A Dubai-style Hen night

In Dubai we don’t do things ordinary…. from the tallest building in the world, to man-made islands and Lamborghini police cars, Dubai is anything BUT ordinary. So when it comes to planning a hen (bachelorette) night for a friend, things are not ordinary there either!

The bride to be

Ingredients:

• 9 ‘hens’ (a.k.a the friends)
• 1 bride-to-be
• 1 serviced apartment @ Jumeirah Living
• Salon booking (on site at the apartment)
• Drinks mixologist (because we can’t possibly make our own drinks while enjoying the massages, manicures, pedicures or facials 😉 )
• An amazing spread of food for lunch
• Decorations for the apartment
• Feather boas and bead necklaces
• Card games
• Dinner booked at a fancy restaurant with amazing set menu
• Limo ride home
• Random pub stop

Directions

1. Have some of the hens arrive at the apartment a little bit early to set up the decorations, see to the food arrival and generally just squeal in delight every few seconds at how awesome the place is
2. Have one of the hens pick up the bride to be (after having told her what to pack in an overnight bag, but giving NO CLUES as to where you’re going or what you’re doing)
3. When the bride-to-be arrives, all hens MUST squeal and jump up and down in ecstatic delight and show her into the room and immediately get her a mocktail (served by the amazing mixologist) and point her in the direction of the food
4. Each time the doorbell goes with the arrival of something else, the hens must once again squeal in delight
5. Each hen and the bride-to-be takes their turn at having their choice of spa treatment done – a mix of manicures, pedicures, reflexology massages, facials etc.
   

   Silly games being played

6. During the treatments, it is strongly advised to have some sort of game being played – the example we used was the ‘Mr and Mrs’ game where the hens had asked the groom-to-be a bunch of questions that he answered, and now the bride-to-be has to guess what his answers were. This brought about a few moments of tears when some of the answers were so incredibly sweet and romantic ❤
7. Once all the treatments have come to an end, the hens can move to the sofa and all gather around to play a card game for a few extra laughs and a bit of chill time
8. Approximately 1 hour later, all ladies are to get ready for the nights activities… don those little black dresses, heels, make up, jewels and don’t forget to bring your party vibe!
9. All ladies to hop into taxi’s and head to dinner venue
   

   Menu sample

10. Arrive at dinner with venue with lots of ‘ahhh’s’ and ‘oooo’s’ and ‘this is so pretty!’
11. Here again it is strongly recommended to play another game to keep the party vibe going – our choice for the night was ‘The Phrase Game’… one person has pre-determined sentences written on individual cards which are to be handed out at dinner. The object of the game is to sneak these sentences (the more random and crazy they are the better) into conversation without someone accusing you of doing so. Your group can decide on what the forfeit should be if they are caught out, or to the accuser if they are wrong 😉
12. Now spend a few hours relaxing at dinner, stuffing your faces with the most delicious 9-dish meal, taking some fun photos and engaging in general banter
13. After you’re all sufficiently full and the restaurant is literally waiting for you to leave, pay the bill, say your thanks and head downstairs for your transport home back to the apartment
14. Once downstairs and out in the road, have one of the hens call the transport to find him (because limo’s get lost easily in Dubai 😉 )
    

    Limo hens

15. When you eventually find him, all climb in the limo, and put the music on – LOUD
16. Sing away wildly and have a ton of fun on the drive, dropping one of the hens off on the way
17. ** OPTIONAL INGREDIENT** Sometimes the hens will choose here to head straight back to the apartment, however, since we were going to drive right past a pub, we decided to have a quick stop in there and have a little bit of a dance-a-thon before going home
18. When the pub switches on the lights and tells you to leave, please leave in a very lady-like and orderly fashion
19. Walk home (it is after all, right next door 🙂 )
20. Change into pyjamas and have the party continue into the small hours of the morning (if you’re not falling asleep yet)
21. In the morning, it is important to be awake while breakfast is still being served so that you can all head up to the breakfast floor of the building and enjoy a delicious egg, pancake, croissant, hash brown, tea, coffee, cheese and (veal) bacon breakfast while re-living stories from the night before 🙂
22. Head back down to the apartment, pack up, and say your farewells to one another
23. Go home and CATCH UP ON SLEEP

All in all, the girls all had a fantastic night, the bride-to-be felt very special and spoiled by us, and we walk away with some amazing memories of a wonderful night and great friendships.

Huge thanks and special mention needs to be made to Circle Café Dubai and Sushi Counter for supplying us with the most amazing platters of food – the girls wolfed it all down!!

Then we’d also like to say thanks to the other ‘suppliers’ for the day – without all of you this would never have come off so fantastically!

• Hummingbird Bakery – cupcakes
• Jumeirah Living – accommodation in a 3-bedroom serviced apartment
• Orange Beauty Spa – spa treatments
• Pure Sky Lounge @ Hilton JBR – dinner
• AB Mixology – mixologist
• DIY Events – decorations
• Exclusive Limousines – limo

And here are some of the photos of the day/night – enjoy!