We already brought you the ultimate list of hen party games, and, in the process, thought it would be helpful to give detailed instructions on exactly how to play the most popular ones! Here, we're guiding you through how to play one of the easiest and most wholesome hen party games around, How Old was the Bride?

A simple guessing game that allows you to celebrate your bride-to-be, it's the kind of game that hen party guests of all ages and backgrounds will enjoy! So, without further ado, here's how to play How Old was the Bride?

Image by Black Bow Studio on Etsy

How does How Old was the Bride? work?

How Old was the Bride? is a simple guessing game that invites hen party guests to guess the bride's age in a series photos from her childhood and adulthood. You can, of course, include photos of her future spouse in the game, too!

What you need to play How Old was the Bride?

Here's what you'll need to play the game;

• A photo collage of some kind, featuring photographs of the bride at various ages. Call on family members and school and college friends to supply the images - the more ridiculous, the better. The collage itself can take any form - poster board and glue, a smart photo frame, a specially-printed poster with elegant calligraphy, a washing line-style collage with pegs... Just be sure to include numbers to identify the photographs by (more on that below!).
• Pens and paper for guests to make their guesses with.
• A prize for the winner, if you'd like to award one (optional).

IMAGE by Ela Bobak

How to Play How Old was the Bride?

Here's a step-by-step guide to organising and playing How Old was the Bride?

1. Source the photographs. Friends, family members, school and college friends should have lots of gems stashed away. If anyone supplies hard copy photos, take extra care to keep them safe, make copies and a plan for returning them after the hen party.
2. Make the collage. You might want to use old-fashioned poster board and glitter, order a custom graphic, or frame the images individually and set them up around the hen party venue. You could even include the correct ages in the collage, and hide each one by sticking the photograph over it with velcro, which makes for quite a dramatic reveal at the end. Don't be afraid to get creative, just make sure the photographs will be clearly visible for everyone on the day.
3. Add the numbers. Each image should have an accompanying number that's clear for everyone to see. Be sure not to damage the photos, if they're original prints (we suggest making copies)! For extra cheesy game show points, you could make stick-on numbers featuring the correct ages that you add to the collage at the end of the game.
4. Create an answer sheet for each guest. You can write these out by hand, create one via a word processing or graphic design platform like Canva, or buy a custom printable graphic via a site like Etsy - it's up to you. At the most basic, the answer sheets should have numbers that correspond to the ones on the photographs, and a space for each answer.
5. Organise a prize, if you'd like to award one. This can be as simple as a fancy cocktail (we have delicious hen party cocktail recipes here), or something fun and silly, like a framed version of the most hilarious photograph in the collage!
6. Gather everything you need to play the game, including the photo collage, answer sheets, pens, and the prize, if you're awarding one. Keep everything together until the hen party.
7. On the day of the hen party, set up the collage and get everything else ready to go.
8. When ready to play, announce the rules of the game, pass out the paper and pens and tell everyone to get guessing. Depending on the number of images, guests will need about 5 or 10 minutes to fill out their answer sheets.
9. Tot up the scores, announce the correct ages, and award your prize (if you've organised one!)

Find a comprehensive list of (uncringey!) hen party games here!