Bachelorette party

A bachelorette party (United States and Canada) or hen night (United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand) 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 modeled after the centuries-old stag night in the US, 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. 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.

The term bachelorette party or simply bachelorette is common in the United States and Canada. In the United Kingdom and Ireland it is known as a hen(s) party, hen(s) night or hen(s) do, while the terms hens party or hens night are common in Australia and New Zealand. The term stagette is occasionally used in Canada. It may also be referred to as a girls' night out or kitchen tea (South Africa in particular) or other terms in other English-speaking countries.

Other pre-wedding celebrations, such as bridesmaids luncheons, are often held instead of bachelorette parties due to the latter's association with licentiousness in some countries since the 1980s.

Before its usage as a term for a pre-wedding party, hen party was used in the United States as a general term for an all-female gathering, usually held at a hostess's residence. In 1897, The Deseret News noted that a hen party was a "time honored idea that tea and chitchats, gossip smart hats, constitute the necessary adjuncts to these particular gatherings". In 1940 Eleanor Roosevelt was described as hosting a Christmas-time hen party for cabinet wives and "ladies of the press".

The bachelorette party is consciously modeled after the centuries-old bachelor's party, which is itself historically a black tie dinner given by the bridegroom, or sometimes his father, shortly before his wedding.

The practise of giving a party to honor the bride-to-be goes back for centuries. However, certain American bachelorette party customs involving licentiousness among some social groups may have begun during the sexual revolution of the 1960s. It was uncommon until at least the mid-1980s, and the first book on planning bachelorette parties was published only in 1998.

Those uncomfortable with these modern customs of debauchery often celebrate the night before their wedding with a combined stag and doe party, a custom that has become increasingly popular.

The phrase "hen party" mirrors the male "stag party" in referencing social stereotypes of each gender at the party.