Planning a proper girls’ night out sounds simple until you’re actually in the group chat trying to get six opinions to agree on one plan. Someone wants low key, someone wants dressed up, someone’s already three drinks deep before you’ve even picked a postcode. London makes this easier than most cities though, honestly, there’s enough going on that you can build a night that keeps everyone happy without it turning into an argument over WhatsApp.
Getting ready is honestly half the fun if you ask me
This bit gets skipped over a lot when people plan a night out but it shouldn’t. The getting ready part, music on, someone doing everyone’s makeup badly, someone else stealing your straighteners at the worst possible moment. That’s usually where the night actually kicks off if you’re honest about it. Doesn’t matter if you’re all squeezed into one tiny flat or spread out across a hotel room somehow, just give yourselves proper time for this part instead of rushing through it because you’re already running late for the table.
Pick somewhere that photographs well but doesn’t feel try hard
This is a weirdly specific skill honestly, finding a place that looks good in pictures without being one of those spots that only exists for the photo. You want good lighting, a room that actually has energy to it, somewhere you’d want to remember the night in not just document it. A lot of places in central London do this well, the kind of spot where you take one picture at the table and it looks like you tried way harder than you actually did.
Know before you go, seriously
If there’s somewhere specific you’re eyeing up for later in the night, especially anywhere with a door policy or a reputation for queues, do your research first. Nothing kills the mood faster than turning up in heels, freezing, only to be told the wait’s two hours or you’re not on a list you didn’t know existed. A quick search on how to get into Tape London, for example, or wherever you’re planning on ending up, saves you the embarrassment of standing outside arguing with a bouncer while your feet are dying. Takes five minutes and saves the whole night honestly.
Don’t over plan every single minute of it
I say this every time I write about a night out but it’s true every time. You don’t need a strict schedule, dinner then bar then this then that. Leave room for the night to actually happen instead of forcing it through a checklist. If everyone’s having fun somewhere, stay longer. If it’s dead, leave earlier than planned, nobody’s going to be upset about that. The best nights I’ve had honestly weren’t the ones that went exactly to plan, they were the ones where something changed halfway through and it ended up being better than what we’d booked.
Sort the group logistics early, before anyone’s had a drink
This is the boring bit but it matters. Who’s paying for what, is everyone splitting evenly or doing separate, how’s everyone getting home at the end. Sort this out earlier in the evening rather than at 1am when everyone’s tired and slightly tipsy and nobody wants to do maths. Also just agree on a meeting spot if the group splits up at any point, phones die, people wander off, it happens more than you’d think.
At the end of the day a good girls’ night isn’t really about the venue itself, it’s about the people you’re with and whether the night had room to breathe a bit. Plan enough that you’re not stressing about logistics all evening but not so much that there’s no room left for anything spontaneous to happen. London’s got more than enough options to build a night around whatever your group actually wants, you just have to actually plan around your friends instead of what looks good on paper.