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Hen & Stag Sligo https://www.henandstagsligo.ie/design/images/logo.png JFK Parade, Sligo (071) 910 3204

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Booking a hen or stag party in 2018

Hen or Stag Party

Fergal QuinnSo you have to plan a Hen or Stag in 2018!

Congrats - you are the chosen one!. I am Fergal Quinn and I am one of the founders of Hen and Stag Sligo. Our company has helped plan thousands of hens and stags, so it's safe to say we know quite a lot about what to do and what not to do. There can be an enormous amount of work that goes into arranging a Hen or Stag party and even the most organized people can sometimes get caught up in all the work involved.

Our team has put together 10 points that are a 'must know' for any organizer. If this doesn't provide enough information, be sure to contact our team and we'd be happy to help out.

1. Organise well in advance

At this present moment in time, we are in mid-September 2017 and believe it or not, bookings are coming in hard and fast for next year. We know that going by last year some key dates will be full by November/December of this year, maybe even sooner. We advise booking well in advance. It only takes a deposit to secure a booking.

2. Always include activities for your weekend

It is very rare for a hen or stag to book with us that does not include some form of activity. Some parties book multiple activities like one on a Friday night and another during the day on a Saturday. The activity is a great ice-breaker and always add's a fun element to the weekend. There are huge variety of hen party ideas and stag party ideas to choose from in Sligo

3. Allow for possible delays

Yes believe it or not girls aren't always on time!. This can have a major impact on your day and sometimes things can go south very quickly if there are delays. There are some activities that are more time-sensitive than others. For instance, let us say you book a Funballs package. This will be booked on an Astro Pitch and will have a certain time slot. If you are late for the activity, the slot is lost and it can be very disappointing to the whole party. Some other activities are not quite as time sensitive but worth noting that once it gets into peak season, virtually everything is sensitive to time because there can be multiple bookings on most activities in a day.

In addition to causing problems with your activity, delays can cause huge problems with your meal. Every restaurant re-sits tables at least twice to three times a night. If parties are late, sometimes they will reduce the number of courses in order to allow the restaurant to re-sit the tables. So you might be booked for a 3-course meal at 6 o'clock but turn up at 6.30. The restaurant will most likely just run with two courses.

4. Always include a sit-down meal on the main day of hen or stag - don't fall for the 'finger food' meals

When it comes to dinner time on the Saturday of your hen or stag - 'Grub-up'!. You need to get a base into everyone for most likely a big night on the town. Don't just go for finger food meals that are included with some packaging companies - you need something substantial like a 3-course meal for the hens or a steak meal for the lads!.

5. It can be nice to have dinner outside of the hotel

When it comes to meal-time, we think that sometimes it can be a good idea to have the meal in a town centre restaurant. This means you are right in the action for after the meal and ready to hit straight to a pre-club bar like bourbon bar or the Belfry where you can start getting into full-on 'party-mode'.

6. Hens should go for the proper VIP admission packages at the Nightclub - not just 'Guestlist admission'

When it comes to hens going to a nightclub, we advise that you are careful to ensure that the full VIP is included in your package rather than just 'guestlist admission'. What is the difference? Well, Guestlist admission will literally get you only admission before say 12 o'clock with no reserved seating or bubbly on arrival. The VIP admission includes reserved seating and includes bubbly on arrival. All our hen packages booked with Lola Montez Nightclub include the full VIP treatment and we have a group host working every Saturday to ensure you are looked after. He can even escort your party from the pre-club bar to the nightclub - that's real VIP treatment!.

7. Be sure to have any necessary bus transfers arranged before the weekend

Sometimes transfers are required for certain activities that you might not have asked to be included when booking. If this is the case, do not leave it to the last minute to book transfer. While our team on the ground on a Saturday can help out here, sometimes the bus companies don't have availability and it can lead to those problem delays I mentioned in point 3.

8.  There are some great activities that can be done on the first night of a two-day weekend

If you are on a two-night weekend, there can be some great activities to do on the first night. Some activities like Karaoke & Cocktails, Rock N'Roll Bingo and Ann Summers Parties spring to mind for the hens. For the stags, a casino night, the cube or even a brewery tour can be a good call for the Friday night.

9. Some weekends are two-night only with certain accommodation providers

Some accommodation providers have a two-night minimum stay on certain weekends like Bank Holidays. This means it is much more difficult to accommodate one night stays on weekends like these. There are 4-star hotels that do provide one-night stays on these weekends, but there normally is a premium.

10. Don't stress - once it's planned right, it almost always goes according to plan

Some people can get super stressed about arranging a hen or stag party. It's all down to planning it right. Once you plan it in the best possible way, then you've done your best and it will almost always go according to plan then and turn out to be a great weekend. Don't worry, if things do go in some way wrong, it can be reassuring to know that our team on the ground will be working with you to put in back on the right track!