The hen party and stag do have become an intrinsic part of modern wedding traditions, it’s a chance for the bride and groom to really let off steam with one last big night out before tying the knot and settling for a more sedate life and a few more evenings in front of Gogglebox.
There was a time when the hen or stag night consisted of exactly that, one night, usually spent down the Dog and Duck, a select group would have a few drinks and give the bride/groom a rundown of just what to expect/avoid in married life. These days those single nights have become whole weekends, a chance to head off overseas for increasingly bigger, better last weekends of single life. BUT the latest trend for the soon to be Mr and Mrs is the ‘Sten Do’. A combination of both the stag and hen do where all the separate stag and hen guests come together.
Leading hen party providers GoHen.com shed a little light on the new phenomenon.
Reasons a Sten Do Makes Sense
- Pooling resources – It can be a great way to cut costs and have just as much fun. Together.
- Make it bigger and better | Two budgets = one bigger party so you can do/create more.
- No need to worry | The bride and groom can protect each other from any stag/hen pranks.
- The wedding photos will be safe | With no stags adding or subtracting anything on the groom (tattoos, eyebrows, bruises, broken limbs) there’s nothing that might ruin the wedding photos.
- More competition | Pitting the hens and stags against each other can produce brilliant and often hilarious results.
- More control | With a joint party both the bride and groom can get more involved in the planning to help shape the perfect party.
Brilliant Sten Do Ideas
There are some great Sten ideas and activities that really will bring everyone together in a party that you’ll all be talking about for a very long time.
- School Sports Day | Take the bride and groom back to their childhoods. All you need is a field and you can create some amazing old games. Add a music system, fancy dress and put everyone into teams with prizes and you’re on for a great party!
- Inflatable Games | Hugely popular, bring those classic giant TV gameshows to life (Total Wipeout, Krypton Factor, It’s a Knockout). Pit the guys against the girls or pick your teams it’s loud, mad and gets very messy! Read more about Inflatable Games….
- Wed-Fest | Some bales of hay, a sound system, BBQ, live band, you can have your very own music festival dedicated to the nearly-weds. Create festival T-shirts, wristbands, invites in the form of tickets. You really can get quite creative with everyone pitching in.
- Somerset Challenge | Imagine if the Wurzels or Bill Bailey were to organise the Olympics and instead of ‘banned substances’, fuel the whole thing with scrumpy cider… That’s a rough breakdown of this completely bonkers team challenge perfect for any sten event. Read more about Somerset Challenge…
- Theme It | If the bride and groom have a shared interest you can put together a themed event. It might be a pastime, TV show or even something tied in to how they met. While themed weddings might not to be everyone’s cup of tea, themed sten parties can be hilarious fun.
Why not get your best man and chief bridesmaids together for a planning session and see what sten ideas you can come up with. And if it gets competitive…. May the best team win!
You can see more sten party ideas at GoHen.com.
