Weddings across the globe have been postponed due to COVID-19. While it is imperative everybody practices social distancing, you can still celebrate your wedding with those you love from afar. Thanks to telecommunication platforms like Zoom, you can throw a bachelorette bash unlike any other! How? Glad you asked . . .

British bride-to-be Scarlett Fillingham Burrows had to postpone her hen weekend at a country house in Dorset, so she was thrown a virtual do by her maid of honor. Along with her tips on and tricks on how to do the same successfully, we’ve created a guide on throwing a virtual hen party or bachelorette party:

Notify The Bridal Party

The bachelorette party is ON, so let everybody know. Send out a Paperless Post invite with all of the details (and the Zoom link!) Be sure to account for everyone’s different time zones.

“I was sent a mysterious calendar invite by my maid of honor about four days before the event,” Scarlett explains. “I also received a delivery in the week that I was under strict instructions not to open until Thursday evening. All very exciting and mysterious!”

Party Attire

Since you don’t have to worry about the Cancun heat, you don’t have to wear the cute monogrammed swimsuits all of the bridesmaids got for the Bachelorette weekend. Scarlett was sent a veil and sash from Ginger Ray, which she wore through her video chat and supper with her fiancé. “I did don a silver mini dress and a dash of pink lippy for the occasion,” Scarlett shares. “It felt so fab to dress up after wearing loungewear and gym kit for weeks on end.”

Now is the time to get creative with dress code. Perhaps the bridal party is up for wearing something kitschy, in which case you could even dress like movie characters. Get crafty! We like the idea of a massive pajama party, like the one in Grease or Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement. A mattress slide and Julie Andrews serenade are optional. If you need a sweet and philanthropic pajama set, we are partial to our Charmajesty X Over The Moon pajamas. 25% of the proceeds go to New York Citymeals on Wheels.

Zoom Backgrounds

First and foremost, change your Zoom background. We have several possible suggestions. For the bachelorettes who were supposed to be in paradise but are now stuck in quarantine, choose a background related to your original bachelorette party setting. Ladies, you were supposed to be in Palm Springs. Have the Zoom background reflect that!

Alternatively, now is the time for a little levity. Choose Zoom backgrounds that add some pop culture pizzazz. Are you holed up in Holly Golightly’s stellar NYC apartment? Carrie Bradshaw’s? Your favorite Architectural Digest living room? Or maybe you go for the ultimate power move and upload a picture of Joe Exotic or even Carole Baskin.

It’s important to be by the bride’s side, but social distancing has made that physically impossible. You’ll have to be by the bride’s side virtually instead. Make your background pictures of the bride you’re celebrating. Choose either her best pictures or her worst. (You know which she’ll appreciate most!)

Catering

Everybody should UberEats/Grubhub/DoorDash/Whichever-app-you-prefer their favorite (or the bride’s favorite) cuisine. Check out the dine-out options that are available near you. Plus, many liquor stores are still open during quarantine, so get happy hour delivered to your door!

Scarlett’s maid of honor also sent her a cocktail mix with ice cubes and lemon tweel from her favorite cocktail bar in West Hampstead, called Head and Tails. “It’s a bar in the middle of our two houses, so we love meeting there after work for a cocktail and some wedding planning,” Scarlett says. “Everyone had a cocktail in hand, and we had a lovely, girly catch up.”

Netflix Watch Party

A new feature called Netflix Watch Party lets you watch a program on Netflix with a group of your friends. There is chat space to message your party members and discuss what you’re watching. All you have to do is download a Chrome extension and have a Netflix subscription to join a party. Follow instructions here!

Here are our movie suggestions:

• The Week Of (2018)
• The Hangover (2009)
• About Time (2013)
• When We First Met (2018)

Here are our wedding episode suggestions, but only watch these if everybody is willing to skip ahead or rewatch (depending on where they are in the show):

• Gossip Girl S5E13
• Gilmore Girls S2E22, S4E21, S6E19, and S8E4
• Mad Men S3E12 for a particularly disappointing wedding. . . It might make the bride feel better about her own situation.

Online Window Shopping

Really commit to having a virtual party and do some online window shopping. The bride can give a list of her favorite online stores. Everybody pulls up these sites and has a hypothetical budget. They have twenty minutes to find the bride the best wedding gift. After the twenty minutes, everybody shares their screen and discusses what they added to their virtual shopping bags. The bride-to-be could also give a list of the weirdest online stores, and the party members have to find the tackiest gifts they can. It depends on the mood you want for your party!

Of course, you don’t have to buy any of these things . . . but if you happen to stumble upon a small business website, now is the time to #supportsmallbusiness!

PowerPoint Presentation

Present your love and adoration for the bride-to-be because it’s a time when she really needs to hear it. Everyone can make or collaborate on a PowerPoint dedicated to the bride. It can be filled with pictures of her and her betrothed, walks down to memory lane, whatever you think is best! 

Go Online Clubbing or Workout Together

There are so many livestreams happening that you and the bridal party can click into. Check out donyc.com’s list of streamed events. Link into a concert, play, or even do a private workout class!

TikTok?

Seize how truly weird and bizarre this period is by making a TikTok. You could learn a TikTok dance or maybe even make one about your online bachelorette party. It’s a fun keepsake, and it might even make you TikTok famous! 

“To arrange a surprise call to celebrate the original date was so special and was definitely a silver lining to lockdown,” Scarlett says. “The good thing about hen dos and weddings being postponed is that you have more excuses for mini celebrations on any original dates—I can’t complain about that!”