"Let your hair down, not your fiancé." - Vow Venture

I don’t know what you think when you hear the words 'Hen Party', but for me it fills my stomach with dread when I think of all the cringey ’traditional’ things that happen. That’s why I was so happy that my hen party was planned through Vow Venture.

Their slogan is ‘celebrating marriage’ and they have a website full of ideas to help you celebrate your upcoming nuptials in the right way! You can do anything from white water rafting to a spa break, or off-road driving to cupcake decorating.

“Vow Venture celebrates marriage instead of celebrating the last night of freedom, because we know that after your vows you are in for the start of an adventure” Says the company's founder, Rebekah Stocker.

I absolutely loved my hen-do. All of my very best friends were there to celebrate with me and we laughed and partied just the way I wanted to.

9am

The day begun with all the girls arriving at my house and eating bacon sandwiches provided by my lovely dad. We all put on the amazing t-shirts that were made through Vow Venture. The design was so nice and simple, not tacky at all! Then we set off….I had no idea where to.

10am

We pulled up to an assault course in Kent. We put on the overalls and helmets and made our way in to the woods. At a first glance, it didn't look like any of the obstacles were really that challenging, until we were walked round by the two instructors and they told us what we actually had to do at each. They made us all try it once before our time trial, I think this was the most hilarious few hours of my life. We had to climb over 8 ft walls, squish through rows of tyres, crawl through tubes... We realised here, that we all have terrible upper body strength. After testing out each of the obstacles we then had to do it for real so we split in to two teams of five and raced to see who could finish it the quickest. My team won, of course.

2pm

Back home to get ready, have a bit of lunch and play games! We made wedding dresses from toilet paper, Isaac had been asked questions prior to the hen party and I had to get his answer correct, and all of my lovely friends wrote a memory they had with me and I had to remember who it was with...Slightly awkward when you get those wrong.

6pm

Arrived at Marco Pierre White restaurant in Liverpool St. We had our own private area in the restaurant and indulged in three incredible courses. I had asparagus and poached egg to start, Steak for my main and Pecan pie for desert. My favourite!

8.30pm

The cocktail tea party! I loved the whole day but I thought this bit was particularly cool. I had never even heard of a cocktail tea party before. We chose three different cocktails and they were brought out to our tables in these big cylinders so we had cocktails on tap, not forgetting the pretty little tea cups and hummingbird bakery cakes.
 

We were then left to party the night away at the Hoxton Pony in Shoreditch!

Akesha was one of my bridesmaids who played a major part in organising the hen do. "Even though I think of myself as a fairly organised person, I really couldn’t of imagined planning Emma’s hen without the help of Vow Venture.” Says Akesha.

“They took all the info I gave them about Emma and found some really great options which we then worked out together to plan what I hope Emma found to be the best hen ever! The most genius service they offer is the option of split payment which just really takes all of the pressure off the ‘organiser hen’ and ensures no money quibbles at all.

 Split payment meant that all the hens paid Vow Venture in three instalments instead of paying me as they booked all of the chosen venues, which was a huge pressure off me money-wise! Our planner, Rebekah, was so lovely and always quashed any worries I had in a quick phone call.”

So not only did I love my hen party – it was stress free for the organisers, too!

If you're like me and want to celebrate your marriage not see it as a last night of freedom, then I would recommend Vow Venture. My fiancé's stag do was also arranged through them and we both thought everything was absolutely perfect.

Thanks to all my friends, sisters, parents and Vow Venture for making my hen party so special.

For more information on Vow Venture please visit their website:

Www.vowventure.com

Emma 
xx