Is it time to chicken out of pricy hen weekends?
Ivaguely remember my hen night. It took place in an Italian restaurant in Pinner where, after the meal, a “waiter” approached me and proceeded to attempt what we called, in those days, a “snog”. That rather tame incident with the bogus waiter was the extent of my sexual exploits that night. Thankfully, what happened in Pinner stayed in Pinner.
How times have changed. Now, it’s not enough to have a hen night with a few penis-shaped lollipops or a stag do with a busty strippergram and a surfeit of alcohol. Hens and stags have turned into mammoth pre-wedding celebrations in their own right, and woe betide the friend who is unable (or unwilling) to join in the merriment.
Hen nights are now hen weekends, with trips to expensive hotels, spa treatments, salsa lessons and cocktail-making classes all de rigueur for the bride-to-be and her entourage. Stag parties fly to Europe for the weekend to indulge in the coffee shop culture — or worse — in Amsterdam or Prague, or jet off to Las Vegas for a couple of days of high-rolling mayhem beside the Bellagio fountains.
The problem is, not everyone can afford to splash the cash and it can cause major problems among friends in the run-up to what is meant to be a joyous occasion. More often than not, friends of the bride and groom are planning their own
SOLVE OUR Shabbat-friendly crossword. Writing is not required — just use your Scrabble board and tiles to spell out the answers to the cryptic clues. 5E Hyacinth wouldn’t put her flowers in it. (6)
8A Contend with lots of 10A. (6)
10D A rowing crew. (5)
10M The entrepreneur leads the way. (5) 11G Spin a yarn in the garden. (5)
11I An Italian house. (4)
11K Heard the tree belonged to second person. (3)
DOWN
2B Meaning of beans. (5)
4F The Welshman may ask for this cocktail. (8)
5A It’s told that he saw his twin brother. (5)
6D Lumber found in the jungle. (6)
8A Did the snake tell on Eve. (5)
8G Exterior exit. (7)
10A Bolt after topping the hedge. (5) 11G Tim’s reading partner. (5)
11M I revert to the printer’s measure. (2) 13K You can find one in a pack. (4)
14D Browned off with it. (6)
ANSWERS TO SCRABBLE CROSSWORD NO: 823
ACROSS Canape, Dandy, Vista, Excise, Oyez, Jungle, Whit, Hifi, Snide, Gimlet, Raree, Boa, Kerb DOWN Quarters, NUTS, Popinjay, Wadi, They, Silo, Giant, Mig, Ignore, Beak, Louvre, Roe, Trowel, Fob