My lovely, gorgeous, one and only sister got married last summer to a wonderful man. My whole family adore him, and if we HAD to let my sister fly the nest, we were glad it would be with him. That said, I personally wasn't going to let her swan off as a married gal without first reliving our childhood together, with friends and themes of years gone by. Tasked with organising her hen do I decided to make it a celebration of two parts.

Part 1: A Harry Potter themed hen do with all of her closest friends, to celebrate one of our favourite childhood influences and immerse ourselves one last time in J K Rowling's fantastical magical world we loved so much growing up.

Part 2: An elegant floral themed bridal shower with yoga, flower crown making and a Japanese- French fusion afternoon tea. This part was to move us away from the past and get everyone hyped for a beautiful wedding!

ORDER OF EVENTS:

SATURDAY:

16:00 Welcome drinks and Sorting ceremony

17:15 Potions class

18:00 Pub quiz in the Leaky Cauldron

19: 15 Banquet in the Great Hall

21:15 Hogwarts Express to Zonko's

02:00 Arrive back at the Castle

02:15 Pyjama party in the Gryffindor Common Room and dessert buffet midnight feast

SUNDAY:

10:00 Yoga

12:30 Flower crown workshop

14:30 Group photos and reception

15:45 Tea time

17:00 Ring hunt

17:30 Calendar time

17:45 Card making

18:45 Movie screening and chill

Logistics: The hens arrived at the house on a Saturday at 4pm and left at around 7pm the following day. It wasn't a long hen weekend, just an evening followed by a day, but we managed to fit in so much that it felt a lot longer, almost like a mini holiday! The hens and my sister were totally in the dark about the agenda, so I wrote them a packing list, including yoga outfits and Summery maxi dresses so that we would all be in theme! Strict instructions were given that no hens should wear white for the bridal shower as I wanted my sister to feel extra bridal in her white tea dress...

Pricing: Charging people to attend a celebration is a bit strange and didn't come totally naturally to me. However, it is customary here in Londra for hens to pay their own way during the weekend. As organiser, I decided to charge the hens 60 pounds each which covered the comedy show on Saturday night, and the flower crown making and Yoga class on Sunday. The other expenditure comprised feeding, entertaining, and transporting them to and from the show, which we were happy to absorb. The food was all prepared from scratch at the house by me and a scarily dedicated team of female relatives and friends ( SHOUT OUT to Mummy Tessa, Auntie Laura , Gabi, Chloe and Viv!) .

For details of all the events check out my next posts!