Hens Night, Bachelorette Party or Bridal Shower - Tips and Ideas!

Organising a Hens Night, Bachelorette Party or Bridal Shower??



What will you choose?

Learn about the differences between the types of celebration and how you can make your party choice extra special for the bride to be and all the girls!

A bachelorette party, hens party, hens night or hen do, is a party held in honour of the bride to be. The terms hen party, hen do or hen night are common in the United Kingdom and Ireland, while the terms hens party or hens night are common in Australia and New Zealand. The term bachelorette party is widely used in the United States and Canada. This event may also be referred to as a girls' night out or kitchen tea - but ultimately this is an occasion arrange for the bride to be to celebrate her last days of 'freedom' in the run up to her wedding day!

Hens / Bachelorette Party

Traditionally this party will be organised by the maid of honour and the bridesmaids - notoriously branded as a night of drunken debauchery the hens or bachelorette can vary in its theme and choice of entertainment.

Dare the Bride

... a bit of fun!

What you ultimately decide to do at your party depends on the bride's lifestyle, the age of those attending, and the area in which you live. It is important to make this a night to remember, a chance for all of the girls to let their hair down and have some fun!

It is a fantastic time to typically 'dare the bride' - you could make a list of questions and dares for the hen to compete throughout the night. It is a great idea to print these onto your personalised stubby holders as part of a party game or series of dares!

Hens, Bachelorette, Bridal Shower - The Entertainment!



Karaoke is always a blast and can be a superb ice breaker too!

Get the bride up first to sing 'white wedding' or 'girls just wanna have fun' or go as a group if you're a little shy at the beginning! You could also consider some caberet or go to a drag show for a few smiles and giggles!

Whatever entertainment is planned, the organiser should make sure that it will not embarrass or humiliate the honouree or any of the guests!

However, there is no harm in a little fun and often on a girls night out the organiser might arrange a male stripper or it is becoming increasingly popular to have some fun with all the girls at a pole dancing party!

The Formal Bridal Shower!



The bridal shower is a more formal pre-wedding event; this is an occasion for close family and friends of the bride to spend some relaxed time with her before the big day.

It's a time for sharing funny stories, giving advice to the bride, and for all the girls to 'shower' her with gifts and support. A bridal shower is commonly organised by the maid-of-honour and bridesmaids, quite often this can be arranged as a surprise so that the bride really does feel special!

Girls Only... ?!

Bridal Showers are traditionally a 'girls only' event, however in recent times it is becoming more common for this to be a couple's party, often referred to as a "Jack and Jill Shower".

Any time of day is acceptable for a bridal shower however they would normally be held in the afternoon.



Avoid the stress of a traditional shower...

The traditional shower can be held at a home, in a bar or restaurant. However, it is becoming increasingly common for shower planners to choose activities instead - such as, taking the bride out for a shopping spree, bowling bonanza, relaxed day at the spa or a winery tour to avoid the stress of a formal party.



If the couple decide on a joint Jack and Jill venture then this can be completely relaxed with a beach barbecue or party in the park.

Themes for your shower...

Some popular themes for bridal showers include lingerie, kitchen tea party, around the clock, spa and beauty or travel and honeymoon.

You could even go for a Paris theme like in the film 'Bridesmaids' - but maybe not quite as over the top :-)

Bridal Shower, Bachelorette or Hens Party - The Rules!

There are some general rules to follow when arranging your pre-wedding event;

- Consider the brides personality when arranging the celebration, make sure that you try not to plan something that she will disapprove of or simply not enjoy, after all this is her day!

- Don't invite guests to the shower who have not been invited to the wedding - that could be awkward!



- Don't forget to give out party favors to all of the guests. These can be traditional favours such as small boxes of candy. Or they can be something a little different that relates to the theme of the shower such as personalised koozies, or charms for a cocktail or drinks party.

- Party games are a great way to break the ice, especially if a large number of the guests don't already know each other.

- With bridal shower gifts, (if this is not a surprise) you could encourage the bride to sign up for a gift registry. With so many couples living on their own before getting married, it can be really difficult to decide what to get, make sure that the bride is mindful of people's budgets when choosing her list.

And remember, you don't have to simply go for one of the other. When organising the celebration for the bride-to-be you might want to choose a bridal shower as a daytime event and include mother of the bride, mother in law and other mature relatives. That way you can have the wild night out with the girls on a separate occasion and make sure that everyone is included.

Good luck and happy planning.

Promotional Stubby Holders: Design

The perfect blend of aesthetic and effectiveness is not as easy as you might think Often overlooked is the design aspect of a promotional product. Design is a strange thing as it can often be overlooked as it appears very easy to many people. A good design will pay dividends well into the future: an example is the Nike swoosh, of course very simple to draw, but very hard to replicate its success! Think hard about dividing up your budget so that a good amount is devoted towards getting the design right. Do not be afraid to test designs with close groups of people (preferably customers) to hone things, but remember that many people will have their own ideas, but not all can be right so it is better to focus on things like making sure the design is clear, attractive and compelling rather than the specifics of colour, size and placement etc. (there are other ways to address those aspects). Also consider that what works well for your customers may not necessarily be something you are in love with. Try and be objective, however if the two go hand in hand all the better!

An example I use to illustrate this particular facet of design is to ask you to think about some of the biggest, and most successful, Internet names out there. Chances are Google, eBay and Amazon are at, or very near, the top of your list. One could hardly say that they are also the most attractive sites though! They work and have become bigger than their competition not only because of their services, but also because their interface with their customers is simple (although Amazon is starting to look more messy!) and therefore they can be understood and used by the widest audience.

A common error, certainly one we have seen many times, is making sure your message is front and centre. Unless you are a recognised brand like Nike, CocaCola or Apple then just your logo on a promotional product is going to have limited value outside your known customer base. If you can, always include a short piece of text to explain quickly and memorably what you do. For the 6% of the population that do not know what CocaCola is just simply adding ‘a delicious, brown, carbonated beverage’ could help them take their first sip!

Once you have captured the viewer’s eye and delivered your message hopefully they will feel as if they want to read secondary information such as your highlighted products, services or maybe just your web address. If that information is not present then you are relying on them remembering to try and find out later, a risky strategy especially as there is lots of completion for everyone’s attention these days! QR codes or unique URLs can be useful here too as a means of getting an instant call to action. For instance: ‘Scan now to receive a 10% discount off of your first order.”

Also worth mentioning is to try and select a product you can offer in a number of colour ways for little or no extra cost, this will increase both uptake and longevity – like Coolaz stubby holders. This can be a double-whammy of sorts, which can often also be quite economical in volume orders, but is increasingly possible with smaller orders too with some suppliers.

Promotional Stubby Holders: Competition and Saturation

Stand out from the crowd Becoming ever more a factor in choosing the right strategy is trying to find a promotional item that stands out among the rest: commonly selected items such as keyrings, stress balls and now USB sticks are becoming so popular that you will be hard pressed to find someone that has not already got one, so you'll have to work even more harder to make sure they like your one! Occasionally a new product arrives on the market and it is important to quickly evaluate the potential of new ideas with respect to your target audience before others usurp you - stealing your thunder. A new product idea done well cannot only generate interest from the person you gave it to, but to others who see it and are curious. This is an added bonus not to be sniffed at! A Coolaz stubby holder is a new design of beverage insulator that is sure to get attention as it does not compete with the more traditional - and ubiquitous - wetsuit type.

Promotional Stubby Holders: Adding Value to You

How to measure your campaign's effectiveness
Once upon a time all you could use to track a campaign was ask each customer how they reached you, use a seperate PO Box or obtained a new telephone line and number. With the age of the Internet it has gotten a little easier with unique URLs and server side tracking, but you still need to make the link memorable and not clumsy. QR codes are a new marketing phenomemon that could help drive measurable traffic to wherever you want people to go!

A large proportion of the cost of a bespoke designed promotion item is the set up and artwork. Once that is done each little addition cost less and less. Even something like adding a custom QR code can improve the value of your product - sometimes for free. QR codes are becoming more and more visible and are a great way to exact a call to action to the tech savvy generation. QR codes can be used to push people to a website, deliver an electronic business card and much more. They can also be used, once people have used their code, to track the visitor and personalise content.

By capturing the QR code below with an app enabled phone (iNigma is a very popular one for both iPhone and Android) the embedded URL can tell me that you came from this article and I can store the date and time you visited, find out how long you visited for, where you went in my website, your ISPs location and even the operating system on your phone!



This QR code can easily printed on Coolaz Stubby Holders - and we can even make up a different one for each one we print! This variable information encoded into QR codes (i.e. each product has a unique code) can be used to further enhance the experience and are an immensely powerful marketing tool whose scope is still being explored.

Promotional Stubby Holders: Adding value to your customers

There are lots of ways to add value to your promotional stubby holders!
With some promotional products even more value to the target audience can be added for little cost, especially those that are made by the much more flexible digital printing processes. Something as simple as a consecutive number can become a valuable offering when it becomes a perhaps a lottery entry or perhaps a means to get a discount, both of which will undoubtedly increase the lifetime of the item as it retained until redemption. Some digital processes also now allow you to add more complex variable information such as names, numbers and addresses. What easier way to make sure your gift sweeps all its competition away and to also impress your recipient as you have taken the time to personalise their gift with their first name!

An ideal addition is one that evokes a subsequent interaction with your website or makes ordering simple and easy - possibly even including a login code that unlocks discounts or specials. A simple QR Code printed on your promotional stubby holder can do this by encoding a unique URL that visitors are pushed to.



Due to the fact they are printed digitally, Coolaz Stubby Holders can also be used as lottery or entrance tickets.

Improve your promotional product’s impact and persistence: Functionality

Generally a promotional item should appeal to the widest demographic possible (although sometimes it can pay to narrow your audience) otherwise the attrition rate is going to be higher. Let’s work through the example of keyring bottle openers: these commonly used items clearly appeal to drinkers, but only those that drink bottled beer, and then only to those of them that prefer premium style beers that do not commonly have a screw cap. So what was wide group has now been whittled down to a fraction that will find the gift useful. The Venn diagram below shows this concept quite nicely:



So while many other people will also accept the gift, only a percentage will see their item often, and most will be put on the spare keys, or worse, the kitchen draw! With keyring bottle openers, and many similar promotional items, adding a further complication is the fact that the group that are going to be most interested in your promotional gift are those most likely to already have an alternative already, thus increasing your competition!

By increasing the functional base of your chosen item you can obviously spread your message much wider and by making it suit the needs of a wider percentage of that audience you can increase awareness further. Using products that are adjustable or have a one-size-fits all aspect are clearly more valuable in these circumstances.

Why not try Coolaz's adjustable stubby holders for you next promotional campaign?

Next > Adding value to the customer

Choosing a promotional product for your marketing campaign: how to improve your promotional product’s impact and persistence

If you type in ‘promotional products’ into Google it gives 51m results, it is easy then to imagine how many promotional gifts, products, premiums and giveaway options are out there! That number of results also tells us that in some way they must work, all those businesses must be addressing a continuous demand. The trick of course is to make sure that when you do use promotional products as part of a marketing exercise that you make the most of your budget. This article aims to give you some hints, tips and thoughts as to how to improve the impact of your promotional product campaign.  

Cost
The number one question asked is ‘how much should I spend (per person) on my promotional product’. This is going to depend on a few important considerations including your target demographic, the competition for their attention and perhaps the type of products or services you are promoting. With that in mind it is worth remembering that if 50% of your recipients are going to ignore the item it might arguably be worth paying twice as much to make sure 100% of half the number of targets keeps a better product around for even longer. A great example of this is direct mailing campaigns where the cost is very low, but success can be as little as a 0.5% to 1% take up. Working it through using 1000 flyers at $200 as an example, each response can actually cost more than $20 each! Could a $2 gift to 100 people, or even a $20 gift to 10, give a better return than that? What is certain is that a promotional gift is much more likely to hang around longer than flyers and mailshots and therefore stand a much better chance of being to hand when the customer needs your product or service and also garnering repeat exposures to your message. Supporting that argument are fridge magnets, which are making significant in-roads into areas where direct mail has traditionally dominated. This is especially true for local businesses advertising their services.

In general it is easy to get lured into more is better when it comes to promotional giveaways, but it is often not applicable so take time to plan your campaign in advance. Think about who are you sending it too: what are they interested in? What do they use every day? How can you make things easier for them to interact with you? If you can address these questions then it is just a matter of working out the cheapest option that fits the bill.

Next Post > Functionality

Sparkling Diamond Themed Weddings, Designs and Ideas!

Sparkling Diamond Themed Weddings, Designs and Ideas!

A diamond ring is a thoughtful gift of promise, an engagement of two people with the same intentions of marriage.

They are so unique, and to most a diamond will symbolise love and eternity. The expression ‘diamonds are forever’ is in fact not far from the truth, since diamonds are the hardest of all the gemstones and will last a very long time… this too is symbolic of a love worthy of marriage that is also said to last an eternity.

With such a powerful gem beginning your journey to everlasting love it is only right that this theme be continued through your wedding day and be shared with your friends and family. Although, of course it would be considered a little excessive to shower your guests with real diamonds … that is why we have come up with a few alternative ideas to help you with your wedding theme and decorations…

Diamond Theme Wedding Design

Sparkling Diamond Theme Wedding

Diamond Sparkle Theme Wedding

Ideas For Your Beach Wedding

As the trend for a relaxed and casual style of wedding is on the rise, we will certainly see an increase in the number of Beach & Destination Weddings this year!

So choose a long flowing sundress, kick off your heels and go naturally barefoot to your ceremony. Make sure that your invite states that ‘thongs’ and sandals are welcome and that you have plenty of water bottles in an ice filled bucket on hand at your hot beach location (don't forget your Coolaz water bottle coolers too!)

With all that in mind there are so many different ways that you can decorate your ceremony and then of course follow the theme through into the casual evening reception. Here are a few ideas to help you get started with the beautification of your Coolaz Beer Coolers for your picturesque beach wedding!

Photograph your feet and capture a little piece of ‘you’ to share with your guests…

Beach Wedding Stubby Holder

Go casual and encourage that all of your guests wear 'thongs'...

Beach Thongs Wedding Stubby Holder

Write your names in the sand and send them into us…

Names in the Sand stubby Holder

Or, you can use one of our templates…

Hearts-in-Sand Stubby Holder

Starfish Beach Wedding Stubby Holder

Use your favourite beach as a background and then insert pictures of the happy couple...

Beach Photograph Stubby Holder

Take a picture of your own Beach Box or Beach Hut for a really personal touch…

Beach Box Hut Stubby Holder

Perhaps you are having seashells as a theme for your table decorations …

Seashell Wedding Stubby Holder

Use an image of the location that you are getting married…

Bali Beach Stubby Holder

Thailand Beach Stubby Holder

After Your Beach Wedding

After your big day is over and you wake up in the comfort of your beach fronted resort make sure that you call your photographer back, put your dress one last time for the ultimate wedding shoot… Trash the Dress! This will be the perfect ending to your wedding adventure and will make brilliant photographs for a follow up ‘Thank You’ to your friends and family for sharing your special day! Here are some fun ideas...

Trash the Dress Stubby Holder

Trash the Dress Stubby Holder

You’re Engaged - Wedding Planning and What To Do Next! (Part 2)

Now that you have organised your engagement party, set a date and sent your ‘save the dates’ you can get stuck into the planning of your big day!

Here are a few more pointers for what come's next...

Choose Your Bridesmaids

Bridesmaid choice will be different for everyone, some will have one special friend or sister and others will have a bunch of besties, you could even choose a ‘Man of Honor’ if you had a close male friend or brother that you wanted to get involved! You are of course the best person to make the choice, you know who will be excited to get stuck into the wedding planning alongside you and who would have a better time as a guest.

black & white wedding dress

Buying Your Dress

If you have enough time between your engagement and your wedding the recommendation is to buy your wedding dress six to eight months before the big day. That way you will have no drama close the wedding! The dress will be a personal choice and there are so many different styles, colours and tastes to choose from – consider your wedding theme when you select the dress – perhaps you have a black and white theme in mind;

B&W stubby holder

Choosing the Bridesmaid Dresses

It is more than likely that your theme or colours will be based around your bridesmaid dresses, so once you have decided on a final look and feel for your wedding you can start looking for the perfect dresses. You can visit our recent blog for more ideas on dresses and themes as featured at this year’s SAG Awards for a few colour options and ideas 'Wedding Ideas Inspired by the Red Carpet and the SAG Awards 2012!'
Whether you go for bold and striking colours or subtle taupe or champagne, we will be sure to have a design to match;

taupe bridesmaid dress

taupe beach design

teal bridesmaid dress

Teal stubby holder beach

Your Seating Chart

Depending on the number of guests you have coming, the venue, and how you have planned your big day will depend on whether you will need to organise a seating plan. If you do have a formal dinner arranged then you may like to consider a design that includes a guest name, so that they can be dotted on the tables a combined place name and gift idea! Here are some ideas;

Place Name Stubby Holder

Place Name Stubby Holder

Place Name Stubby Holder

Choosing Your Flowers

Book your florist early and check for the latest trends in flower types, bouquets and colours to help you decide on what will be best for your wedding – you can read our blog 'Wedding Trends – Flowers 2012' for this year’s ideas and designs.

Flower Design Stubby Holder

The First Dance – Choosing Your Song!

You may already know what song you will choose, perhaps it is the song that was playing when you got engaged or the first track that you danced to together?! Whatever song you choose will be special to you … you can even consider subtly using the words in your design;
A Classic Love Song: Nat King Cole – When I Fall in Love

Nat King Cole Lyrics Stubby Holder

Cheesy Love Song: Can't Smile Without You - Barry Manilow

Barry Manilow lyrics stubby holder

Planning Your Honeymoon

It once was traditional to leave for your honeymoon straight after the reception or the day after your wedding, lots of couples are now waiting until a few weeks or even months after to give a little more time to save for your dream holiday!
Don’t forget your ‘just married’ Coolaz stubby holders, you can send in your own photographs, or even go with something that matches your wedding theme/colours:

just married stubby holder design

You’re Engaged - Wedding Planning and What To Do Next! (Part 1)

Congratulations! You're Engaged...!
… and about to embark on the exciting journey and often overwhelming process of planning a wedding! Your wedding celebration will most likely be the biggest and most important ‘party’ you have ever put together. So, take a deep breath, and follow our list of what to do next…

Engagement Ring Stubby Holder

Number One (and most importantly) Enjoy being engaged!
Say ‘I Love You’ to each other a million times and then shout from the rooftops "We're engaged!" Make sure you take plenty of pictures of yourselves with the engagement ring, they will make great shots for you to use when you start planning your engagement announcements, wedding stationary and invites later on.
Tell your parents and family
If they don’t already know, make sure the first people you tell are your parents and those close to you so that they too can share in your excitement. It will be great for them to see how happy you are and to help you with the beginnings of your great adventure and planning your big day.
Announce Your Engagement
Tell everyone the good news! There are so many ways of doing this and the best way will be by announcing your engagement party! Put your heads together and practice for the big day by organising a gathering of your family and friends to celebrate!
You can design your own invitations with a picture of you both looking extremely happy!Or use images of you and the ring, colours for the theme of the party and much more - the possibilities are endlesss, here are a couple of design ideas to get you started;

Engagement Party Stubby Holders

Engagement Happy Couple Stubby Holder

Set the Date
One of the most important decisions you will make as you plan your wedding is the date itself. This may be a year from the day of your engagement or another date that is special to you. Once you have decided on the date you can start the planning …
Send Save the Dates
Wedding Save the Dates are generally sent out six to twelve months before the wedding date, and are usually followed by a formal Wedding Invitation. We have created many stylish designs to choose from including, floral, cartoon, beach, location and formal designs. Save the Date magnets are a modern keepsake that your guests can cherish and not throw away, a truly unique way to announce your wedding or event to family and friends.

Save the Date Magnets

save the date love magnet

You could also consider Coolaz Stubby Holders due to their flat-packed easy to post style!

Stubby Holder Invitation

Once you have sent out your Save the Dates you can really start planning for your big day...
...Watch this space for our next blog and more steps for planning your wedding!

'The Hangover' Stubby Holder / Koozie

We notice that we got a few searches coming in for a stubby holder based on the hit (and very funny) movie The Hangover. So, we have put together a design based on the look of the promotional poster that you can change however you like! We'll even etch out a pic of your Buck to finish it off :-)

As you can see we have gone for a twist on the line ' A night they'll never forget' on our post, but there's more great combinations to be had from the movie of course:

"What happened last night?"

"Whose baby is this?"

"Where the hell is my tiger?"

See more buck night designs here.