Hen Night Heaven at Pentillie
Hen night organisation can be a tricky beast: what you want is fun, laughter and a memorable experience with friends that everyone can enjoy – with as little stress as possible – but what to do?
Go abroad (expensive, where’s sunny? nightmare flight times!), meet at a favourite bar and nightclub (boring? we always go there!), do an ‘activity’ (really? I hate abseiling/surfing/paintball)… and so on… One idea guaranteed to appeal right across the board, and that offers lots of options to do something different, is to hire a really lovely luxury house somewhere beautiful and get creative. At Pentillie Castle in South East Cornwall we have hosted some truly fabulous hen (and stag) nights.
Pentillie is an award winning luxury events venue on the banks of the River Tamar, an area of outstanding natural beauty. Easily accessible by road, train or even boat it’s situated on the border of Devon and Cornwall, 20 minutes from Plymouth.
Hen Night Bake Off
One of our favourite Pentillie hen parties hired the whole house for the weekend and invited everyone to a very special ‘Hen Night Bake Off’. The Hens – including Mother of the Bride and various relatives – arrived at the gorgeous castellated Georgian house, just in time for a Hen Dinner freshly prepared by our onsite chefs and settled into their luxurious bedrooms.
The next day, they were set an all day ‘Bake Off’ Challenge where they spent the day in our top quality large kitchens baking, laughing and competing to create the best culinary creation. Needless to say rather a lot of prosecco was consumed and the creations got rather more ‘unique’ as the day went on! Here’s a guide to how to do your own Crazy Hen Bake Off as devised by Grazia magazine.
Other bridal parties have made the most of the unique experiences available in this area of outstanding natural beauty. The River Tamar winds majestically around the castle grounds and bridal parties can go canoeing, paddle boarding, take a boat from the quay or even, depending on the season, foodies can go foraging for samphire on the banks of the river.
For those who like a little outdoor adventure, there’s the opportunity to go shooting on the estate, or go slightly further afield and you can do some tree-surfing, learn how to surf with 5-star reviewed George Stoy Surf School at the famous Polzeath Beach or at one of the stunning beaches that surround Pentillie on the North or South Coast of Cornwall. You could even ‘jump off a cliff’ in your hen night gear on the zip wire at nearby Adrenalin Quarry.
If your hens are of a slightly tamer disposition a floral bouquet workshop with expert florist Phillip Corps, might be just the ticket (especially if your friends like the idea of becoming your florists on your wedding day!) or how about a gin tasting workshop: indulge in some delicious local Trevethan Gin, tasting and blending, learning to make your perfect G&T.
One of our favourite, laugh out loud, hen ideas is ‘Big Art’… learning to paint but in a more fun and relaxed fashion than normal. The way it works is that you paint blindfolded, taking it in turns to paint a giant champagne glass with the fizz being poured in and the bubbles going everywhere… a downstairs loo masterpiece for your future home!
But for some brides to be, a simple weekend spending time with your favourite friends and family being pampered at Pentillie is enough. Just eating dinner together, going for walks around the estate and spending the evenings round the fire, snuggled up in our large sofas and sharing stories and laughter is what will make a good hen night.
To make things effortless and a little special we can arrange in room massages, swimming in our lovely outdoor pool and our chef team can prepare whatever you fancy to eat – either in our dining room – or even down by the river in our beautiful bathing hut.
The beauty of a hen night at Pentillie is that everyone is together, but people can tuck themselves away for a quiet moment of luxury or get as involved in hen festivities as much or as little as they want.
So if you are dilemma-ing about your hen night, consider a weekend in luxury castle as a truly memorable way to host your friends – and enjoy a stress-free, stylish experience that will make the run up to your wedding happy, relaxed and pretty darn perfect!
For more information or to book your perfect hen weekend call Pentillie on 01579 350044.
