The current times have caused havoc for most people’s spring and certainly the start of summer plans, including birthdays, anniversaries and of course weddings. I’m sure for many people it’s been a really stressful and worrying time, and I can’t imagine what it must feel like to not know if your wedding is going ahead or not. My cousin was supposed to have the home leg of her hen do last weekend and obviously it had to be cancelled, but that didn’t stop us throwing a virtual hen party regardless.

Disclaimer: Photos in this post were taken by me and my friends, including Lucy/Glitteratti the bridal hat designer who you should totally check out. Not an ad, she’s my cousin.

There’s plenty of things you can do to make it fun, and after we had a great four hour Zoom hen party for her I thought I’d share some of the things you could do for your Locked down bride to be, until you can celebrate together properly. We put this together in a week, so it’s doable even at short notice.

Order the bride flowers to arrive on the day

Everyone likes getting flowers, and a lot of places are still taking orders for delivery especially local ones. I found that next day delivery options were limited, so plan ahead and you should be fine.

Decide on a dress code, and make the effort!

We went for all out sparkle, with make up, festival glitter and clothes, not to mention the fabulous Glitteratti bridal crown that the bride to be made herself.

Get the fizz on ice

For drinkers, prosecco or champagne is a must to toast the bride. And to keep drinking throughout obviously.

Join in the #firstphoto Instagram trend

In case you’ve not seen it, there’s been one of those instagram tag trends going round for couples to share their first photo together. We adapted it and all dug out our first photos, or at least very old photos with the bride.

We created a template to all use, and all shared them tagging the bride as the virtual hen began at 8pm. The ones that didn’t make the cut were shared in our whatsapp group for a laugh too.

Get someone the bride is on lockdown with to decorate a space for her

I wish we had more time to really get creative with this, as there’s a lot of fun stuff that you could order on Amazon to send, but hopefully your bride to be lives with someone you can speak to and help you plan some decorations and set up.

Order her a Glitteratti Crown

Aren’t they fabulous? It’s hard when the bride herself runs the business, but she created herself the best one yet, complete with veil. They’re absolutely stunning and can be used long after the virtual hen, for the real deal and even part of the wedding celebrations.

Take a look at the Glitteratti instagram page here, she does more than just the crowns themselves there’s bridesmaid hairbands, and of course the hats are a good idea for any special occasion not just weddings.

If you’re thinking of getting one then she can do them at the moment at short notice, and if you’ve had to rearrange a location hen do then they’re a good present to cheer her up if she’s disappointed. Contact Lucy directly through instagram for pricing.

Have a playlist ready

Another one of my talented friends is a dance teacher, so she’s always ready with the music playlists. She also took requests on the night and we had some serious flashbacks to old nights out and girls holidays.

We also did a music quiz, which I’m shocking at but is one of the games you can play during the night.

Play quizzes and games

It wouldn’t be a hen party without some token hen party games like Mr & Mrs. They’re a bit harder virtually so we played a few other quiz rounds among drinks, so thought I’d combine them below. They’re pretty easy, but if you want the answers and can’t get them feel free to message me!

Hen party emoji round:

How well do you know the bride?

1. What is the brides birthday?
2. What is the brides middle name?
3. What was the brides first car?
4. Where did the bride go to uni?
5. How did the bride and groom meet?
6. Where did the bride and groom first get together? If different from above
7. Where did the bride and groom go on their first holiday?
8. Where did the groom propose?
9. What month did they get engaged?
10. Who was the brides first kiss?
11. What is the brides favourite part of the male anatomy?
12. What is the brides favourite drink?
13. What is the brides job title?

Plus any you want to add…

Dirty Minds (with answers before anyone accuses me of inappropriate content!)

1. Im the first thing you put in your mouth, when you are done with me you spit? Toothbrush 
2. I am made of rubber and you blow on my hole, one prick and Im gone? Balloon 
3. I rise up and if Im not blown I go limp. I am prominently hung? Flag
4. I have to be well hung to work, there are lots of dongs in me? Bell
5. You turn me on when you fiddle with my knobs? Radio 
6. You can get me if you squeeze your melons, I am sticky and sweet and come in every fruit? Juice
7. When I come out Im white and gooey, if you wait too long its hard to get me off…. glue 
8. If you can’t wipe me blow me, feathers really get me off?  Dust
9. The bigger I am the louder you scream, my hairy legs aren’t a turn on? Spider 
10. If you hammer me I’ll throb, if Im pointing up the answer is yes, pointing down then no? Thumb

Hen Party word scramble:

ERBDI

NTSEABM

FORSWEL

MOORG

EKAC

EMEYNCRO

SWOV

EPSHAC

EIRDABSMI

SINGR

QETOUB

Toilet Roll Headwear

You might have played or seen the toilet roll wedding dress competition, but it was easier on Zoom to change this to headwear. We had 3 minutes to each create our best effort. I haven’t laughed so much in ages, one of us looked like a handmaid, which killed me off.

Get an impartial judge to listen to each person talk through their ‘design’ and decide the winner. Sadly I didn’t get permission to share the close ups haha.

Go Fetch

You might have seen this on Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway but dance teacher Lucy is a pro at hosting these rounds. By the end of it we were all wearing 5 coats, bras on our heads, 2 pairs of socks, excessive eyeshadow, boxers and had necked a few shots.

It provided a lot of entertainment.

So there’s loads you can do to still make a virtual hen party a bit more special than your average Saturday night Zoom call with friends. We were on for over four hours reminiscing on years of friendship, and having a lot of laughs.

It won’t replace the real thing, which we will be having as soon as we can.

Other posts you might like:

35 Things that will happen in Newcastle when lockdown ends

121 realistic things to do during Lockdown

How to pull yourself out of a Lockdown Low