BRIDES and grooms are ditching the traditional ''last night of freedom'' parties on the eve of their weddings in favour of extended hens and bucks holidays. Travel agents and wedding and party planners are reporting sharp increases in the number of men and women going away with their friends for extravagant holidays in the lead-up to their big day.
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A combination of marrying later in life and having more control over their nuptial plans has meant brides and grooms were more willing and had more money to spend during their pre-wedding celebrations.
Managing director of web-based business www.MyUltimateHens.com.au Nyree Stevens said she had just booked a $16,000 trip for a group of Canberra women to spend five days on the Gold Coast to mark a friend's wedding celebrations.
''We have been running for 19 months and in the first 12 months we had a lot of requests for multi-day escapes,'' she said.
''The concept of the hens night is really old fashioned - now people want to draw it out.''
Margaret Freemantle of TravelMakers, a Canberra-based travel agency, said Bali and Phuket were popular overseas destinations for hens and bucks weeks.
''The women usually have their nails painted and the massages and the bucks will do a lot of the water sports,'' she said.
Canberra wedding planner Emma Bowman said many brides favoured cruises in the Pacific and to Fiji, while bucks often went on fishing weekends, with paintball and golf thrown in.
''I think these days it has become a celebration of finally meeting the right person, of getting married, rather than just a last night of freedom,'' she said.
