Life's a party

When Susanna and I had the idea of having a Hen Night for me in London, I didn't honestly think that many people would make it. I couldn't stand the idea of a 'traditional' Hen Party so Susanna came up with ideas that I would actually like doing. She also promised that there wouldn't be any humiliating games or silly dressing up. Just some good fun. I was very surprised and touched to find out that all of 6 people from Finland had signed up to attend, with a further 5 from the UK. Crazy really! The planning and anticipation lasted a long time, but the day finally arrived on the last day of June.

It was a rather gloomy start though. was rainy and gray all week and a day before the party I got word from Annis that she hadn't managed to book any flights as they were all sold out. Early on the morning of the party Johanna texted from the airport, upset, as she hadn't gotten on her flight since she'd forgotten her passport at home! Not only had she left it at home, she'd also realised that she hadn't actually changed the passport into her married name yet... She could have gotten an expedited passport at the airport but it would have meant she wouldn't make her flight and… yep, all the later flights were full. The mood was a little bit sombre that morning when Susanna, Jenni and I traveled to the supermarket to get the last of the party supplies in the pouring rain.

Luckily, everyone else did manage to get themselves to – even Eve who realised only the previous day that her flight was leaving from Tampere, not Helsinki! In the end, there were 10 of us in all: myself, Susanna, Riina, Jenni, Elisa, Eve, Helmi, Nikki, Amy and Angela.

Susanna had really pushed the boat out with lovely pink decorations, pink cocktails and lots of finger food to kick the evening off with. The centerpiece was a funky chocolate fountain, which proved to be quite a hit. She'd also made a box full of blank pink cards decorated with butterflies, where the guests were told to write thoughts and advice to the bride to be. There certainly were some, erm, interesting tips that I got! :D

It's funny how time works, this party was six months in the planning and when the day finally came, the time seemed to fly by. Before we knew it, a huge white limousine was pulling out in front of the building. In the rush to get out I forgot my only piece of 'hen outfit', a sparkly pink cowboy hat, behind. Luckily Amy, Nikki and Angela had brought me an ever so lovely penis shaped whistle, to make my outfit a bit more festive. :P It was my first time ever in a limo and it certainly was a cool experience. A big bottle of champagne and balloons were included in the price, and we made the most of both. :D Despite the rain, it was nice to see from inside of a limousine and it was especially amusing watching tourists take pictures of us – not being able to see who was really inside! Things got a bit scary a couple of times where the streets were too narrow and the driver had to reverse in order to turn corners, almost hitting people walking by – and when we came very close (about 4cm) to the side of a truck.

The limo dropped us off at a private karaoke club. A few people had been a bit dubious about the whole karaoke thing, and ascending the stairs to this place probably did nothing to alleviate their doubts. :D All the walls in the corridors were painted black and all you could hear was muffled wailing from the different 'chambers'. It was quite surreal. We got assigned room no.5 (my lucky number) and a after brief introduction were left to our own devices. Riina instantly took charge of the playlist machine and after putting our drink orders in we got straight to the job at hand. And what do you know, it was so much fun! For two hours most of us sang our hearts out. The good thing was that you couldn't really hear your own voice that well when you sang so it didn't really matter how bad it might have been going, it was just collective fun with everyone joining in on choruses they knew. Nikki's & Angela's Grease Medley and duet of Total Eclipse of the Heart by Susanna's & myself ranked quite high up there on most memorable moments scale. Two songs were dedicated to the groom; they were Come on Eileen and I think We're Alone Now. :D. I think in the end most us did sing, even a few who's attitude had been 'absolutely not' to start with, and at the end of it everyone agreed it had been great fun.

From the karaoke club we continued to the Pitcher & Piano for something to eat. The mood was temporarily dampened by standing in the rain for half an hour waiting for a bus that never came. We did get to the restaurant in the end, even if it meant taking the tube and missing the 'London at night' experience Susanna had planned had the weather been more co-operative. So, it happened to be that we were ten minutes late for our table reservation and they claimed that the kitchen had closed and that we couldn't eat. Susanna, having done a stellar job all night herding us around, took charge and demanded to see the Manager. The food arrived in record time after that and the Manager even came to ask if everything was alright with our meal! My chicken burger was lovely, and everyone else seemed to enjoy their choices as well. At some point during the dinner Amy, Nikki and Angie presented me with yet another lovely gift - what self-respecting lady would drink their drink through anything else but a penis shaped straw, I ask you! :P

After the meal there was a little surprise game for me where there were 10 random items on the table and I had to guess which of the participants had brought what. Some of them were very easy, and most quite obvious, but being somewhat flustered it took me quite long to work things out! I did manage to pair most people up with the correct items, but got two wrong which was silly as it made perfect sense the second I realised I'd gotten them wrong. Anyways, some nice memories were conjured up there.

After the restaurant, the UK-based contingent headed off to catch the last trains, but not before Susanna had given everyone a lovely sparkly heart-shaped cake, which she had ordered especially for the party, to take home. So sweet! The Finns of us headed back to Susanna's for some Singstar, which was quite adamantly demanded by Eve. Well, what can I say, Singstar is always fun, so how could I complain.

All in all, it was a very fun night, even if the ones who didn't make it were missed. I can't sing Susanna's praises more, I was really taken with the care she had taken to organise it all and how she kept the night rolling like clockwork. Thank you so much, my wonderful Maid of Honour, and thank you to everyone who attended!