I Literally don’t even know where to begin, hands down this was one of the BEST weekends of my life! So I had no idea what I was doing, all I said to my Maids of honour was that I was happy with anything they planned, I trusted them completely…(we’ve been friends for life, they knew if there was clubs, blow up willies and a stripper involved it wouldn’t be worth their while..call me boring if you like but it me!)
I will just add I had no idea what to pack, all they said was probably no heels stick to comfy shoes, I had also been shopping with one of my bridesmaids a few months before and seen a sequin playsuit in Primark and thought surely if there’s a time I could get away with wearing something like that it would be at my hen do!? She confirmed it would be suitable, by this point I thought why am I packing a sequin playsuit and converse? But I have to say I did VERY well on the packing front.
Day One:
All packed ready to go, I had a message from the girls to say be ready for 9.30am we’re picking you up and that was that we were on our way. First stop was a shopping centre in Oxford (told you they knew me well) ..once I got there my Mum, Mother in law & sister in law arrived and it was their task to keep me entertained, not a hard job with shops around. The others then disappeared to ‘the final destination’ where we would be meeting them later.
A few cocktails later we were ready to continue the journey, 20 minutes before we arrived I got blindfolded, I’m not going to lie my heart was actually pounding, but oh myyyy nothing could prepare me for what I was about to walk in to, it was INCREDIBLE!! I got my wrist band on (yeah that’s right they made wrist bands!!) and I was ready to embark on Jochella…
Firstly I need to take a minute to talk about how amazing this glamping site was that the girls had found and the way they decorated it, the things they had made, just everything, they thought of absolutely everything, it still blows me away the sheer effort they put in to it all. We all slept in a yurt which was huuuge, we had an outside seating area, a covered dining area..complete with hair and glitter station, a firepit and the best bit, our very own bar. The site was called http://theoxfordyurt.co.uk and the lady that owned it could not of been nicer, she was so helpful and cooked the BEST vegetarian food out of a converted caravan, honestly I have never tasted food like it.
So the line up for the weekend was pretty epic, starting with more drinks, Mexican food and then one of my favourite bits..the silent disco. Dancing around a meadow, in a flowy white skirt, cropped sequin top and a veil without a single care in the world, singing my little heart out to ‘Tell Me Ma’ and dancing without a single fuck given about who was watching..or what I looked like! It truly was a night I never wanted to end, with my very own Jochella playlist the girls had made with allll the cheese, b*witched, Steps, Aqua, just to name a few, playing in my ears until the early hours.
Day Two:
Question, why do you always fall asleep in a tent freezing cold and wake up BOILING hot!? I’ll be honest I barely slept the first night, mainly due to excitement but also because one of the girls decided to announce she saw a massive spider in the tent earlier on in the day and that was it for me, spooned Ellie all night hoping if the spider got me it would get her as well. We started the morning with a breakfast hamper full of fresh fruit, homemade granola, pastries, it was pretty dreamy. It was such a sunny day, we got so lucky with the weather, after breakfast we decided to do some yoga which my amazing Mumma, who teaches yoga for a living (very handy) led for us. All the yoga mats were available to use from the glamping site which was ideal, it was such a nice way to start the day, would highly recommend it if you’re planning a hen party.
After a relaxing start to the day we headed off out for a walk and pub lunch, it was so nice with amazing views over the village, love a good walk me especially when there’s views involved as well. A bit of pub grub was very much welcomed after a good trek and I was ready to start back on the pimms. We ate at the Uffington White Horse, they had a proper pizza oven which is right up my street and it didn’t disappoint.
We got back after some food where I was told to hide away in the yurt for a few minutes while they ‘prepared something’.. I walked out and to my horror (sorry George no offence it was just slightly creepy) I was greeted by 8 George faces and with that we were ready for a little scavenger hunt. We paired off into teams and had a list of my favourite things we had to find, first pair to find them all were the winners..queue my massively competitive side coming out. Guess who won!? Ohhh yeah!! Probably for the best! All that adrenaline and running around desperately wanting to win worked up an appetite and that night was yet another incredible meal cooked by the lady who owns the site and delivered to us. It was all vegetarian Indian food and it was quite the spread, so soo good.
That night was the night the sequin playsuit made its appearance, oh how I want to have an excuse to wear that all over again. Ellie (one of my bridesmaids) customised one of my denim jackets for me, I had sold it on Depop and she wanted it for herself, little did I know I would be getting it back but 10000x better version then it already was, again I kind of want to wear it out, would that be weird!? We also had our own little version of Mumford & Sons play around the campfire for us while we toasted marshmallows and naturally sung until I basically lost my voice. This was also something you could organise through the glamping site I believe. We spent the rest of the night after the band left sitting up talking until I have no idea when, I’m not going to pretend we were drinking outrageous amounts of alcohol that night because at the end of the day this is my hen party we’re talking about and honestly chocolate and a good cuppa makes me much happier, so that’s exactly what we had.
So that was that, the most incredible hen weekend I could ever of wished for. Veil still in my hair, helium balloons trailing behind me it was time to leave, we all had a little cry on the drive out. The Bridesmaids probably crying with relief that it had all gone to plan! My tears were pure happiness (I know this probably sounds very over the top) but I said it before and I will say it again and continue to say it probably for the rest of my life, I was truly and utterly overwhelmed with the amount of effort my girls had gone to, it meant the absolute world to me and memories I will never ever forget. Thank you my loves, you smashed it!
Thanks for reading, check out my Jochella instagram highlights for more pictures and a tour of the glamping site 🙂 x