Bride and Zoom as Erica’s pals stage surprise hen do online... but at least the bubbly’s real
WHEN lockdown put paid to social gatherings, Erica Banks resigned herself to cancelling her hen party. But her friends were determined the bride-to-be would not miss out on her last hurrah as a single lady. So, instead of the weekend away which had originally been planned, they organised a surprise ‘virtual hen’ – with online games, laughter and ‘social distancing’ drinks. Even her fiancé, Richard Frew, 31, was in on the secret plans, stashing deliveries of balloons, sashes and Prosecco flutes when they arrived at the couple’s home in Aberdeen. So when 17 of Miss Banks’s closest friends and family
‘I was almost crying when flowers arrived’
were on a Zoom chat waiting to celebrate with her, all dressed in sashes and hats, with drinks in hand, the 28-year-old was ‘teary-eyed’.
Last night, the charity worker – who woke up on the day suffering from lockdown blues – said: ‘I had absolutely no idea anything was being planned, no hint or expectation of anything. When an afternoon tea arrived I thought, “Oh my gosh”, and I was almost bubbling when flowers were delivered with a lovely poem.
‘Then Richard put the laptop in front of me and they all shouted “surprise” – I was shocked.’
Friend Abbie McKerlie, 28, came up with the idea to surprise her friend with the virtual bash on April 25.
Mrs McKerlie, from Edinburgh, said: ‘We made sure we sent everything to make it a fun day for her because we thought she would be feeling a bit down.
‘When she saw us Erica got a bit teary-eyed and Richard said it was such a good surprise for her because she had woken up feeling deflated.
‘We played a Mr and Mrs game and put a PowerPoint together of famous wedding dresses with Erica’s face on them for people to guess the dress.
‘We also made a playlist that everyone added songs onto for her to play that day. The party might have been a virtual one, but the hangovers the next day were very real.’
Miss Banks, originally from Dumfries, said her wedding had been due to go ahead in July but has been postponed to next August. Her original girly getaway will go ahead next spring. She added: ‘They thought of everything and everyone involved was so thoughtful.’