get their RSVP back to you in time. If it’s a destination party and the guests will need to travel, you should send them even earlier – at least 6 months out.
If you are expecting the guests to contribute towards the cost of the hen party, you’ll also need to figure out how much everyone owes, and you can’t do this until you know exactly who’s coming. So make sure you order your invitations in plenty of time.
Before sending out your invitations, run a guest list past the bride, so that she can veto anyone who she doesn’t want coming – and inform you if you have anyone’s addresses wrong.
Where to Order Hen Party Invites
A hen night is a once in a lifetime experience for any bride to be. So, you don’t want to go generic and buy a pack of standard party invitations from your local stationery shop. Instead, we’d recommend ordering personalised invitations – make them special enough to match the magnitude of the occasion!
You can order high-quality, fully customisable hen party invitations from 123Print. Choose one of our many templates and edit it to your liking, or create your own entirely from scratch! All of our hen party invitations are printed to your specifications and come complete with envelopes. We’re so sure that you’ll love the quality of our printing that we offer a 100% money back guarantee if you’re not satisfied.