What it means
A hen do is the bride’s pre-wedding send-off, the UK version of a bachelorette party. It’s usually a night or weekend with her mates, fuelled by drinks, daft outfits, cheesy games and the kind of chaos that feels hilarious till the morning after. It can be glam or absolutely feral, but it’s meant to be a proper last big blowout before the wedding.
Usage examples
"Jess’s hen do was in full swing at Spoons, all in pink sashes. Two cocktails in, Kayleigh’s leading a conga and the bride’s lost her shoes."
"My sister hen do in Brighton went sideways within the first hour, the inflatable willy ended up in the sea, and the photographer she hired pretended not to see the chaos."
"We hired a minibus for the hen do in the Lake District, twelve mates, three bottles of prosecco at lunch, and the driver said it was his most polite group of the year."
"We’re off to Leeds for Niamh’s hen do this weekend, so if I text you at 2am in a cowboy hat, mind your business."
"Her hen do started with bottomless brunch and ended with six of them singing Natasha Bedingfield outside the chippy."
Where it comes from
In British English, do has meant a social event or party since the 1800s, and hen was already a familiar word for a woman in some settings. Hen do became the standard UK label for the bride’s pre-wedding bash, sitting alongside stag do for the groom’s version.
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