A hen or stag party in Pesaro and Fano: a workshop in the afternoon, then the night out

A hen party between Pesaro and Fano nearly always follows the same pattern: drinks on the seafront, dinner, then a night out in a bar or club. It works, but it leaves the hardest part to fill uncovered, the afternoon: those hours when the group has just arrived, half of them do not know each other and someone has already suggested the usual embarrassing game.

A private creative workshop is the answer to that gap. Two hours all together, with busy hands and an object to take home: the mug with your initials, the same bracelet for everyone, the flower crown for the bride. Then you go for drinks with something to talk about, and the best photos of the day are already taken.

Why a workshop works for a hen party

It puts everyone on the same level. The bride's aunt and the twenty-five-year-old friend, colleagues and school friends: nobody is better than anyone else, because for almost everyone it is the first time. You chat while your hands work, which is the easiest way to get to know each other. And the bride is the centre of attention without having to get up on a stage: she chooses the colour, hers is the piece everyone looks at.

Then there is the keepsake. Photos end up in a group chat, the object stays: a year later, the mug made at the hen party is still on the shelf.

What to make

For a hen party

• Ceramics: mugs or small plates with initials, or a piece for the bride signed by everyone. It needs firing: collection is a few weeks later, an excuse to meet again.
• Jewellery: the same bracelet for everyone, with a different detail for the bride. You take it away on the day.
• Flowers: crowns, small bouquets, an arrangement to take to dinner.
• Candles: everyone chooses their scent, and the bride's candle has the scent of the wedding.

For a stag party

• Leather: an engraved key ring or card holder, an object you actually use.
• Wood: a chopping board or a small desk object, with real tools.
• Cooking: making pasta by hand all together. Ask whether you eat what you made at the end: for a group it is a great start to the evening.

The crafts available depend on the Makers in the area. In the form you can choose up to five: Handsome looks first at the craft you asked for and then at distance.

A sample plan, between Pesaro and Fano

1. Early afternoon, the workshop. Two hours, two and a half at most: enough to finish the piece without arriving tired in the evening.
2. Late afternoon, the stroll. In Pesaro the seafront leads to Arnaldo Pomodoro's Great Sphere in Piazzale della Libertà, the group photo everybody takes; in Fano there is the Lido beach.
3. Drinks and dinner. Pesaro and Fano are about ten kilometres apart, around ten minutes by train: you can sleep in one town and have dinner in the other.
4. The night out. Whatever you have in mind, plan the way back in advance, especially if the night ends late or on the Romagna Riviera.

The workshop can be held in the Maker's space or in a place of your own, for example the house you rented for the weekend: in the form you say whether you already have a venue, with name and address, and the Maker checks whether the activity can be done there. If you don't have one, the Maker suggests it.

Organising it without being found out

• The organiser makes the request: emails and the proposal come to you, not to the bride.
• Collect the shares before confirming. When you accept the proposal you pay a deposit online; the rest goes to the Maker on the day of the workshop. Agree beforehand who pays what.
• Dates: at least two. Saturdays in spring and summer fill up early: with more dates it is easier to find a Maker who is free.
• Allergies and needs: write them in the notes, even if they concern only one person.
• If plans change: for custom private events the deposit is refunded in full up to 14 days before. After that it is no longer refundable, but you can move the event to another date once, free of charge, if the Maker is available. The rules are on the cancellations page.

If the party moves to the Riviera

From Pesaro, Gradara and Cattolica are about twenty minutes' drive away. If the group prefers the Romagna Riviera, there is the page for a creative hen party in Cattolica and a collection of hen and stag party ideas on the Riviera. For a different morning before the workshop, there is Gradara in a day.