Things that made a stag-do extra special...

[Steamer]

I know 'stag-do' threads crop up about once a week in the pie, but I really do need some tips from the PH collective on this one.

I'm not asking for advice on where to go or what to do... we'll sort that.

But what I am asking is what 'extras' really made it a bit different?

My knowledge and experience of stag-do's is limited... limited to ONE! and the groom couldnt actually make it as he was rushed into hospital

The other reason I'm asking is because this one has got to be the event of the year, there are 2 best men so people are expecting something a bit special.

So apart from 'Coke & Hookers' what made it a night to remember from your best men?


I've got about as far as printing some funny t-shirts

[Wadeski]

Dont do the f*cking chavvy T-shirts.

Get a cheapo Eurostar to Belgium and get tanked up on 9% beer

[ofcorsa]

I would say dont try to hard,

The best one i've been on, No outfits/Tshirts. No forced shenanigans, Was probably the best weekend break ive ever been on.

[Romanymagic]

I think truly good stag do's and what makes them special is derived from what occurs on the night/weekend which you cannot predict.

For mine we were in the Gypsy Moth by the Cutty Sark in Greenwich (midway through a planned day and evening of events) and another stag group were also in the pub. The two best men got talking and decided to pitch stag and staggee's against one another in a series of competitions which culminated in a race around the Cutty Sark which happily I won!!

So what made the stag do really special was totally off the cuff and unplanned and people still talk about it to this day (even though this occurred 5 odd years ago).

In other words some good stag do's are good because of the unpredicatble elements that can occur.

Edited by Romanymagic on Thursday 19th March 12:49

[Steamer]

Okay - point taken, it will be a decent location and funding isnt too much of a problem - so that should at least be a step in the right direction.

[james_tigerwoods]

Why are stag dos now a week/weekend anyway?

[Jasandjules]

Do something different? Something memorable that other stag dos won't do?

[randomman]

You could remap his 335d?

If you already have where you're going and what you're doing then there shouldn't be much to decide. The little things will dissapear into the hangover haze.

[Steamer]

james_tigerwoods said:

Why are stag dos now a week/weekend anyway?

Well we are planning a decent weekend - partly to escape to pastures new, but there will also be just a night of drinks the weekend before in the local I think.

[Steamer]

Jasandjules said:

Do something different? Something memorable that other stag dos won't do?

Well the intial plan was to take an old-school hothatch to The Ring - few beers in the evening and drive back the next day.... sell the car to pay for drinks the night before the wedding.

To be honest (and I know that sounds tame) but it would have suited the Groom down to the ground and would have been memorable for all of us (none having been to the ring before) However - that doesnt cater for everyone... brothers, fathers ect...

Edited by Steamer on Thursday 19th March 13:03

[ben_reza]

Romanymagic said:

I think truly good stag do's and what makes them special is derived from what occurs on the night/weekend which you cannot predict.
[/footnote]

Without a doubt. If you put enough blokes with enough alcohol something memorable will happen. e.g. locking ourselves out the accomodation (wig-wams) and 'forcing entry' into someone elses caravan for the night....

Keep it simple, i have done something outdoors the few times i have arranged a stag- abseiling, rock climbing, karting, gorge walking etc... then either back to the accomodation with rock band on xbox, or just to the local boozer with a pool table.
Each time they have been absolute cracking nights.

[Tuna]

Make it seamless and smooth. Don't just plan the 'big bits', but everything else that needs to keep a good weekend flowing. The moment you end up hanging around on some street corner trying to find four taxis to take you all to the next location, it all grinds to a halt.

Take a weekend, and don't overwhelm everyone with stuff. After a booze ridden Friday night, people start flagging and can't always face another night like that. So make sure there are chances to catch up on sleep, get decent meals (esp. breakfast!) and tidy yourselves up. Sort out taxis in advance and plan for a few people dropping out. Make sure there's always something to do - even if it's just chill out time in a cafe.

Oh, and a personal preference - don't do anything to the stag when he's drunk that you wouldn't do to him sober. Getting tanked up to get enough dutch courage for the full Coke & Hookers experience may be hilarious at the time, but is just sad and embarrassing in the morning.

[mechsympathy]

james_tigerwoods said:

Why are stag dos now a week/weekend anyway?

If people have the time, money and inclination why not? People used to settle for a night down the boozer, but then they also used to settle for a week in Blackpool as a holiday.


ETA: And contrary to what many people as suggesting don't try to micro-manage the weekend. So long as you can all get into the pub/club/stripjoint you're aiming for let people sort themselves out. You're organising a group of adults after all. If it looks like you're going to need 4 taxis halfway through the evening organise a minibus or make less complicated plans IMO.

Edited by mechsympathy on Thursday 19th March 13:20

[Mr POD]

Nobody Turn up is the best thing you can do.

[Poledriver]

In the course of my "hobby", I get to see quite a few stag do's.
There have been many who rent a country house, get shed-loads of alcohol, organise a catering firm in then get absolutely blasted, have a good meal (DJ's to be worn!) followed by the obligatory strippers/stag show then a trip to a night club. Next day there is the choice of Paint-balling, shooting, cricket etc, etc.
If your party is not quite so big you can rent a narrow-boat or two and pub-crawl up the canal. Be careful here as there are an extremely large number of pubs on the canals and many possibilities of harming oneself. Other diversions can be included en-route.
On one occasion I found the stag party in the middle of a field with a very large Teepee, fire in the middle of the tent and sleeping bags arranged around it like a clock (another recipe for disaster). Outside the Teepee they had a large gazeebo with a fully fitted bar, including lager and bitter on tap.
Earlier this year there was a stag do where the groom was handcuffed to a midget ALL night! The midget ended up totally rat-arsed!

[crofty1984]

For my brother's (next year) I found a place that does paintballing/Off road gokarting/archery near the town where we grew up. Then a night on the piss.
Quite frankly, I know my brother and he probably wouldn't enjoy being humiliated/chained to a dwarf in Prague, I think a proper farewell blowout with his mates (and me&dad) would be perfect.

[Lefty Guns]

I did a distillery tour in the morning, an afternoon of shooting clays and then a few beers. BBQ (done by outside caterers) and a shed load of beer, whisky and cigars sitting outisde all night getting pi$$ed and taking the pi$$ out of each other. It was great and pretty much took no planning. 15 drunk blokes took care of all the fun stuff - couple of guys made an arse of themselves and just the whole banter/verbal-karate thing was great fun.

No strippers, no hookers, no coke. Sounds tame but it was great.

[loafer123]

I went to the dogs, literally, and had a sponsored race "The Loafer Stag Trophy"

You should have seen the track managers face when I turned up and presented the tophy to the pikey winners - he thought he was getting a drunken chav stag, and got me going "jolly well done" and "you must be very proud"!

Had my picture in the paper for that one

[f13ldy]

[215cu]

Don't make up some t-shirts, it's crass and tacky.

Don't ask the Stag to do something you wouldn't actually do yourself.

Don't wind him up too much, it's easy to forget this is his last few days of freedom, not yours or anyone else's. Getting him fked off will not create a memorable time.

Do.. give him a couple of 'Jokers' (i.e. he can shift something he has to do onto someone of his choosing).

Do... if you are going away for a couple of night, choose one night to give him a proper send-off, not a whole weekend of dares etc, etc... it's enough to test the patience of a saint.

Do... leave plenty to chance, have one thing organised but the best things that happen on Stag do's do tend to be the unplanned things.