Lora Murphy's Blog: 10 Hen Party Games to Break the Ice

This post 10 Hen Party Games to Break the Ice first appeared on The Wedding Community Blog

Organising a hen do with a group of potential strangers, whose only thing in common is the bride-to-be, can be daunting. Will the girls get along? Will there be enough to keep them entertained? Will there be awkward silences? Or will the room be filled with love and laughter?

Leading European hen party organiser Eventhuse has shared 10 icebreaker hen party games to get the laughter rolling…

The Introduction Game

Turn your hen party introductions into a game

At a hen party where not everyone knows each other, a fun, sweet and easy way to break the ice from the offset is by turning the awkward introduction phase into a game. Once everyone’s been given a glass of champagne, take it in turns to introduce yourselves to everyone else in the group with a list of fun pre-determined criteria, for example: Your name, how you know the bride, and the three things you like best about her – or something to that effect!

Mr & Mrs Quiz

How well does the bride-to-be really know her man?

To prepare for the Mr and Mrs Quiz, before the hen do the bridesmaids must meet up with the groom, ask him a series of questions and get his honest answers. Once you’re all gathered for the party, pop open a bottle of bubbly and ask your bride-to-be to guess the answers to each of her fiancé’s questions, to see how well she really knows her man.

Think outside the box and don’t be afraid to ask some hilarious or even risqué questions which will guarantee a bigger laugh when it’s playtime. To add an extra touch to this game (and if you have the equipment) film the groom-to-be as he answers each question and show the film at the hen do.

Never Have I Ever

A classic drinking game that almost every hen will remember from their student days

The rules are simple, each person in the group takes it in turn to admit to something they have never done, like this: ‘Never have I ever… fancied my school teacher’ or something along those lines (it can get as naughty or racy as you like!). Anyone in the group who has ever done the thing mentioned has to take a sip of their drink.

As you can imagine, some will end up drinking more than others, and the screams of laughter as you learn things you never knew about your best friends will be heard from miles away!

Dress the Bride

For the bride-to-be who isn’t afraid of making a bit of a fool of herself

This game is a fun and lively way to break the ice at a hen party. Pre-hen do, ask all the girls coming to bring a couple of items of fancy dress (the sillier and more extravagant the better), then at the actual event split the group into two teams and take it in turns to dress the bride in the most ridiculous outfit you can create. This also makes for excellent photo opportunities of the bride dressed in sequins, leotards, unicorn horns, wigs and feathers.

Pin the Tail on the Male

An adult twist on the party game classic

Before the hen do, get or take a good quality photograph of the groom-to-be standing up facing the camera, then have the picture enlarged and bring it with you to the party. Once the gaming session begins, stick your life-size pin up photo of the brides fiancé to the wall then blindfold each person in turn and get them to pin the tail (or other bodily appendage) on the male!

Tell Me a Story

A game of hen party guess who

Another good one for breaking the ice and giving the group an opportunity to really get to know each other is to ask all the hens to write down a story about themselves, without divulging who they are. All hens should place their story in a hat, mix up the pieces of paper and get the bride-to-be to read out each story one by one and try to guess whose it is. The stories can be as embarrassing, weird, wacky or x-rated as you want them to be, but just a tip – the more unusual and funnier the better!

Scavenger Hunt

A fun hen party game which can keep you amused throughout the day

If your hen do is set to take place across a variety of locations (maybe you are spending the day in London or taking your hen do abroad) then a scavenger hunt is an excellent activity to tie the event together and keep the group interested and engaged throughout.

A scavenger hunt can take many forms. One idea is to have funny tasks for just the bride-to-be to complete in each location, or split the group into teams and set challenges for each team everywhere you go.

Bride-to-Be Quiz

A quiz to test how well the hens know the bride-to-be

Whether you’ve known each other since school or you worked together as adults, this game is sure to get some giggles as you try to guess the answers to a list of questions about the bride. Get creative with your questions to make the game extra interesting.

The Present Game

Kill two birds with one stone with this sweet and thoughtful hen party game

This game doubles up as an opportunity to present the bride-to-be with some gifts to celebrate her pending nuptials. Each of the hens should buy a little gift for the bride and wrap it without their name on it (perhaps place a budget restriction for the hens that are more strapped for cash). During the party place all the gifts in the middle and let the bride-to-be pick out one gift at a time to open and then guess who bought it for her.

Banned Words Challenge

A frustrating hen party game classic

At the beginning of the hen do, choose a selection of words that are banned from the event and each time someone uses one of the forbidden words, get them to drink or do a forfeit. The more relevant and difficult the words the better. For example, try banning the words: wedding, drink, hen or man, and see how hard it is for the girls to stick to the rules! This game can either last as long as you like, or as long as you can take the frustration.

Sponsored post by Emily Millett of Eventhuse

Image by Michael Vincent Photography for Bride’s Night Out, Inc. CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons