A Guide To Organising A Stag Do

It might sound obvious, but remember, the stag do should be about your best mate. There’s no point organising a weekend to Las Vegas if he hates gambling, or a trip to Ibiza if he hates clubbing. So check with him first. If he loves football, check out these 8 fantastic football stag do ideas. Or, if you want to plan something out of the ordinary, check out these jaw-dropping activities.

Next, decide who to invite. Find out whether the stag wants his father-in-law to come along or not. Honestly, no one wants to be surprised by finding out that you’ve invited their grandad on the stag do to Marbs. You can always organise a family do separately, so some of the older fellas are included. Or, if you are slightly older, check out our top stag do ideas for over 50s.

People are busy and you can’t just spring a stag weekend on mates a few weeks before it’s organised. You need to sort out when everyone is available - honestly there’s nothing sadder than a 2 person stag do. Plus, activities, accommodation and travel need notice. Not everyone will be free, so take note of everyone’s availability and then show the groom so he can prioritise based on who he wants to be there the most.

Make a WhatsApp or Facebook group to keep everyone updated. It’s important this isn’t a one-time thing, you need to be good at communicating plans, costs and delegating responsibilities, so make an open channel of communication so no one messes up. Plus, you can share ideas together.

The sooner you’ve decided where to go, who to invite and gotten in touch, the sooner you can get on with the fun bits. It’s important to sort out the dates a few months in advance, so your mates can book time of work. Plus, the prices of accommodation and events are likely to go up nearer the time, so get started early so you don’t cock it up and end up organising the most expensive holiday of all time.

It’s probably the biggest decision you’ll make, so don’t rush into it willy-nilly. There are some cities that are cheaper, some that are hotter and some that have amazing activities. There are some top cheap European destinations. Or, if you want to stay in the UK, you should know about these, the best UK stag do destinations. And be aware, these are the worst destinations there are.

If you’re planning on some fancy-dress shenanigans during your stag do, it’s worth checking out which destinations are more likely to be accepting of you. We’ve heard that dressing up in a Mankini is not particularly welcome outside the Kremlin in Moscow. Plus, it might be worth making sure that the bars and venues are stag do friendly before you book. Luckily for you, we have loads of ideas in our city destination guides.

Looking after a big group of men can be a pain at the best times, and it’s definitely no easier in a foreign city after bucket loads of booze. Every great leader knows when to delegate, so make sure you give responsibilities to your minions - nobody wants to be that guy for whole weekend. Get John to book the taxis, tell Andy get the t-shirts done and… Okay, you get the idea.

Accommodation can make or break your stag do. It’s really important to make sure not to spend all your cash on it, but you don’t want to be staying in a hostel from hell for three nights of misery. Some people don’t mind staying in shared dorms to save cash, but for others this is will be a definite no. Throw out the options to the group and, most importantly, the stag - then take it from there.