Where we stayed...
We booked the Central Passage Budapest Apartments. These apartments were ideal for us, the location was amazing and we were within walking distance of everywhere we went. I stayed in the 7seasons Central suites last year and loved them too. I preferred the decor in the 7seasons but both apartments are around the corner from each other so if its a cheap cheerful weekend you are looking for the ones we stayed in were perfect.
I booked through www.booking.com. I have the app on my phone and use this for hotels everywhere I go. You can filter the results on the app so that you get free cancellation which is so handy if your plans change before fights are booked. You can also liaise with your accommodation rep and organise airport tranport which was handy for us as the group was so big so we organised a bus to and from the apts.
Our hen activities and where to eat...
We had 2 nights, and 2 and a half days in Budapest so we wanted to sort activities for the 2 full days and leave the day we flew home free for everyone to grab lunch and relax before the flight back to Dublin.
I think its so important to note what the bride is into when you are thinking of hen activities. Denise loves an activity so we based her whole hens around this.
On the Friday we had a very early flight out of Dublin, checked into our apts and went off to our first activity, rooftop yoga.
We actually tried to get the prosecco/ beer bike as our first activity but it was booked out months in advance. I checked the reviews for this and there seemed to be one reputable company which was fully booked and one other company that nearly had 100% bad reviews so we decided against this and went with the rooftop yoga.
We found the yoga instructor through Facebook and Michelle got in contact with her and she was really helpful with organising the venue and healthy lunch after yoga. The weather was amazing so the rooftop area was perfect for the activity. It was nice to do something relaxing before the madness of the weekend got underway.
Our second activity was that evening at the Blue Bird Karaoke rooms. I visited the Blue bird cafe last year for food and thought it was really nice and quirky and a total instagram worthy cafe. I found the Karaoke rooms through their instagram page and enquired about booking dinner and a Karaoke room for right after. It was very handy having these both next door to each other. The girl Irina that I was in contact with was really helpful with any queries I had about booking, took a deposit from me beforehand and organised hen party decorations for the Karaoke room which was a nice touch.
We had a black theme for this night and Denise obviously in white.
Later that evening we had planned on going to the ruin bars. These bars are a must if you are visiting Budapest and I loved them last year. Its something that I didn't find any information on booking or reserving areas in before hand and when we arrived the queue was about 30-40 mins wait. We didn't want to wait around so had to wing it for where to go next. We followed the sound of good music and ended up in a late night bar that I cant for the life of me remember the name of. Things will more than likely go wrong in some shape or form at a hens but everyone was so understanding and just went with the flow so we were so grateful for that and had a great night in the end anyway.
We didn't want to organise anything too early for the Saturday knowing that Friday would be a late night and the fact that Denise isn't an early riser was another reason to do a late lunch. We booked lunch in BBZ bar which was literally a few minutes from our apt. The food was lovely and they were also really helpful when we initially got in touch to book for our group. They offered different hen activities e.g cocktail making, beer pong and dancers. We booked the Chippendale dancer kind of last minute through BBZ bar too. It wasn't something we initially thought of booking but we had a bit of money left over in our budget and thought it would be funny to mortify Denise. She definitely wasn't expecting anything like this but seeing her petrified hungover face was definitely a highlight from the hens :)
The next thing we done was another last minute addition to the itinerary. The Dublin vs Kerry All Ireland rematch was scheduled for the Saturday evening of Denises Hens so I knew I had to organise somewhere for us to go and watch it in Budapest. I put it out to Instagram and the majority of people tagged Jack Doyles Bar in Budapest and they got in touch with me to say they would be showing it. We got her a personalised jersey for the match and it was the icing on the cake that we won 5 in a row, so the atmosphere was great!! The staff were so friendly and helpful there and the food was so good too. We just ordered platters for the group.
I mean are you even really Irish if you don't visit an Irish bar in every city you go to!
Saturday night was the main attraction, the bath party. We organised a party in Michelles room that evening to have a few drinks and play hen party games before heading to the bath party. We decided on the Baywatch theme for this and got everyone to wear red swimsuits. We wanted to get a theme that suited where we were going so it was either this or sailors. I bought red and yellow whistles on amazon and little floaties in Dealz for our theme.
One word to describe the bath party was 'WILD'. I had done the thermal baths before in the day time and when I was there realised they done these massive night time parties at the weekend with djs and acrobatic shows etc. This was basically the reason we decided on having the hens in Budapest so we could go to one of these and I knew no one would have done anything like them before.
The first experience going to the baths and the second was very different. I purposely didn't want to recommend going here as the staff were really rude and rough with everyone. Everyone had a great night but I wouldn't go again.
Spreading the work...
Myself and Michelle spread the planning out between us. There is a lot to organise when the hens is so big so I will leave a little checklist below that might help if you are planning one. If there is a few bridesmaids in the bridal party, spread the work out between you e.g one book the accommodation, one for activities etc. We worked out how much everything would cost per person and gave prices from there so the girls just booked flights themselves and we tried to look after the rest.
First things first create a WhatsApp group or facebook group that you can add everyone your bride wants invited and you can give all the necessary information to everyone through this.
- WhatsApp group
- Research Flight days and times (if you are going abroad)
- Transport to and from the airport
- Personalised t-shirts
- Accommodation
- Activities
- Book lunch and dinner spots before hand esp if its a large group
- Hen games
- Hen party survival kit
- Get itinerary's made for the hen party bags so everyone knows what you are doing at what times. We got these made by Denises cousins husband (richardog83) you can find him on instagram if you are looking to order some. I have a closer look at them on my instagram hen highlight too.
- Bridal Keepsake
Make your bride feel special..
For the airport I bought tshirts in Penneys and got them personalised with Robes4you for the airport for all the girls going.
Michelle had a great idea to get "Mrs Doran" printed on a Dubs jersey for the match so the Jersey was bought in O Neills and personalised . Some printing shops won't print on jerseys so check this before if you are doing something like this.
Denises theme for the whole weekend was to wear white, thats all she knew about the hens so everything was a surprise.
I got her a gorgeous bride tiara and veil made with Katemanganmillinery (I have this on my Denise hens highlights on insta) and she loved it. it was something a little different that I never seen anyone have on a hens before and made her really stand out as the bride :)
For the pool party we got her a bride skirt cover up for over her swimsuit.
I think a memory book is a lovely way to give your bride a hen keepsake. I made a burn book style memory book ( our gang loves mean girls) and filled it with pictures and everyone wrote a funny story or some well wishes through it.
Hen Games...
We had more games than we actually got around to doing. I got hen party dare cards and Denises family picked up willy games etc but the only game we actually got around to playing was the Mr and Mrs one.
I recorded a video of questions and answers with Jim (Denises fiancé). 15 questions was more than enough and for every question she got wrong she took a shot and for every right answer she could nominate someone to take the shot for her. If the groom agrees to this I defo recommend doing it, it was v funny.
Useful tips..
Booking.com... I would recommend booking your hotel or apts through booking.com with the free cancellation feature. Things happen and people may drop out so its handy to be able to cancel or add on rooms right up until the week or so before you go.
I have a code for the first 15 people using booking.com (D8E31B6C) to get 15 euro. This isn't an affiliate link, I just noticed it on my app and thought I would share it here.
Revolut.. This was so handy to have in Budapest. I found their currency really hard to understand and with the revolut app I could use transfer straight from my Irish bank account to Huf instantly so I knew exactly how much I was spending in Euro with each transaction.
Hope this was all helpful. I have a highlight on Denises hen on my instagram page too (dominiquenugent89)
Happy planning!!
xoxo