Stag and Hen parties are traditionally meant to be the last get together with life long friends before you get married. Once a one night event, Stag and Hen "do's" have now evolved into weekends away and some even longer!
There seems to be a lot of pressure on brides and grooms to be, that your hen or stag party is action packed and involves lots of alcohol. But what if thats not your thing? To make sure that you enjoy yourself, have a say in where you are going and what you are doing, and don't just leave it to your bridesmaids or best man.
The world of hen parties is split between those hens who want to go out and have a great time dressing up, visiting nightclubs and enjoying a party night to end all party nights, and those who prefer to spend a day or weekend with a select group of friends taking part in a structured activity such as chocolate making or driving a rally car. Hen Parties are traditionally organised by the Maid of Honour or Chief Bridesmaid so you need to chat to her about what you want and ensure that you have agreed a suitable guest list.
Traditionally held the night before the wedding with a group of male friends having a few drinks together in a pub, stag night antics have been the inspiration behind numerous movies. Rarely consisting of just a few drinks these days. stag nights are more usually stag weekends, with the most popular European Stag (or Hen) destinations being Amsterdam, Prague, Edinburgh and Dublin. There is a huge industry built up around custom made stag weekends and stag parties, this option being much simpler than expecting the Best Man, who may not know all men in the bridal party, to organise it all himself. With these stag packages the company or agent will be the main point of contact for each of the stags attending; they will make all of the arrangements and collect payment from each of the guests.
It is well accepted that what happens on a hen or stag night remains on the hen or stag night, and while it is fun to have photographs of the event and particularly any activities during the day, it is not appropriate to display photos of drunken behaviour from the hen or stag night at your wedding reception, or for the best man to relate stories from the event during his wedding speech. When it comes to who to invite on a hen night it is correct for a hen to invite her mum and any sisters, and it is diplomatic, but not expected, to also invite the groom’s mum and sisters. Many brides have second hen night with those close family members that they feel obliged to invite but who wouldn’t really enjoy a wild night out with the rest of the hens. It is not appropriate to invite anyone who has not been invited to the wedding. Stags seem more relaxed on who to invite and there is generally more of an attitude of “the more the merrier” with the potential guests knowing what they are likely to be letting themselves in for and deciding whether or not they want to go. Our research showed that most grooms will not change their stag night plans to suit their friends or family members, and that stags on average spend three times more on their stag weekend than a hen spends on her hen weekend.
