Coronavirus: Lockdown outfoxed by cooped-up hen party

Now living in London, Joanna Boyd had been looking forward to dancing the night away in one of the capital’s finest entertainment venues – until the Covid-19 pandemic forced a slight change of plan.

The new social isolation measures meant that Joanna and 10 hens – including one in Dubai, one in France and one in Spain – had to celebrate in style using an online link-up.

The 30-year-old commissioning editor credits her brother’s fiancée with the idea of a virtual hen party rather than letting the date pass without some form of revelry.

“Everyone really joined in the fun as if we were out at an actual hen party which was great – and there are quite a few sore heads this morning,” Joanna said on Sunday.

“Being in our own homes we thought we would be safe from any chaos happening but things didn’t quite work out that way. Everyone went full throttle with the hen as if we were out for the night.

“It was my brother’s fiancée Malena who came up with the idea of having the hen party online. I had already bought a dress for the night out, and all the accessories, so I decided there was no point in sitting at home in my pyjamas.”

Joanna, a former pupil at Grosvenor High School, moved to London in 2013 after studying at Manchester University.

Mum Paula was due to travel from her home is Spain for a more traditional hen party, but she has been under a practical house arrest situation for the last two weeks – imposed by the Spanish authorities in response to the virus sweeping the country.

“It would have been great if we had been able to go out as originally planned but we definitely made the best of the situation,” Joanna said.

“With such terrible things happening around the world at the minute I’m just grateful we were able to have some fun in the circumstances.

“I imagine there will be another hen night planned once everything returns to normal but it’s starting to look as if that will be after the wedding. I’ve no idea what that will entail as the whole thing was being planned without me knowing anything.”

Fiancé George was also at home, adhering to the social isolation rules, so was easy prey when the call came for a ‘Mr & Mrs’ quiz challenge.

The wedding is due to take place in George’s home county of Norfolk in July but the coronavirus crisis could yet lead to a postponement.

“That will now depend on government guidelines. I am a bit worried but our venue has been quite good and said they will give us a back-up date closer to the time if the coronavirus situation remains the same. If we have to move the date then that’s what we’ll have to do.

“I know that the couples hoping to get married there in April, May and June have all been given possible alternative dates. We will just have to wait and see, but these are quite trivial matters when you think what some people are having to deal with just now.”

Joanna said the internet has never been more important for keeping people connected.

“I think everyone is starting to revert to online get-togethers,” she said.

“I know people who are doing pub quizzes with their friends, and I am doing virtual drinks with my work colleagues on Monday, so people are moving everything online. We even struggled to get the works’ drinks arranged because so many people had organised things like online dinner parties.

“But it certainly meant a lot to me that I was still able to share Saturday with my friends,” Joanna added.