Harry Potter Hen Weekend - Part 1

The beautiful Bride to |be arriving at the house!

When you think about a hen party or stagette you can't help but picture a flurry of girls in bright pink with obligatory veils, tiaras and L Plates on the bride to be and a few other things that over the years have become popular stagette attire. What you most likely wouldn't imagine would be a Harry Potter themed Hen Party yet that is exactly what we did for my sisters Hen Party Weekend! Now I can't be held entirely responsible as it was actually her other two bridesmaids that came up with the idea of perhaps dressing up as Harry Potter (HP) characters, I simply took the idea and ran a little with it....OK so perhaps I ran a lot with it.... to the point of a full blown marathon at high speed! I admit I went a little O.T.T but it was worth every minute!

My wonderful sister decided a while ago that what she would love for her hen party was a weekend getaway with her closest friends...so I set to work looking for a house that would accommodate enough of us that was within a reasonable driving distance from where we all lived and at a decent price. I was fortunate enough to stumble upon Lotus Lodge, an old youth hostel which has been beautifully refurbished to a fantastic guest house that sleeps up to 22. It was absolutely perfect and the most ideal setting for our weekend away. With the house booked and guests confirmed it was time to work out the weekends activities. Now she wanted a bit of a chilled out weekend so skydiving was out of the question(!) but we had to do something special on the Saturday so I started having a look at the surrounding area. Unfortunately since we were staying in Wanlockhead (a beautiful little village which also happens to be the highest village in Scotland!) there wasn't too much to do (for the purpose of a Hen Weekend) within a reasonable distance, until I spotted Drumlanrig Castle on the Lotus Lodge website.... slowly things began to fall into place. A fantastic house big enough to sleep us all....a potential Harry Potter theme and finally Drumlanrig Castle - a spectacular castle that was only 25 minutes drive away from the house and had beautiful grounds including an adventure playground. My brain went into overdrive as my imagination played out all sorts of Harry Potter style adventures. The idea of a treasure hunt at the castle seemed an obvious choice but too good not to do, especially when the final treasure was going to be her Harry Potter costume, complete with Harry Potter wig!

The next couple of months whenever I had some spare time I got to work on the clues, treasures and a few challenges to keep the day interesting. An email eventually went out to the girls that were coming along to let them know that they were to dress up as an assigned HP character which were picked at random. Initial nerves over how everyone would react to such a strange request for a hen party were instantly put at bay as everyone loved the idea! The only person who had no idea about it was Lauren, the bride to be.

Sisters

Before I knew it we had flown to Scotland and it was only a matter of days before the long awaited weekend. The last few days were a flurry of shopping and cooking in preparation for the weekend. Everyone was getting more and more excited although still no one knew the plans for the Saturday other than dressing up. On the Tuesday I finally gave Lauren her invitation (which she had requested!!!). Convinced she was going to find out what we were doing and where we were going her excitement soon turned back to a happy frustration when she realised the invitation revealed absolutely nothing other than when she was being picked up!!!

Everyone made it to the house on Friday although there were definitely some delays due to some people getting a little lost (myself included!) but when I finally made it there I couldn't have been happier. The house was absolutely perfect* – the ideal place not just for a hen weekend or get together but also perfect for my Harry Potter plans. Once everyone arrived we had some Prosecco and strawberries to toast Lauren then all sat down in the lovely kitchen for dinner which was Lasagne** served with a Green Salad and some French bread – the perfect meal for a group of girls to help themselves to while catching up and celebrating with our beautiful hen! Dessert was one of Lauren's favourites – Profiteroles, which again went down a treat with everyone. After a few more drinks and a couple of games it was time to head to bed in preparation for the big day......the hen party was on and in full swing and it was only a matter of time before everything would be revealed.........

Well you have to stick to tradition a little don't you?!!

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*Unfortunately I didn't have my camera (stupidly forgot the battery charger!) so all photographs were taken by friends. Although we didn't manage to get one of the house the website has plenty of fantastic pics that show it off perfectly.

**A big thank you to Mum who helped me make the Lasagnes! The recipe used wasn't quite the same as my recipe which I have linked it to, however it was pretty similar with the exception that Mum added some bacon to the ragu sauce, which I have to say I will be doing from now on!!!