Confessions of a Hen Do: Part One in which we lose a hen.

 

So, the day finally dawns and here we are - all of us together for the first night only - more of that later.

But lets begin at the beginning.

While hen party was originally used in the nineteenth century to describe a sedate gathering of women in the United States, it lost something in translation when it travelled to our shores at the beginning of the twentieth century.

The practice of women enjoying their last day of freedom before their wedding has something in part related to this female gathering but its also linked to the word 'honey' or 'hinnie' and has nothing to do with birds!

Modern women like my daughter now enjoy freedoms my grandmother's generation could never have dreamed about.

She was a machinest at Burton's factory near Bolton and I remember her regaling us with tales of young women decorated in toilet rolls with L plates tied to their backs.

In those days women generally gave up work to get married.

Most female factory workers were either single or like my grandmother, widowed.

One of the things that links the olden days (as my children refer to pre-1980s days) and today is that generally Hen parties were about taking the bride out of her comfort zone and nothing has changed there.

So history lecture over lets turn the clock back to 2am on Friday May 27th when the alarm rings.

After a quick shower my son's girlfiend, Poppy, who lives with us drives us to my daughter's house and we pick another hen up on the way.

After a 4am pick-up we enjoyed a glass of champagne in the taxi and arrive at Liverpool Airport.

My daughter is nervous and excited. She has left her four month old baby in the capable hands of her fiance.

I am also nervous and excited. I have never been on a Hen Holiday before.

I didn't have a Hen Do when I got married and the only Hen Do I had been on before was a rather sedate afternoon tea for the oldies when my daugher in law got married to my son in 2018.

I am excited about the prospect of some sun and fun but nervous as I don't really know many of the others apart from my daughter, daughter in law and son's girlfiend.

I have met my future son in law's mum a handful of times and her friend I have met once.

Apart from that I don't really know anyone else.

But as a former journalist I am used to being on the outside looking in.

We board the plane around 6am and the others are enjoying a drink or three while I sleep - you can see me sleeping through in the bottom right!.

By the time we arrive in our fabulous villa in the Elviria Hills near Marbella I am fully recharged and enjoy some R & R with my daughter along with a few drinks.

After we get ready, my daughter experieinces her first stride outside the comfort zone when the stripper arrives.

You can see my toes curling in the foreground of this photo.

The evening ends at The Supper Club in Puerto Banus.

12 of us leave but only 11 come back.

Find out why in my next post.

But until next time I will leave you with a tour of the villa.