June 2022 - The Wedding Man

Gentleman assemble – how to organise an epic stag do, a best man’s guide

So you’ve found yourself at the helm as the best man or you are the groom and leading from the front yourself. Now it’s time to organise an epic stag do ahead of the wedding day. It’s your job to pull together a great team of lads, create epic memories, stitch the stag up nicely and ultimately organise the best stag do you can. This will also offer perfect material to form the basis of some great best man speech jokes down the line (and of course some which shouldn’t make the cut!) Now its time to organise an epic stag do to send the main man off in style. Make sure it goes off without a hitch by following these simple pointers. Work out the guest list for the stag do Spend time with the groom to work out who they would like to invite on their stag do. Start by drawing up a list of names and contact numbers/details. This will include close friends, family members, work/uni mates, in laws and so on. If you are travelling abroad, bear in mind that you may have two events – one away and one locally. The chances are you will want your closest friends (and party animals) along for the foreign do, whilst the wider circle of friends will make it to the local event. Have a rough list for both, or invite everyone to both events. Inevitably cost and availability will whittle the numbers down accordingly. Just having one stag do in your home country? Then identify who the stag would like to invite, then get the invites out and confirmations early on. Now your set. Decide the location of your stag do Choose your location wisely. Has the groom given an indication of where he’d like to go? Will you be having a local and a foreign do? You will need to play to the crowd and the stags wants here, using a sprinkle of your own imagination and initiative. Popular stag do locations in the UK include these tried and tested destinations: Leeds Bristol Newcastle Bournemouth Edinburgh Cardiff London Nottingham Brighton Liverpool Manchester Newquay All of the above will offer plenty of activities and great nightlife. Bear in mind however, prices may vary depending on where you go. If you are looking for alternative stag do ideas in the UK – read this for some inspiration. Thinking of further afield? You can’t go wrong with the following stag do locations in Europe and further afield: Budapest Prague Hamburg Tallinn Krakow Amsterdam Berlin Dublin Riga Barcelona Bratislava Madrid Las Vegas As above, the prices will vary significantly from country to country so put in a bit of research first. For example – pints in Prague will cost around a £1 each compared to Dublin where you are looking closer to £5-6 per pint, so choose your destination wisely. Remember the critical components here: price of booze, quality of women, activities and nightlife. For an in-depth analysis of European locations, find out more at Pissups review of their top 7 European locations in 2019 here. Consider the stags budgets when organising the stag do Keep money in mind for your stags. This can be one of the main bones of contention, so give a realistic idea of costs from the outset to cover the key elements including travel expenses, accommodation, activities and any extras early on. It’s also a good idea to provide a rough estimate of living expenses or extra costs to budget for. These will include food, booze and anything else you may have planned. Try to get an idea of the stag do costs as early as possible to allow the stags ample time to save or decide if it’s not for them. Nobody likes repeatedly being asked for extra money as costs escalate, so try to give a realistic idea from the off to reduce any problems later on. This is a big treat for you all, so you want everyone on the same page from the beginning and don’t want to be scrimping when you get there. Get the invites for the stag do out early We are all busy people right? People like as much notice for big occasions as possible, especially when you’ve got to save, take time off, get the other half to agree… or organise childcare. Once you’ve got the stag do date and location decided – get the invites out as early as possible. This will allow you to gage numbers – and once you ask for deposits – identify serious contenders. It’s up to you if you offer a few potential dates for the crowd to decide. However, this can cause challenges and it is always difficult to please everyone. Get a consensus of availability, pick your date, get confirmations and think about getting it booked early on. Then you can relax safe in the knowledge you’ve got a big weeekend of fun on the horizon! Getting to the the stag do – planning and logistics The boring bit. To ensure your epic stag do weekend runs smoothly, make sure you do the hard yards beforehand and begin your preparations and planning early on. Make sure everyone has the travel plans, lifts arranged, times and dates. Check if there are any visa requirements for your location. Give the boys a nudge to check passport dates are valid and mention any kit it might be worth taking if you have specific activities planned (or to take swimmers if there is a pool or hot tub nearby.) Then ensure you have each other’s contact details in case someone gets separated from the group so you don’t leave a man down in an unfamiliar city, or share your locations on your phones to stay connected. Enlist your most organised friends to help with any details and keep this on track. Remember the old boxing adage: train hard, fight easy – and apply this to the planning and delivery of an awesome stag do.

How much money should you give as a wedding gift – the essential guide to giving cash as a wedding present

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With wedding season in full swing, there’s a good chance you may have a wedding on the horizon to attend as a guest. Congratulations! Most of us love a good wedding and it’s an honour to make it onto the guest list of your nearest and dearest for their wedding celebrations. But how much wedding gift money should you give exactly? With the average cost of attending a wedding estimated at around £391 (including your outfit, somewhere to stay, drinks and the gift) the cost of being a wedding guest soon adds up. With the costs of attending a wedding spiralling; it can sometimes seem like a minefield when deciding how much you should spend on a present or put towards a wedding gift list. Read on for our guide of how much cash you should give as a wedding gift. Wedding gifts for bride and groom When attending a friend or relatives wedding, in most cultures it’s customary to give them a gift. This is to give them a tangible gesture to congratulate the new couple and give them a head start with gifts or money to help start their new life together. Traditionally, gifts would often include items for the couples’ new home together such as white good and a shiny new toaster! However, as most couples nowadays already live together this tradition has adapted accordingly. Couples may instead compile a gift list to upgrade their existing items, request experiences for their honeymoon or prefer to request money towards a honeymoon or large purchase instead. It can be difficult to know how much to give as a gift, especially when your gift is given as money. This can mean it’s much more obvious how much you’ve spent compared to purchasing a fancy new cutlery set or personalised cheese board for the newlyweds. How much cash to give as a wedding gift can feel like a minefield, but we’re here to help guide you. Many will often opt to try to cover the cost of their wedding meal in the cost of the gift. Even using these basic guidelines, there may still be variations depending on several factors. These include if you have been invited to the whole day (or just as an evening guest), how close you are to the couple and whether you have travelled far to the wedding. On an overseas wedding for example, you will have already had considerate expenditure just to get there. This may be taken into account when finalising your gift amount. How much does a wedding cost in the UK? Although it may feel awkward, and some people may prefer a physical gift than giving money. Money is of course an extremely practical gift that the couple can use towards what they choose. With the average wedding in the UK costing around £18,000-£25,000, a cash gift can help considerably to offset this cost. It may also help to offset additional expenses such as the honeymoon. With many modern couples already living together prior to getting married, rather than kitting out the house – a monetary gift can be a welcome contribution towards the wedding or a significant expense in the future. Some older guests may see this as bad etiquette and prefer to give a gift instead. For this reason, we would advise couples to hedge their bets by offering both a wedding gift list and asking for monetary contributions towards the wedding/honeymoon/new house to allow for the taste of the guests. How much money should you give as a wedding gift? As mentioned earlier, there are a few factors that may be considered when judging how much cash to give as a wedding gift. These may include: How close you are to the couple – close family, best friends, wider family or friendship group or colleagues. As a rule of thumb, the closer you are the larger the gift you may be inclined to give them. Have you been invited to the whole day? Depending on the location, many weddings will have guests that attend for the whole day, with additional guests arriving later in the day for the evening reception. If you have attended for the whole day, and enjoyed a fancy three course meal, many see it as etiquette to at least cover the cost of their meal in the wedding gift. If you are an invitee just for the evening festivities, often a much smaller gift will usually suffice. Is the venue at home or abroad? If the wedding is abroad and guests have already spent significant amounts just getting to the venue (flights, accommodation, time off work etc), some couples may feel that they have already contributed significantly by just making it along. In this case your gift amount may be considered more optional. If the wedding is within the same country however, normal etiquette would determine the amount. Further to that, you should give what feels right and shouldn’t feel pressured into giving large sums of money if you can’t afford it. On the other hand, if you attend the day, enjoy the couple’s hospitality and have a great time; you shouldn’t be a skinflint and not give a gift either. Here is our breakdown of what you should contribute: Single wedding guest: £30-50 Couple for whole day: £50-100 Immediate family: £100+ Part of the wedding party (maid of honour, best man etc) £100+ Evening guest only £20-50 Work colleague: £20-50 This is of course a rough guide, and you should give as much money as a wedding gift as you feel comfortable giving. Your earnings and disposable income will obviously come into play, and if you can afford it or you are particularly close to the married couple you may choose to give much more! If you are getting married and can’t decide what to ask for as a wedding gift, check out our wedding gift guide.

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