The Ultimate Best Man’s Guide To Organising A Stag Weekend

You knew it might be coming, you just didn’t know when. So you your best mate has kindly asked you to be his Best Man for the wedding, and now expects you to arrange an all-guns-blazing stag do that will give him the time of his life on his last night of freedom. No pressure then.

Fear not, our Ultimate Best Man’s Guide will help navigate your way through the mother of all to do lists and set you up for the greatest stag do known to man or beast.

What is West Country Games?

Play Video
West Country Games Home Page Logo

West Country Games embraces all the stereotypes of the West Country in one great day out, comprising of 9 totally hilarious games suitable for all sorts of groups.

If you have an upcoming, Stag do, Hen Weekend, Birthday Party or Team Building Day, then why not give us a try?

Best Man Guide

1. Finding Your Feet

A good sit down session in the pub with the groom always makes a good start. Try to glean as much information as possible. What dates suit his availability and are a safe distance before the wedding (remember, eye brows need some time to grow back)? How long does he want to be away for? What style of weekend is he expecting? What sort of activities would he like to do?

You will also need to know who on the invite list are his best friends and must be accommodated to ensure attendance. Therefore, it’s always best to find out two or three weekends you are both free to attend the stag.

Remember, you will always want to keep plenty up your sleeve for the weekend, so this is an information finding process only. It’s always a lot more fun to keep the destination secret, but this may not suit him so find out his expectations during the chat.

You will also need a full invite list (with email addresses and phone numbers).

2. Who’s Coming Then?

It’s now time to fire off an email to find out who is available and willing to attend. You need some firm commitment from the group to make things easier for the organisation that will come later, so you may want to consider your wording to ensure you do not receive too many “maybe” responses. It may be worth offering two or three dates and going with the majority.

Best Man Guide

3. Time Constraints, Budget & Destination

You will need to consider the group’s likely budget and time constraints. There’s no point in organising a week-long trip to Vegas if only 4 from 20 people sign up. So it may be worth proposing a first option and see who is keen to attend, before then re-evaluating if necessary.

But whatever you do, don’t give the group too many options or you’ll get just as many wide ranging opinions in reply. Many people who have organised these things before will tell you: keep it simple!

When considering destination, always think of logistics for each attendee. You won’t be a popular man if a large number of the stag’s mates cannot attend because they are too far from the proposed destination.

4. Accommodation

Once you’ve decided on your destination, it’s now time to organise some suitable accommodation. You might want to consider hotels, cottages, glamping, camping. Hotels are often the easiest option.

If people drop out over the coming months then it’s a lot easier to reduce the number of hotel rooms than to ask the whole group to contribute more towards a 14 bed cottage when only 10 can attend come final payment.

Best Man Guide

5. Activity

Once you’ve nailed the destination and accommodation, it now time to turn your attention to a Saturday activity. The expectation on most stag weekends is to take part in some form of fun filled activity.

It’s important to consider an activity that is likely to appeal to most people, and to do something that people have not done before. Paintballing is good fun, but may be a bit dull if 80% of your group have already done it on another stag do. So be original and you’ll make it a weekend to remember.

6. Packages

To take the pressure off, you may want to organise the entire weekend as a package through another company. West Country Weekends can help in this respect and you often get a lot more for your money than booking everything by yourself. The benefits of booking a package are plentiful when you think of all these inclusions:

  • Allocation on hotels meaning instant confirmation upon booking
  • Individual payment system – this means that you don’t need to collect money from the group, they just pay their share directly saving you all that annoying chasing
  • VIP nightclub entry
  • Lap dance club entry
  • Additional activities – add on a second activity you may not have thought of yourself
  • Private dining
  • Restaurants suitable to groups
  • VIP Casino entry
  • Only a £50 deposit to pay initially
Best Man Guide

7. Final Thoughts

So just to recap, here is your Best Man’s Stag Weekend to do list. Don’t be too overwhelmed by being the Best Man, after all it’s a real honour of the lasting friendship you’ve made!

To Do List

  • Speak to the Stag and find out who he wants to attend, what he expects from the stag weekend and potential dates.
  • Find out how many people will be on the stag do and their level of commitment
  • Decide on a destination based on time restraints, budget and logistics
  • Ensure everything is booked for the stag do from, accommodation to activities. Book as a package through an outside company if you’re short on time and want to take the pressure off yourself. Try and do this as early on as possible to get the best deals and availability
  • Look after the stag over the course of the weekend – remember you’ll have the Bride to answer to if you really mess things up!
  • Enjoy your best mate’s last night of freedom!

 

 

Other related blogs...