Planning a hens with the friend no one invited - Cozzie Livs

We feel you…your bestie Mary made your absolute day as she announced “Will you be my Maid Of Honour?” and you were totally over the moon.

Fast Forward - Wedding countdown is actually closing in and your grocery bill was just $110 for some bread, oat milk, homebrand nespresso pods and the cheapest French cheese you could find.

“How on earth am I ever going to get an entire group of her friends to commit to a hens party!? AND how can I make sure it isn’t me that is slugged with a huge cost!?”

Don’t let our newest gal pal Cozzie Livs get you down.

Let’s chat BUDGET.  *MATH * time.

Starting point: How many people are on the invite list? The rule: Halve it, then add 4:

Mary has 3 Bridesmaids, then there’s you the MOH, Mary herself, her Mum, Groom’s mum, Groom’s sister, her cousin, 2 work friends, 4 uni friends and 3 old school friends. That’s a quick 20. Now halve it. 10. Add 4.

There you go - 14 should realistically attend. 

Now. How much money are we looking at?

A pretty fair estimate is $150-200 per person most people will accept is a standard hens party cost they won’t say NO THANKS to when they open the facebook invite.. The safest bet always is to look at the upper end of the scale ($200) and then multiply that by the total estimated guests. 

$200 by 14 guests = $2800

Now. Something we can’t forget. Mary can’t pay for her own hens. So. Divide $2,800 by 13 = $215 per person. See how that $200 per person suddenly grew? Well this is a little trick we like to suggest to people…

Thanks to Cozzie Livs and every gal you know budgeting hard, base the costs on the upper end of the scale and then you know you’re covered and everyone can start saving. Tell everyone it is $215 per person BUT actually plan the hens around $180 per person. This way you can be an absolute hero on the night and throw a stack of money on the bar to cover drinks, pay for Ubers or grab a feast of Maccas on the way back to the hotel. 

But most importantly… if only 12 guests actually attend… you aren’t paying $500 yourself just as a thank you for all your hard work. 

If you told them all that it was $215 per person and 12 guests (11 guests + Mary) RSVP, that’s a total of $2365. But the thing is, it was actually only ever $180 per person anyway. So everything is covered.

BEST CASE SCENARIO

16 guests RSVP. You’ve got $500 in the kitty to make the night run even smoother and look like a hens planning PRO.

Now the next question is… what can I actually do at a Hens for around $180 per person (for everything down to the napkins.)

Well there’s three paths to take here…

Option 1: The One Stop Per Person Package

These are the real easy options, and actually kind of negate a lot of the stress above. For example the Men On Fire Hens Package at Bottega Coco in Barangaroo is a set $169pp and it’s all done in one cost per person. So you have a drink on arrival, cocktail class, fireman life drawing for some cheeky fun and dinner.

Option 2: Each Activity Individually

Once again, much easier to choose a per person package for each aspect of the day so you can’t get too badly out of pocket when RSVPs don’t go your way. For example, book a bottomless brunch at The Winery to get everyone fed and break the ice over a few drinks, head over to Lord Roberts Hotel for some cheeky Fireman Life Drawing then simply head out for drinks and partying somewhere in the CBD afterwards and everything can pay their own way as the night goes on. 

Option 3: Tailor The Weekend

This is the real hens party planner extraordinaire. If Mary asked for this option, you’ve got your work cut out for you but this is where the above rule book really comes into play. Say we are heading to Terrigal on the Central Coast. Let’s find an airbnb - cost 1. Let’s organise some drinks and food - cost 2. Let’s organise some entertainment/activity - cost 3. Let’s not lose your bond - avoid cost 4. 

This option really has two paths - a really tight group of friends who know that Mary absolutely dreams of a beachside hens party and this is just what we have to do. While the cost per person is going to be much higher, the benefit is a small tight group will usually 100% commit to the cost and weekend.

Path 2 is where to balance the cost of getting a $6m beachside pad in Wamberal before it slides into the ocean from the climate crisis, we need to invite a f*&kload of guests. Think like 20-25 at least. At this level, dividing a $3000 airbnb up is a bit more manageable per person and it shouldn’t be TOO likely that you will invite 25 guests and only 5 RSVP (let’s hope everyone likes to party with Mary for a weekend).  

With the latter scenario, it is suggested to organise the accommodation budget first, add $100-200pp on top of that for the food/drinks/entertainment/activities and then really just play with the numbers that RSVP initially to see what cash you have to play with. Don’t get too carried away booking everything until you see the initial interest and RSVPs. Be sure to always put a cost estimate in the invite so you can be realistic on who is attending.

So… I guess it is time to start planning saving for the big weekend?