Questions, questions, questions: What is a Hen Party, Why a Hen Party, Who goes to a Hen Party and apart from those that lay eggs, what are all these Hens?
Tradition by the most part dictates our habits and how we do things so it’s not surprising that a group of young ladies and maybe not so young should come together to celebrate an occasion worth celebrating and that is a wedding of one of their friends.
The female of the species has lots of different nick names that identify their gender as do the males who are generally referred to as stags or some times as cocks. The male version of the Hen Party is referred to as the Stag Party for obvious reasons as a cock party would soon become a cock-up. The most popular identification brand on the ladies is Hens and so we have Hen Parties which is a lot more user friendly than say, a Bitch Party.
Why have a Hen Party? Those with greater knowledge of the workings of the human mind will have myriads of explanations and theories on the subject as will the “burn the bra” branch of the Bitch Brigade but essentially it is a gathering of loyal and trusted same sex friends who wish to share the Joy of the up coming marriage of one of the group before she transfers her loyalty to the man of her dreams.
That is probably the best explanation that a lay person can come up with. Depending on the frame of mind of the Hens, the party can be a nostalgic very enjoyable get together involving friends, mothers, aunts and cousins.
There is also the view that it’s just a chance to do what the men do and that’s have a massive booze up with no holes barred before the Bride to be ties the knot.
We will never know the real answer sisters because all have their own agenda and every Hen Party will be unique.
One thing the Hens do enjoy is dressing up and some appropriate music.