Have you been selected as the best man for a friend or relative’s wedding and tasked with organising their stag do? It’s a huge honour, but you have to be careful not to underestimate the enormity of your responsibilities. Here are five pieces of advice to keep in mind as you organise the stag party with the aim of ensuring that it all goes hitch-free – an achievement much easier said than done!
Be selective about who is invited
It’s probably not a good idea to just set up a Facebook event page for the party and then send invites to all of the groom’s friends on that social network. Right from the start, you should closely monitor numbers. Writing a You & Your Wedding article, stag do veteran Jonathan Thompson warns that “big stag groups complicate everything from accommodation to restaurant bookings”. He cites 12-15 as the ideal range for a stag do’s number of guests to fall in.
Give notice sufficiently ahead of time
Once you have decided on the guest list, inform everyone on it… but no later than three months before the party is set to happen. In fact, before sending the invites, you shouldn’t be too concrete about when exactly the stag do will occur, as it could take a while for you to discern when everyone will be available but still have time to recover from hangovers.
Rein in the budget if necessary
These days, there are so many different options for stag party fun that you could too easily price out many of the guests. A different article on the You & Your Wedding site urges you to “remember everyone has a different budget”. Therefore, you could arrange for the party to have optional elements which guests can then choose between. If things will happen at a drinking establishment of your own, you could also buy some good value bottle coolers for your bar.
Decide where the party will take place
Whether you choose to keep the party in the UK or take it abroad, there will be advantages and drawbacks. Staying in Britain will mean that you can avoid the expense of flights and probably bring more guests, FHM notes. However, you could find drinks to be much more expensive over here than in certain overseas locations. You should also do some research to check that the laws of a setting you are especially considering won’t be too draconian for certain planned activities.
Don’t go overboard with the accommodation
While you might be choosy about where to stay during a week-long holiday, a clean and basic hotel would suffice for a stag party. You will be spending little time there, anyway. However, you should remain careful that the whole group books collectively and early; otherwise, at least one member could end up in a disorganised B&B far from where everyone else is staying. On the subject of the accommodation’s location, make it as near the city centre as you can to make transport cheaper.