Every year, there are over 2 million people getting married in America. Even though a lot of people are doing it, there are still ways to one-up everyone else.
One of the most memorable experiences of your best buddy’s wedding is his bachelor party. If you’re the one planning it, there are lots of ways to go big. However, you’ll have to plan it all out first.
Luckily, planning an epic bachelor party isn’t as hard as it sounds. You got this.
Read on for our tips on how to plan the best bachelor party.
Selecting the Right Date
Contrary to popular belief, the best bachelor party date isn’t the night before the wedding. You could potentially make your groom-to-be sick or tired on his big day!
Instead, consider having the bachelor party a couple of weeks beforehand, or even a month. If needed, consult with your partygoers to confirm a date that works for everybody.
Try to select a date as far in advance as possible. This will allow you the proper time to make arrangements and reservations for your planned activities.
Coming Up with the Guest List
Coming up with the guest list is another important step in bachelor party planning. The best bachelor party will have all the groomsmen, but you may want to include some of your other buddies in order to make it epic.
Confer with your groom-to-be at least a month beforehand to come up with a solid guest list. This will help make sure everyone is able to plan to attend in advance.
Setting a Budget
Before you start your bachelor party planning, you should decide on a budget. You should also confirm where the finances will come from. If you’ll be splitting the costs evenly, be sure everyone knows the amount beforehand and is comfortable paying it.
Deciding Your Activities
Choosing the stag do activities for the night can go in many different directions. While there are a lot of options out there, the best bachelor party ever will mean something different to every individual group. In other words, the bachelor party planning should revolve around what you and your buddies like rather than what you think a bachelor party “should” include.
Before you decide on the best bachelor party activities for your group, consider the activities that your “stag” (a.k.a. the future groom) already enjoys. For example, if he’s a big bargoer, then a pub crawl could be a perfect idea. On the other hand, if he’s not into big crowds, you might want to consider something a little more low-key.
Luckily, there are solutions for every preference. Picture yourself, the groom, and all your party attendees having a really great time together; what does that look like to you? This should help you decide on the best bachelor party ideas for your individual crew.
Here are a few suggestions for bachelor party ideas to consider:
- Travel to a fun destination, like Las Vegas or Miami
- Book a paintball tournament for you and your buddies
- Make a reservation at an escape room
- Attend a concert or music festival as a group
- Plan a camping trip
- Visit a craft brewery or distillery
- Get dinner reservations at a nice restaurant
- Go out to the club (or strip club)
- Plan a pub crawl for your crew
- Book a weekend at a lake house or deep woods cabin
- Plan out a group sporting event, like flag football
- Go out shooting at a shooting range
The best bachelor party doesn’t have to be what all the other guys are doing. Think outside the box and come up with a game plan that is perfect for your group, no matter how unorthodox it seems. As long as you have a great time, that’s all that matters.
Choosing Where to Have the Best Bachelor Party
Once you have your epic bachelor party activities decided, the next step is deciding where everything will take place. Be sure you have a solid plan so you’re not wasting time on the day of the party deciding where to go next.
If you opt to stay close to home for the party, come up with locations that are convenient for everyone in the party. If travel time is involved for some of your crew members, you might want to suggest they arrange their arrival a day in advance. That way, they’ll be fully rested and ready to go on the day of the event.
Arranging Lodging
If you’ve got a lot of activities planned, you should also plan out where you’ll be staying. This will also keep the party going as long as possible, and who wouldn’t want that?
Depending on your budget, you could make arrangements to stay at a hotel or an Airbnb. Or, if one of your buddies can accommodate everyone at his place, plan that out beforehand.
Finding “In-Between” Activities
Planning the best bachelor party is about more than just the main activities. Chances are, there will be downtime between each activity. Make sure you have some plans to keep the party going while you pass the time.
For example, bring a deck of cards or a few board games to play with your pals. A nice selection of drinks and snacks is always a good idea, too.
Preparing for the Morning After
Your buddies will think you wrote the book on how to plan a bachelor party if you are fully equipped with supplies for the morning after. Ideally, you want to avoid anyone being sick or hungover the next day, but there are proactive and reactive measures that will have you covered either way.
First of all (and most importantly), bring plenty of water for everyone and remind your buddies to stay hydrated throughout the night. Hangovers are mostly due to dehydration, so you’ll be thanking yourselves the next day.
On top of that, pack some ibuprofen, snacks, and electrolyte drinks (such as Pedialyte or Gatorade). That way, if anyone isn’t feeling great the next day, you’ll be ready.
Get Ready to Party!
Planning your best buddy’s bachelor party is a big responsibility, but you’re totally up for the task. Now that you know some of the best bachelor party tips, start getting ready to party!
For more lifestyle tips, check out our other blog entries.
