If you’re a Best Man then you’re in a unique position of responsibility, and before the day itself when you’ll be taking care of rings, ensuring the Groom reaches the church on time and ready and of course the speeches and thanks at the reception, there is the stag do. Planning a stag do is a big responsibility as an opportunity for you to show how well you know (and how much you like!) the groom, and even more importantly to break the ice between a disparate group of friends from different stages of his life.
Today we’re taking a look at the things you can do to help plan a successful stag do and make sure the groom has the best possible time!
Look Beyond the Obvious
The traditional stag do is very much past its best in 2022. People expect – and rightly – to have an experience tailored to their tastes, that’s accessible and welcoming to their friends, and less passive and more activity based.
It’s also worth thinking about the guestlist. Traditionally stag parties are limited to the Groom’s male friends but it’s rare now for anyone to have close friends of exclusively their own gender. Think about the groom in your specific case: would they enjoy a more traditionally male stag party, or would failing to open the guestlist up a little mean missing out on some of their closest friends?
Activities
Many people now expect a stag do to revolve around a central activity – paintballing is popular, pub crawls remain a classic choice (and not necessarily off the table if the groom doesn’t drink), and assault courses and zorb football are good options. The thing that’s most important is that you choose something that brings the group together, whether that’s as a team competing with another team, all working together on an escape room or quiz, or at a mutually thrilling (or embarrassing) attempt at windsurfing or bouldering.
One thing to bear in mind is accessibility. You want to craft an event that’s as fun as possible for the greatest number of people. So if the groom has close friends who have mobility issues (or are simply not into sports!) then that pre-pub Zorb Football match might not carry the unifying, team building spirit you want it to.
Fit the activity to guests – a Bristol scavenger hunt is a great choice for a group puzzle solvers joining you by train. A weekend in a country cottage (or castle!) is a better fit for an outdoorsy group with a critical mass of drivers among them. Paintballing and pub crawls in Budapest is exactly the right choice for a group with the budget and taste for travel. All of these choices are dictated by your groom and his guests.
Talk to the Stag
If you really want to craft a stag party (or weekend) that the groom will enjoy and never forget then you have to talk to him. Don’t assume you know what he wants, or that everyone wants the same thing. Sit down and have a chat so you can work out the sort of thing he wants from a stag weekend, the most important people to invite, and things you ought to avoid. The aim is not to force him to plan his own stag do but to do the research to make sure it’s one he’ll really enjoy!