If you’ve had to cancel or postpone your hen party because of the COVID-19 pandemic, then a virtual hen party hosted online could be the answer for your group!
We know so many brides have had to postpone their weddings, which means that fabulous maids of honour and bridal parties are having to look for ways to keep the bride’s spirits up. Her hen party is supposed to be the last big hurrah with her ladies and we think it’s super important to still mark the occasion somehow.
We’ve seen so many examples of bride squads getting creative in the ways they’re staying connected, keeping positive and spoiling the bride from afar.
A virtual hen party is a perfect way to recreate the event you had planned and give your bride tribe ladies a funny, cheeky and quality girls night in. So, read our full guide below to plan your own online hen party and let us know how you go!
1. How To Plan Your Virtual Hen Party
Depending on what stage of your hen party planning you were at, you’ve probably (hopefully) got an invite list of all the girls. To get your online hen do off the ground, we’d recommend that you:
- Talk to the bride and ask for 2 or 3 dates where she’s free.
- Send a message to the hen group (in WhatsApp or Facebook etc) to propose those dates and take a quick poll to see what night suits best.
- Choose which technology platform you’ll use to host everyone (see section 2).
- Plan some fun hen party games and activities (see section 3).
And just try and have some fun and make it a special night for the bride and all the girls!
2. Technology Options
Where and how you host your virtual hen party depends on the size of your group and which devices your ladies have access to. To make it a bit simpler, we’ve listed some of the most popular video conferencing options you could consider using.
Facebook Messenger
- Maximum 50 people
- Will only show 6 people at a time on screen
- Unlimited meeting time
FaceTime
- Maximum 32 people
- Unlimited meeting time
- Everyone has to be on an Apply device
Skype
- Maximum 50 people
- Unlimited meeting time
Discord
- Maximum 10 people
- Unlimited meeting time
Google Hangouts
- Maximum 8 people
- Unlimited meeting time
Zoom
- Maximum 100 participants
- Meeting length limited to 40 minutes
Houseparty
- Maxiumum 8 people
- Unlimited meeting time
- You can play games and leave funny messages for each other
- Maximum 4 people (they’re changing it to 8 people, some phones may already be able to do this)
- Unlimited meeting time
- The web app doesn’t support video calls, so you’ll need to do this on your phones
3. Play Some Online Hen Party Games
Hosting your hen do from home doesn’t mean you have to skip on the hen party games! We’ve listed our favourite games that can easily be played online for your virtual hen party.
Who Am I? / Guess The Memory
How to play online:
- Everyone texts their favourite memory with the bride to the group organiser.
- She then reads each text out loud to the group.
- The bride then just has to guess who the memory was with,
Positive Affirmations (Warm & Fuzzies)
How to play online:
- Everyone texts or reads out a positive thought for the bride.
- The thoughts can be about her as a person, about her wedding or what you hope for her future.
Karaoke Or Lip Sync Battle
An oldie but a goodie and perfectly playable online for your virtual hen party.
To play hen do karaoke or create a lip sync battle:
- Choose a karaoke or standard playlist on Spotify or wherever you get your music (see our ultimate hen party playlist for ideas)
- Share the playlist with your hen do members and, if you’re doing a lip sync battle, assign songs to each pair of girls ahead of time so they can prepare
- On the day, get everyone to mute their mics, except for the girl or pair of girls who are singing
- The bride gets to pick the overall karaoke winner or the winner of each lip sync battle
Bonus points if your karaoke list or lip sync battle song choices match your hen party theme! We love a Disney singalong or a musical lip sync battle from Grease or Hairspray.
Mr & Mrs Quiz
How to play online:
- Choose your Mr & Mrs Quiz questions – we recommend 20-25 questions.
- Chat to the groom at least 1-2 weeks before the hen party and get him to answer your chosen list of quiz questions (we recommend about 20).
- Ask the bride each question on the video call and see how she goes!
- You could also make her drink a shot or complete a dare if she gets any questions wrong.
Check out our full guide to running your Mr & Mrs Quiz and the full list of questions you can use.
Cocktail Making Class
Cocktail classes have been a hen party activity staple for years and there’s no reason why the coronavirus should get in your group’
All you’ll need is:
- One or two of the bride’s fave cocktail recipes
- Let the girls know which alcohols and ingredients they’ll need in advance
- Nominate one member of the group to guide the rest of the group through making each cocktail
- Drink and be merry!
Bride & Groom Caricatures
How to play online:
- Each girl draws a picture of the bride and groom.
- They send it to the bride on WhatsApp or Facebook etc.
- The bride chooses her favourite caricature as the winner.
Bridal Toilet Roll Veil Competition
How to play online:
- Each girl has 5 minutes to make the best brides veil she can out of toilet roll.
- The final veils are modelled on camera.
- The bride chooses the best veil as winner.
Note: Please just be aware of possible toilet paper shortages and use yours sparingly. If possible, try to use the loo roll after the game for its intended purpose 😉
Paint And Prosecco
If some of your hen party group have littlies, then we’re betting they have paint and paper in the house! If you can manage to get some art supplies out to each lady’s, then you could absolutely try your hand at paint and prosecco for a really creative hen party activity at home.
Just send the girls a photo of the painting you’re all going to try your hand at or let them choose their own and have some giggles on the call as you try to recreate amasterpiece.
Paint By Numbers
Coronavirus has forced many of us to find new ways to stay entertained at home and paint by numbers has become a really popular choice for people looking for a creative outlet. But it also makes the most perfect virtual hen party activity because:
- You can do it altogether online
- You should absolutely have a glass of bubbly
- They’re cheap to order online
- You don’t need to an artistic genius (no experience required)
- And you end up with a gorgeous painting that looks really professional
- Extra points if you order a canvas showing something wedding related.
Every can show or send a picture of their creation to the bride so she can judge the best artist.
4. Hen Party Playlist
A hen do playlist to share with the girls for your virtual hen party is a great way to set the mood and include some of the bride’s favourite tunes. However, everyone playing the same song on speaker whilst on a video call could make for some pretty chaotic sounds.
If you’re keen on playing some tunes, why not make part of your online hen party a silent disco? Get all the girls to mute their microphones, start playing the bride’s top song in their lounge and dance like there’s no one watching…even though all the girls will be.
We’ve even made it easier for you by putting together a FREE hen party playlist on Spotify made up of our fave love songs, girl power anthems and party songs.
See a list of all the songs in our hen do playlist or go straight to Spotify! to listen.
5. Get Dressed Up
If you have a hen party theme planned or you’d just like to add some fun to your virtual hen party, then ask the girls to get dressed up! It’ll make a nice change from living in your PJs and there’ll be endless giggles from seeing everyone’s costumes tiled on the screen like The Brady Bunch.
6. Make It A Pampered Girls Night In
A hen party should always spoil the bride in some way but we expect she needs a bit of TLC even more right now. Come to think of it, we’re sure you and all the girls could do with a bit of self-care with all the COVID-19 talk dominating the world at the moment.
So make sure you set aside even 15 minutes of your virtual hen do for a bit of pampering. Ask the girls if they have anything at home to pamper themselves with, like:
- Face masks
- Hair treatment / leave-in conditioner
- Manicure
- Pedicure
Conclusion
Whatever you choose to include in your virtual hen party, the most important thing is just making the bride feel special and supported during what we’re sure is an incredibly difficult time for her. Whether her wedding has been postponed or there’s just a lot of uncertainty, some time with her closest ladies is bound to boost her feelings.
If you have any ideas for an online hen do that we haven’t included, then let us know! We’d love to hear your ideas for creative ways to keep the hen party fun going, even during these challenging times.
Image credit: Mateus Campos Felipe, by Unsplash
