Bachelorette party

A group of women gathered around a table in an outdoor setting, dressed in a mix of casual and dressy styles. At the left of the image is a woman wearing a veil on the back of her head
An American bachelorette party, with the bride-to-be wearing a veil, at left

A bachelorette party (United States and Canada) or hen night (UK, Ireland and Australia) is a party held for a woman (the bride or bride-to-be) who will soon be married. While Beth Montemurro concludes that the bachelorette party is modelled after the centuries-old stag night in the US,[1] which is itself historically a dinner given by the bridegroom to his friends shortly before his wedding, Sheila Young argues that its British counterpart evolved from a number of earlier pre-wedding traditions for women (Ribbon Girl, Pay Off, Bosola, Taking Out, Jumping the Chanty, to name but a few) whose origins are obscure but which have been around for at least a century in factories and offices across the UK.[2] Despite its reputation as "a sodden farewell to maiden days" or "an evening of debauchery", these events can simply be parties given in honor of the bride-to-be, in the style that is common to that social circle.[1]

  1. ^ a b Post, Peggy (2006). Emily Post's wedding etiquette (5 ed.). London: Collins. pp. 183–184. ISBN 0-06-074504-5.
  2. ^ Young, Sheila, 'Prenuptial Rituals in Scotland: Blackening the Bride and Decorating the Hen' (Lexington Books, 2019)