I literally had the best Hen weekend! I spent the whole weekend feeling completely spoilt, loved and lucky to have such lovely girls around me and so unbelievably grateful that they would go to such effort to give me such a good send off into married life. Having everyone fly out to Edinburgh for me was just amazing and it'll be a weekend I'll always remember fondly. Thank you girls, from the bottom of my heart :) We all met at the airport on Friday night - I was quite flustered from having to rush our cat for emergency surgery a couple hours before we were due to leave for the airport and I was concerned for both Shadow, and the flight-threatening storm 'Abigail' that was looming above our heads. Once we were through Security (with Jemma well told off for attempting to smuggle a giant can of dry shampoo in her carry on) we settled into the bar and the girls immediately made sure that I had a glass of wine in front of me. Once boarded, the lovely cabin crew gave me two free bottles of Prosecco to enjoy (I shared mine with Megan) and the 8 of us arrived in Edinburgh very merry and excited.
Lucy, who I met in Australia and lives in England, travelled up to Edinburgh earlier in the day and we met her at the apartments which she had decorated for our arrival :) She had put up Hen banners in all the rooms, balloons everywhere and had made cookies with Michael and I's faces on - I was so shocked and pleased. I had my own room, with a big comfy bed and some fun Hen bits and pieces laid out for me to wear. All the girls had tartan sashes that said "Rachel's Hen Party" and mine read "Bride To Be - One Last Fling Before The Ring". The plan was to stay in the apartments and have a pyjama party as we didn't arrive until after 10pm but when we saw how central we were the plan quickly changed to heading to the nearest bar which happened to be a lovely cocktail bar just across the road. We all piled around a big table and amazingly, the bar had a deck of Cards Against Humanity cards and I think we tried to play it, but everything got a bit hazy after the dirty shot Megan bought me...
The next day was filled with planned secret activities and I was so nervous about it but was really, really happy with their choices when they were finally revealed. Caroline flew over on Saturday morning to join us which brought our group to an even 10. We all went for lunch and drinks on the Royal Mile before walking down to The Edinburgh Dungeons where we were booked onto the tour - agh! It was literally, without doubt, the scariest 90 minutes of my entire life. I was petrified! God only knows how it's suitable for school children because at one stage I was curled up in my seat, fingers in my ears, eyes closed and blowing repeatedly into the whistle we were all wearing around our necks in sheer panic. Never again! But at the same time, I was so glad that I did it and it really was a good laugh in the end. The photographs are hilarious.
When we left the dungeons it was dark outside and raining cats and dogs. We ran in the rain to The Hard Rock Café where the girls had arranged a Cocktail Masterclass! We were completely sober when we arrived, cold and wet to the bar but it didn't take long for us to get merry once our "tutor" started pouring the drinks. I went first, and made my first Mojito - one of my favourites. All 10 of us got to make a cocktail of our choice and then Megan and I got to go head-to-head in a competition to make our own signature cocktails. Megan named hers "The Mayhem" and I named mine "The Bonarch" (her name was much better...) and in the end The Mayhem won but I was given the prize anyway HA. My delight was short lived though because on our way back to the Apartments the rain made the bag that I was carrying my prize in so soggy that it dropped and smashed all over the street...... doh!! The Hard Rock Café also provided a buffet dinner and the food was really, really good so we left very tipsy and very happy.
When we got back to the Apartments we threw some music on, poured some Prosecco and Raspberries and got to work drying ourselves off and getting ready to go out. After a few drinking games we called 2 taxis and headed off to TigerLily which is pretty much the most glam bar I've ever been to. They made us all take our Hen gear off as we went in - spoilsports - but it was a nice spot. There was a club underneath it called LuLu's which was also nice, but totally rammed. We ended up staying out until after 3am which none of us usually have the stamina for in our old age - I honestly had a fantastic night singing and dancing with my best girl friends. The next morning was touch and go...thankfully we had a late check out and were able to stay in bed a bit longer before packing up and going for lunch. Our flight home was at 4pm so we were at the airport for 2pm and had a drink at the bar to cure us. The flight home was quick (if not a little turbulent) and Megan and I watched The Little Mermaid together for the duration of the 50 minute flight. She was fab throughout the whole weekend and worked so hard to pull everything together - I'm excited for her to be my new sister :)
Everything from start to finish was exactly how a Hen Weekend should be, relaxed, fun and completely drama-free. I'm so grateful for my girls for planning such a perfect send off for me and I can't wait to return the favour when their time comes around. Edinburgh is beautiful, even in the rain. I feel completely blessed. Thank you, everyone x
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