The Stag Party Low-Down And A Few (More) Ideas

More commonly known in South Africa as the bachelor party, stag dos are an evening set aside for the groom to celebrate his last few days of ‘freedom’ with his mates.

These have been known to get so out of hand that they upstage the wedding, so we’ve come up with a few affordable ideas that manage to do without the (tacky) strippers.

It’s not easy organising the groom’s stag night at a nominal budget per head, for a bunch of guys you might not even know (some of them at least). And still come up with something imaginative that will work.

And whilst pranks, dares and drinking games just make the ‘fun’ category, they can also get way out of hand and go utterly wrong. Our ideas border on ‘safe’, within reason of course (and, we promise, no paintball).

Find a bar or pub that includes a pool table, dartboard, bar billiards and table football and make an afternoon tournament of it. It’s so safe, you can include the groom’s father/uncles/grandfather for a lunch time pint. Make sure you warn the bar ahead of time.
Go extreme – white water rafting, go-karting, archery, surfing, abseiling, kloofing, sand boarding – all offer plenty of testosterone inducing activity, followed by a good meal and plenty to drink at a local watering hole that will stay open late. Simple but effective.
Go bowling, followed by drinks and a superlative meal at a restaurant that can cope with the tendency toward drinking songs.
For the more sedate: an evening of life drawing, a night at the opera in tuxes in a private box, a really long walk, a visit to a motor museum, a visit to an observatory, or overnight in a national park.
Go to a soccer or rugby match, a comedy show, hire a series of DVDs together, followed by lunch at a really good restaurant.

And for those of you for whom a stripper is imperative, go to a strip club where you can just drink rather than get involved (useful if most of the party are set on having a stripper); the groom still gets to spend time with those who are important to him.