Whether you’re planning your own stag do for your upcoming wedding or helping a friend with theirs, the process can be very involved, often difficult and often time-consuming. But don’t worry–we’ve put together a brief guide on how you can plan the perfect party, and there are only a couple of steps involved in the entire process.
- Plan ahead of time so that you can coordinate your guests and activities
Make sure you’re not leaving things to the last minute. Instead, plan ahead of time so that you’ve got everything covered for your big stag party. Make sure you set a date well ahead into the future so that none of your guests have an excuse to skip or miss out on your stag do. Several weeks is a good idea, but several months is even better so that you can be a hundred percent sure. Try and get a rough head count ahead of time so that you can start booking services in the future with a specific number of people. This will allow you to shop around for the best deals and venues so that you’re not forced into expensive last-minute options.
- Start brainstorming some stag do ideas
A great way to start searching for UK stag do ideas is to simply look on the internet. There are likely thousands of ideas on the internet and they’re probably all fantastic suggestions, but personal experiences are often much more reliable so if you’ve recently been to a stag do or have a friend who’s recently been married, consider asking them instead. They’ll be able to give you some opinions and even offer you some advice, such as changes they would’ve made to their stag do or ideas they considered but ultimately didn’t go with for one reason or another. One of the most important considerations when planning a stag do for a friend or family member is that you don’t want to get ideas involved that might put the groom off or in a bad state for the wedding. Don’t make them uncomfortable and don’t make them do anything that they could regret! Keep it safe and fun and make sure it’s not too over the top and that it doesn’t put the groom in an awkward position.
- Setting a budget for your stag do
Another important concern is having a budget for your stag do. Unless you’ve got very deep pockets, you’ll want to set aside some money that will be spent on your stag do so that you can go for more fun and interesting options instead of something boring and forgettable. If you plan to go abroad for your stag do then you can ease some of the financial stress by asking your guests to bring some of their own spending money. You also need to consider that not everyone will have the same amount of money to spend at your stag do, so going to an upscale bar that charges 2-3 times the amount for a drink probably won’t go down well with everyone. At the end of the day you want everyone to feel comfortable, so keep that in consideration when choosing venues and entertainment.
- Make a group to keep everyone in the loop
Unless you want to surprise everyone involved (including the groom!) you want to make sure that everyone is kept in the loop through the use of something like a group chat on Facebook. It’s a great way to speak to everyone involved and to also get ideas rolling for when you want to suggest something for the stag do night. However, you’ll likely notice that a few people aren’t very active in the chat and might miss a few messages, perhaps because they’re not used to using the group chat or because they don’t often check it. In this case, you’ll want to individually contact those people throughout the planning phase to ensure they’re in the loop.
- When in doubt, ask for help
You’re probably not a professional event manager so it’s fine to occasionally ask for a bit of help. Whether this is from a professional service that manages stag dos or friends and family members who have a bit of experience, you shouldn’t be afraid to speak to others and seek a bit of advice on how you can plan the perfect stag party. Other people’s experiences are valuable learning resources for you, so get talking and even consider asking people online for help.
Disclosure: This is a featured post.