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.
Break the ice before the stag do
If possible try and get the stags to meet each other before the weekend arrives. This will help to break the ice and get you all on familiar terms before the laughs ahead.
Failing that, take advantage of WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger to pull the team together prior to the weekend. Get some banter going and plan some stitch ups for the stag (in a separate chat to the one he’s in of course.)
The beauty of a stag do is being thrown together with an unlikely bunch of lads – some of whom you may be unfamiliar with. Let the drinks and laughs flow, and make the most of the time away. Apart from the wedding, there’s a good chance you won’t cross paths with some of your new bunch of pals again for a while!
Numbers – how many is a good number for a stag do?
This is only from personal experience and will of course depend on how wide the stag’s friendship group spreads.
As with any group event, there is often a sweet spot in the number of attendees before the organisation gets overwhelming, you break into smaller groups or get fed up waiting for people to get ready/drink up/finish spending their kids education fund in strip bars.
The perfect numbers often fall between 8-20. If you have more or less, it’s great either way, but when you are trying to liaise with 50 mates, pull together dates, deposits, travel logistics and so on, don’t say we didn’t warn you.
Stag do activities
The meat in the stag do sandwich. The stag do activities help to fill out the daytimes before the inevitable urge to drink and make merry sets in. Or perhaps just offer the opportunity to bridge the gap from one hangover to the next.
Either way, one rule should hold true, when arranging the stag activities: Know thy brother.
Whilst you may think that wilderness camping, a trip to the Nou Camp or 6am paintballing are your stags dreams come true. The stag may not.
Bear in mind it’s not your weekend, and try and consider what the stag will actually enjoy doing. If you are the stag, don’t be shy in confiding in your best man about the type of activities you would like to do (in between being taped to an Eastern European lamppost.) Otherwise he might run loose.
The list of activities to do on a stag do is often exhausted only by your imagination. Does the stag love outdoor sports? Do some white-water rafting in Prague. Love football? Go to see a home fixture at your chosen city. Want some good all round activities for everyone? Try go karting, paintballing or shooting. The options are endless.
The best bet is to pick your destination – or narrow it down to a few choices – and check what activities they have on offer through a tour company.
Looking for some further inspiration? Read this post by One Fab Day for some great activity ideas to please the lads.
Ps. Don’t over organise the weekend and tie up every minute of your time away. It’s not a weekend for the sergeant major and fun police to keep too strict a regime. Make sure to allocate plenty of time for drinking and soaking up the vibes of your chosen destination, and keep a few tricks up your sleeve as far as the stag is concerned.
Use a stag tour company
This may not be required if you are an organisational ninja, want to go off piste on your stag do plans or are staying somewhere familiar.
However if you are travelling abroad to an unfamiliar city, a good tour company can be worth its weight in gold to minimise the stresses of organising the stag do.
This will take out the challenge of organising the accommodation, activities and logistics in between. Common benefits can also include a guide for your host city, recommendations of the best bars and activities and the ability for the stags to register and pay separately – cutting out the burden of unwanted financial obligations and having to chase up deposit payments etc.
A reputable tour company like Stagweb or Chilli Sauce know the host cities and activities on offer inside out, so can prove a great shoulder to lean on in your hour of need. This will let you to look forward to the weekend itself, relax and enjoy the festivities.
Lastly – enjoy gentleman! Stag do’s are a rare treat and the grand send off into married life. It offers both a welcome respite from the challenges of planning the wedding itself and the last hurrah before the final preparations begin. Make the most of it, leave the stag with memories to remember and enjoy it to the full!
So there you have it, follow our top tips and you’ll be on your way to booking an unforgettable epic stag do. After organising an epic stag do, next up you’ll be needing to plan your wedding speech for the big day itself. Read our handy best man speech tips here.
