Drinking games are one of the fundamental parts of a hen weekend. Whether you’re a bridesmaid organising your best friend’s hen do or you’re organising your own, drinking games are a great way to break the ice and, more importantly, get drunk! Minimal or no equipment is needed for these games (apart from lots of booze!).
1) Ban words
Nothing needed
Choose certain words to be banned for the whole weekend, words that will come up a lot. For example: ‘wedding’, ‘bride’ or the groom’s name. If any of these words are uttered, the hen must either down the rest of their drink or take a sip.
2) Never have I ever
Nothing needed
Although this is a classic drinking game and might remind you of being at University, it’s great to play so people can get to know each other who may have just met. Someone announces something they’ve never done and players who have done it must drink. If you want to get people drunk quickly just announce something that people most likely would’ve done. For example: ‘never have I ever been abroad’. Or you could ask more personal questions, a good way to get to know a little bit about someone (or maybe a little bit too much).
3) Most likely to
Nothing needed
Someone will ask who’s most likely to do something and on the count of 3 everyone will point to who they think the most likely to do it would be. The questions can be to do with the wedding, for example: ‘most likely to fall over on the dance floor’. Or they could be random, for example: ‘most likely to go to jail’. Do a shot if someone is pointing at you.
4) Prosecco pong -
Needed: Plastic prosecco glasses and a ping pong ball
A slightly classier twist on the classic beer pong. Arrange the glasses into two triangles either side of a table and split your group of hens into two teams. Players from teams take it in turns to throw the ball from one end of the table to the other, aiming to try and get their ball to land in one of the other teams glasses. If they are successful the defending team must drink the prosecco in that cup and it is removed. The game ends when a teams glasses run out, the team with glasses left win.
5) Guess who
Needed: Paper, pen and glass needed
Every hen writes down a secret on a piece of paper, fold it up and place it in the glass. Turns are taken to pick a secret out of the glass and that person must guess who’s secret they think it is. If they guess right the person whose secret it is must down their drink, if they guess wrong they must down their drink themselves.
6) Mr and Mrs
Nothing needed
Test the bride’s knowledge of her future husband by asking her different questions about them and how they would answer the questions. For example: ‘What are your partner’s worst habits?’ and ‘What would your partner say is their worst feature?’. Lots of other examples can be found online, you may want to ask the Bride’s fiancee for some of the answers beforehand.
7) Cup swap
Needed: Cups and a spoon
Each person has two cups, one full on alcohol and one empty. They then have one minute to transfer as much alcohol as they can from one cup to the other using just a spoon. Once the minute is up they must drink whatever is left in the original cup. Speed is the key to not have to down too much of your alcohol.
8) Paranoia
Nothing needed
If you don’t think you’re a paranoid person you will after this game. All hens sit i a circle and someone whispers a ‘who’ question to the person next to them. For example: ‘Who do you think will get married next?’. The other person must say their answer out loud. If the person wants to know what the question was, they must drink to find out. If they decide to not find out and not drink, everyone else can find out what the question was by whispering.
9) Sip sip shot!
Nothing needed
This is essentially a drinking game version of duck duck goose. All hens must sit in a circle and someone goes round tapping people on the head sip, sip, sip. These hens must sip their drinks. The person whos go it is will then pick someone to ‘shot’. They must get up from the circle and chase the other person to try and tag them. If they succeed, it becomes their go, if they don’t they have to do a shot.
10) Medusa
Nothing needed
All hens sit in a circle or around a table with shots in the middle. All hens put their heads down and someone counts to 3. On 3 all hens must look up at someone. If you’re looking at someone but they’re not looking back at you, you’re safe. If you’re making eye contact with someone you must both shout ‘Medusa!’ and must both obviously!
These games are a great way to get to know people who you may not have met before. Remember to try and drink responsibly, this might be hard with these games or if you’re the bride!
By Sophie Petrocochino
