PLANNING THE ULTIMATE STAG PARTY
Top ideas for planning the ultimate Stag Party
You’ll want to give the groom-to-be a day, night, weekend or week to remember, so as the best man, a best friend, an usher or a future brother-in-law, planning the ultimate stag party should be high on your ‘wedding duties’ list.
Planning the perfect event will take time, but here are some top tips to help you along the way.
Guest List
Firstly, you need to decide who is on the guest list; this can be a minefield of disappointment and awkwardness if you’re not careful. Unless you’ve shared the same circle of friends since leaving school, and even if you have, chances are there will be a number of people you don’t know well enough to decide whether or not they make the final cut.
Do you invite workmates or will that mean the groom won’t be able to let his hair down quite so much for fear of professional indecency? Do you invite Fathers and in-laws-to-be? In situations such as this it is always best to CONSULT THE GROOM. Yes, the details of the stag party should ideally be kept on the down-low, but don’t go solo with this one. You want this to be something he’ll remember for the rest of his life and not a night of embarrassment or guilt… well, perhaps you do but that’ll be for different reasons!
You’ll also need a rough idea of how many people to invite, as this will probably dictate the type of event you’re going to be organising. If the guest list appears to be endless, you could always consider having two stag nights?
When to throw a Stag Party?
Once you’ve nailed the guest list, you’ll need to fix a date. Tradition has it that the stag do is the weekend (or night!) before the wedding. We’ve all seen ‘The Hangover,’ right? Having ‘the last night of freedom’ so close to the ‘biggest day of your life’ is just a disaster waiting to happen! It’s best to allow some breathing space between the two, giving you time for, say, the Groom’s eyebrows to grow back…. Exchanging vows with any suggestion of a hangover is somewhat disrespectful to anyone who has had a part to play in the wedding, especially the bride!
Couples these days tend to have their hen and stag parties over the same night or weekend. If you are planning a destination stag party, planning in advance is a good idea. Invited guests may need to take the time off work and when it comes to the destination and budget, this should be discussed and agreed with the groom well in advance – unless it is all a big surprise of course.
