When the boot’s on the other foot…
Being an events organiser is my day job, so you’d be forgiven for thinking I’d be pretty whizzy at spiriting up a perfect girlie weekend away for my gang of mates. Wrong!!!
Our very own Serious About party weekends would be the perfect choice for me and my pals, except that of course I’d be running the event, ie working. So that would be a busman’s holiday. Foot down, but not feet up.
Every year I organise a girlie weekend away for a gang of mates and because of the day job, it’s a given that I do all the legwork. Because I’m in the events biz, on that basis, I’m therefore bound to get it absolutely spot on. So no pressure at all then…..
This gang got together for the first time for my own hen do back in 2016. In the countdown to becoming Mrs Hosking, along with organising a wedding, moving house, oh…..and gearing up for the British Skittles Championships finals, I invited a group of precious friends from various parts of my life to have a girlie weekend away in Bath. Suddenly the girls were offering car shares, swopping car reg numbers and scooping up people in service station car parks they’d never actually met before. That old saying, arrive as strangers, leave as friends, was never more true. It was just totally amazing and humbling to see these people who are so special to me, all becoming firm friends.
Long story sideways, the weekend was such a smash hit that soon yours truly was at it again, trying to sort out another weekend away with wow factor. Since then, we’ve done a few in Bristol and this time we’re heading for Cardiff. The elements are the same: nice place to stay, a spa day, some shopping and maybe some ten pin bowling (you can take the girl out of the skittle alley, but you can’t take the skittle alley out of the girl). In the evenings, we’re looking for wining and dining. We’re all 50 plus so we’re not quite so bothered about night clubs but very happy with a good dinner, a few late night drinks and lots of laughs.
You would think a spa hotel would be the perfect solution but from one experience, it was a bit too sedate for us in the evenings. We proved to be a bit too noisy for one hotel – and I confess – we were ticked off on volume issues. Hence, I’m back to putting together a DIY weekend away package to ensure a good time is had by all. It reminded me that our Serious About weekends take over the whole hotel so there are no ‘volume issues’.
Interestingly, I have tapped into Google ‘weekend away in the UK’ or ‘girlie weekend away’ countless times, hoping to find a product similar to what we offer at Serious About Events, ie everything under one roof so it’s just a pay up and turn up experience. But I still can’t find a thing. So at least in the day job, I’m beginning to seriously believe we’re seriously on to something unique here.
Compared to the Cardiff trip I’m planning, booking one of our Serious About weekends is a doddle. And all at a set price. Meanwhile I’m going to be wrestling with the cost of the Air B n B we’re booking in Cardiff. If one of the party has to drop out, the price will inevitably go up with the rest of us covering the cost of the absentee. At Serious About Events, the price doesn’t change. It’s up to me and the Serious About Events team to get the numbers in and book out the entire hotel.
Anyway, back to Google. I’m only amazed my computer hasn’t audibly groaned about the number of times I have typed in ‘weekend away in the UK’ and ‘girlie weekend away’. I’m almost expecting Siri to suggest I booked myself one urgently to give him a break. So far, I have whittled it down to this rather lovely Air B n B in Cardiff. The rest is still a work in progress, but I’m sure I’ll find restaurants, a good spa and activities that will keep my lovely pals happy. But it’s hard work!
My bunch are fabulous and so easy going. Every year we have a girlie weekend away. Sometimes there’s an excuse like a wedding or birthday or sometimes we can’t be bothered to make up an excuse at all. This time we have an excuse – it’s all about Hazel who gets married later in the year. So this is loosely Hazel’s pre-hen weekend so it’s a dress rehearsal for the real deal.
Let the car shares and meet ups in service stations and the party begin!!
