Tear up the ‘L’ plates and cancel the
stripper- the new bachelorette parties are about bonding with your besties over
a yoga workout, gym class or 10k run …
Is a Holistic Hen Do for you?
Gone are the days when a hen weekend meant
an obligatory boozy trip to Blackpool, where your only souvenir was a Kiss- Me-
Quick hat and a raging hangover. That is not to say we are no longer taking our
hen parties serioursly- on in three hens spend about $838 a head on theirs- but
rather that we are becoming increasingly selective about how we will celebrate
our dearest girlfriends going from Miss to Mrs.
The latest trend is for ‘holistic’ hen dos
and they are a world away from the traditional sash, stripper and Sambuca
combo. Instead, the itinerary is all about feel- good experiences, be that
beachfront workouts or sushi- making lessons- maximising the opportunity to
hone both skills and body surrounded by your closest girlfriends.
If you think this all sounds suspiciously
similar to the classic hen’s spa break, you would be wrong. Spending all
weekend drifting about in a bathrobe seems, so, well, 2010, compared to the
latest seriously body- honing hen breaks.
a
gym class
This year is brides – to - be are busting
out of the white towelling and slipping into some seriously stylish workout
gear,ready to strut their stuff at fitness retreats such as the hen - specific
Bodu Beautiful Bootcamp (bodybeautifulbootcamp.co.uk), where you are free to
custom- build your hen experience and dicide how much exercise you want to do
and what type (Zumba camp anyone?), with the same approach to post- workout
wine. Or Fit Boot Camp (fit- bootcamp.com). a results- guaranteed luxury
bootcamp, where the tasty, locally- sourced menu promises you will not gain a
bodice- busting pund.
‘I saw my hen do as less of a “last night
of freedom” and more of a fantastic opportunity for a healthy blitz to help my
bridesmaids and me look great in our dresses,’ says Georgia Tolley, 32, a web
writer from London. ‘We have all had plenty of drunken nights out together over
the years, but this was an opportunity to spend some quality time with each
other, somewhere beautiful and remote where there was no chance of me being
forced to wear a feather boa or lick squirty cream off a naked man!’ Geargia
and six close friends headed to the Majorcan countryside for a weekend- long
luxury bootcamp (bootique.me). ‘Our days consisted of Pilates classes,
personal- training sessions, laps of the pool and leisurely hill walks, with
delicious, healthy meals and the opportunity to sit back and relax together
with a glass of good wine at the end of the day. It was not cheap, at @914
each, but it was definitely worth it- I got all the best bits of a traditional
hen do with the bonus of looking and feeling great afterwards.’
Centre
Pilates class
‘Social time is an opportunity to escape
the speed of our lives,’ says James Wallman, editor of trends- forecasting
title LS:N Global. ‘But the fly- and- flop bachelorette break mo longer ticks
the box. Healthy group exercise or skill masterclasses seem to be the only way
to switch off from our over- connected lives. It is more catharic, more
holistic and generally more meaningful than getting drunk and losing the next day
to a hangover.’
