This Girls Night In wine tasting in Guildford, Surrey, was one of those evenings that probably should have happened about two years earlier if we’re being honest.
Eight mums round Alison’s house, a mix of school gate friendships and people who’d known each other much longer, and the general mood at the start was basically everyone arriving slightly exhausted but very happy to be there.
When Alison booked it, she said she wanted the night to feel relaxed more than anything else. Three whites, three reds, nothing too heavy because technically it was still a school night for most of them, even if nobody seemed particularly interested in behaving like it was.
They’d also ordered LazeeGraze boards, which worked really well for this group because they kept everything casual. People picking at food, moving around, topping glasses up, and conversations constantly changing around the room.
One thing Alison mentioned beforehand was that she’d almost talked herself out of organising it because there wasn’t really a big occasion behind it. No birthday, no anniversary, nothing like that. She just wanted everyone together for a proper night off.
Honestly, by the end of the evening, nobody could remember why they thought they needed a reason in the first place.
About an hour in, after one of the tasting rounds, I asked the group when they’d last actually done something purely for themselves. Not for kids, not for work, not because they had to. Just for themselves.
The answers were genuinely brilliant!
One said she thought it might have been a dentist appointment. Someone else said a food shop without children probably counted at this point. The whole room was laughing because everyone immediately understood exactly what each other meant.
But underneath the jokes, there was something quite nice about it as well. You could feel the whole group properly relaxing as the night went on.
That’s probably what made this one work so well actually. Nobody was trying to impress anybody. It just felt like eight people finally getting a bit of time to themselves.
Catherine said afterwards it was the most relaxed she’d felt in months, and she hadn’t even left the postcode.
Before I’d even packed the last of the glasses away, the group WhatsApp already had another date being discussed for the next one.
A few days later, Janine got in touch asking about the Chardonnay they’d tasted on the night and ordered a couple of bottles for herself as well.
Find out more about hosting your own wine tasting in Guildford, Surrey.
