Organizing a bachelor party can be a stressful task. You need to ensure that you find the perfect venue, invite the right guests and make it an awesome night to remember, all within budget and while catering to every taste. No pressure!
But as stressful as it may feel, giving your buddy the most awesome celebration before his wedding day is a great honor indeed. You may feel a little overwhelmed with it all, but come the wedding you will be very pleased with all your efforts, as the bachelor party becomes a talking point to almost rival the big day itself.
Before you jump headlong into extravagant party plans and budget-busting celebrations, consider these 5 things:
1. It’s OK to surprise the groom, but do respect his boundaries.
We say this because many a bachelor party is doomed the minute the groom becomes frustrated, fed up, bored or embarrassed. Remember, the party is all about him and you must, for the most part, take into account his likes and dislikes when you get to the serious planning stage.
If he is the shy, retiring type hiring a stripper to cavort around on his knee might well be too much for him to handle. Although dying of embarrassment isn’t an actual thing, you could well make him feel that so uncomfortable that he wishes the earth would just swallow him up.
The same logic applies to adrenaline-fueled, action-packed weekends that really won’t work for the groom that is scared of heights, hates fast cars or suffers from travel sickness.
He’s your friend, you know him best, so choose your activities wisely.
2. Invite everyone he wants to be there, regardless of whether you agree with him or not
If you are a planning a lost weekend in an exotic city with you and your boys on a 3-day bender, you may be a little disappointed when you hear that his dad is coming too. Make no mistake, you need to cater the party to suit everyone who is invited, and you need to invite everyone who the groom asks you to.
There is literally no way around this, and your groom will not thank you for leaving his boss or his baby brother off the guest list just because you either don’t know them, or worse, you don’t personally like them. Ask the groom from the outset who he wants with him during this memorable occasion.
3. Budget is a biggie
Here in the real world, everything has a price and everyone has their limits. You must ascertain how much your fellow attendees have to spend on the celebrations before you start to make serious plans. You may be absolutely loaded, but if the rest of the party is watching their pennies, you are going to be in for a lonely ride on your own. What are the transport and accommodation costs? Will you get the group get kitted out in fancy dress costumes? Are you going to be doing a multitude of costly daytime activities? These are just some of the things you need to consider and they all come at a cost.
Have a frank and honest conversation about budget expectations during the initial planning stages to ensure that no one feels obliged to pay more than they can afford.
4. Make the date and the location work for everyone
Two weeks on the beach, or a four day weekend in the Big Apple would be the bomb right? But, in reality most adult men have some responsibilities and work commitments to consider when deciding whether they can take part in an event like a bachelor party.
The date you choose should not only work with everyone invited, but ideally should also be a while ahead of the wedding day itself to ensure that the groom actually makes it to the aisle.
Bachelor parties that take place the night before the big day are likely to cause a few problems – just like in ‘The Hangover’ movies.
The location too will need some thought, as it must be accessible for everyone. Too long a journey and you will be eating into precious party time, too close to home and you could risk running into the bride. There is always a happy medium, work together to find it.
5. Add action packed nights AND fun filled days to make the most of every moment
When night falls, you’ll no doubt be hitting the bars hard, but during the day don’t just nurse those hangovers, get out and do something exciting to make the most of your time away. You could do something fun like paintball or go-karting, catch a game or simply just explore your choice of location by day.
Wherever you go, and whatever you do when you get there – awesome memories will be made. Just remember that everything will be better if you spend time making good plans ahead of time.
