My friend Bex got engaged around a couple of years ago, and of course the wedding planning starts. For the last 10months me and around 12 other girls (which I was soon to meet for the first time ever) have kept this massive secret from one of our friends Bex, we are going to BENIDORM for her hen-do.
Keeping this a secret was so god damn hard, Bex began to ask question after question. "Where am I going for my hen-do? Why have you become friends with my mum and sisters of Facebook? Do you know why I have these dates booked off work?" Ohh... The list of questions went on and on, but somehow the planning managed to remain secret. The ladies who planned the whole hen do I believe it was, her sisters, her mum and her best friend.
A few weeks ago, the Hen-do date came around, but still, the secret remained. Every detail of every second of the weekend went perfectly. I wasn't really looking forward to going away as the dates fell on my boyfriends birthday, I don't really drink alcohol and I was nervous of entering an environment outside my comfort zone.
On Friday 8th April, I picked up my friend Chanelle. We had our passports, euros & suitcases packed with summer clothes. We dropped our cases off in secret at Bex parents house where her brother-in-law and dad (Phil) were waiting with everyone else's suitcases to remind us ITS A SECRET...
Apparently Bex was told to pack Wellington boots, a pair of high heels, an evening outfit, a bandana and a rain jacket, the ladies planning the hen do also followed these instructions. Clever thinking hey...
For months we had a secret Facebook group to discuss our weekend together and had arranged to wear legging, a pretty top and high heels, thankfully and perfectly everyone did so.
We finally met up with the other hen ladies at the pub for the first time, introduced ourselfs and knew this was our last time meeting Bex knowing to keep this all a secret, we were all handed a Hen-Do sash whilst Bex had a wedding vale with a tiara on top. We all kept giggling like teenage girls knowing what was planned whilst Bex had a confused & worried smile on her face.
A little while later the mini bus arrived, we all piled in with excitement, the prosecco was flowing, the games had started, whilst Bex's dad chauffeured us too moors valley, where Bex reaction was "what the hell we doing here? What's at Moors valley too do?" This was fun, every one of us girls were in on the act of trying to make it look like we were doing an outdoor activity, moments later, we laughed excitedly, got back onto the mini bus and drove to paultons park, awkwardly, the park was shut.
We were actually heading to Portsmouth where there was an adults only evening in a soft play area, with ballpits, slides, climbing frames. It threw us all back to our childhood, except this play area had a bar. We continued the games, getting to know each other and of course keeping our mouths shut until our evening came to an end.
Around 11pm our chauffeur Phil arrived, Bex began to question where we were going for the evening, as we settled back on to the minibus, on our laps was a present, Bex opened hers up first. It was a T-shirt with the words 'Bex hen-do 2016 Benidorm' YAY the secret was out, and Bex burst into tears of happiness whilst we all shouted "WHEEYYY"
For the next hour we all told Bex that we all knew for ages, the planning, how she questions far too much, what her parents had planned, what clothes her mum had brought, how her fiancé knew, her sisters went into her flat that morning and grabbed all the essentials for her. How, how, how was all this planned behind her back?? Amazing....
We turned up at Gatwick, all very tired from lack of sleep and waited to board our plane to Benidorm. I've never been to mainland Spain before, so this is when the excitement hit me. As day light started to approach we all boarded our plane, some of us slept, some of us were so excited, but by 9am, We had landed in sunny Benidorm, we were met by our rep Danni, who looked after us AMAZINGLY! From the minute we got there, to the minute we left.
The girls who organised the hen-do also put together a goodie bag for every hen, all the little gifts inside that Bex loves...
I'm not going to bore you with every minute of every day, as for us girls it was our adventure, but what I will tell you is that we fell in love with Benidorm, here's a few of our moments...
We had strippers, cocktails, free shots, free champagne, laughter, love, heart touched moments, locked a pad lock to a well, went to try tapas... left before we tried tapas, a random old man stopped to take a photo of us hens, the friendliest taxi drivers, kids handing out leaflets to strip clubs, met other stag parties, sunbathing, scooter driving, bucking bronco, frank from shameless, chips, chips and more chips, dancing, a cheeky party check list, plastic willies, no sleep for 30+ hours straight, pictures with a dwarf, willy sculpting with plastcine, champions the bar, eating in the titanic, plastic naughty dolls, went to the famous Solana hotel, loads and loads of photos and memories, and with 12 girls, and not a single argument, it was one of the best weekends of my whole entire life!!!
As one of the girls said when we were on our way back to the airport...
"We went on holiday together as strangers, and came back as friends"
Now just you wait until her wedding, I couldn't be more proud to call you my friend Bex, and as my first friend to get married, I can't wait to share your special day.
Life's for living, you can always make money, but you can't always make memories. Enjoy life
Katie xxx
