Party planner: Essentials | Birthday | Kids' | Work | Wedding | Hen | Stag
On a budget
Cocktails
For glitzy cocktail bars in the West End, try Annex 3
(6 Little Portland Street). There’s no mistaking it’s from the same
stable as Shoreditch’s Loungelover – an explosion of camp with a dozen
1960s chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. It’s a good idea to phone
first to reserve a table in the bar which opens at 6pm. For cocktails,
we love The Player
(8 Broadwick Street). Although it’s a members' bar, non-members are
allowed in before 11pm. It’s a groovy-baby 1970s subterranean cocktail
lounge with outstanding bar staff.
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Dinner
Hungry but on a budget? Make for Hi Sushi
(40 Frith Street). It’s a cheap eats kind of place with large sunken
tables in the basement. If you’re starving, the all-you-can-eat buffet
is around £15 per head, but picking a few things off the menu won’t set
you back more than £10 each.
Entertainment
For entertainment, head to Kitsch Cabaret at Madame Jo Jo’s
(8-10 Brewer Street). At £20 a head for standing tickets, this will
chomp up your budget, but drinks here are cheaper than at, say, the
pretty Volupté
in Holborn (which also has burlesque on most nights). It’s cabaret and
burlesque with a whiffy dose of cheese, but it’s a huge amount of fun.
And if you are tempted to throw in bit of traditional hen-do ribaldry,
you can book a stripper (£60-£100) for your table. Doors open at 7pm,
the show starts at 8pm.
Club
From here, you can follow the rest of the
Kitsch Cabaret people to a club around the corner for free VIP entry.
There are numerous rooms covering chart pop, funk, R&B and house.
If this is a little too mainstream for you, finding somewhere to dance
in the West End at the weekend without paying more than a few quid to
get in can be a little difficult. Perhaps try the Roxy (3 Rathbone Place) for ‘Smash Hits’-style ’80s and ’90s chart fodder.
Money no object
Afternoon
Burlesque
legend Jo King’s London School of Striptease (07958
314107/www.londonschoolofstriptease.co.uk) offers exotic dance sessions
from £25 per hen. Or try Time for Tease’s ‘Afternoon Tea Burlesque
Beauty’ session (www.timefortease.co.uk). A Champagne tea with make-up and
manicure starts at £80 per hen.
Early evening
Get
ready with a bespoke party at Lost in Beauty boutique (020 7586
4411/www.lostinbeauty.com), kitted out with vintage shop fittings and
beauty brands including Dr Hauschka and Jurlique. From £80 per hen.
Later
Have
an intimate soirée at The Berkeley (0808 238
0245/www.the-berkeley.co.uk), where the ‘Girls’ Night In’ package
starts at £415 but includes a luxurious room, access to the rooftop
pool and gym, complimentary in-room mini manicures, cocktails sent up
from the Blue Bar, Skinny Cow ice cream, a choice of chick flicks to
watch and a hamper of goodies.
Pub crawl? Check out our Bars & Pubs section.
Need to line your stomach? Find a restaurant.
Want to have it large? Find a club.
Going the whole hog? Check our travel site for inspirational city breaks.
Party planner: Essentials | Birthday | Kids' | Work | Wedding | Hen | Stag
7 comments
We had a hen party making our own chocolates at My Chocolate in London. I also arranged to have a butler from a company called CheekyButler.co.uk to be there serving drinks and that just made the evening for all the ladies, they loved it!
Hi, We also had a jewellery making hen party, it was run by the London Jewellery School. They came to our family house and taught all 17 of us to make lovely silver jewellery! We all made a pendent and earring set as well as a special charm which we all put on the bracelet for the bride to be. They bring all the materials and tools and even some bubbly and chocs to finish off with. It was a great way to spend 3 hours and great value too.
Check them out at www.londonjewelleryschool.co.uk
We organised a dance lesson with London Hen and it was amazing! We did the Dirty Dancing Experience and i certainly had the time of my life!
I would reccommend this link to see what they offer:
http://www.londonhen.co.uk/?p=35
The Adonis Cabaret hen night package bundles it all together for you, and includes Carwash club at Club Aquaium, on a Saturday www.AdonisCabaret.co.uk
for hen nights i would probably suggest an event called kitsch cabaret on saturday nights. its at madame jojo's, bang in the middle of soho in london. its full of glitz and glam, great for a girly night out, very memorable!
We're going for dinner in the private room at Malmaison Farringdon. The room is free, seats 15, you can select the wine and food on offer to limit the expense and there's a separate sound system so you can plug in your own ipod. It's kinda mid-price but suitably elegant so you feel like you're blowing the budget! Oh, and the cocktails are to die for!! Absolutely no plastic male appendages in sight!
we had a jewellery making party run by jewellery desginer claire aristides for our hen night. it was so much fun, we all got to make our own jewellery for the night out. so we were all sparkly when we went out that night.