DO: remember that the groom doesn't pay for anything.

From the moment he pops the question, there’s one thing groom-to-be thinks about more than anything else – the bachelor party. This isn’t a new phenomenon either, as bachelor parties are rooted in ancient history. Many believe that the Spartans were the first to hold bachelor parties as a celebration of the groom’s last night as a single man. This celebration included dinner and drinks with many a toast given in the groom’s honor. The term bachelor itself, used as we do today, first appeared courtesy of Geoffrey Chaucer and his Canterbury Tales in the 14th century.

Bachelor parties have come a long way since then, and more importantly, they’ve become much more creative. Unfortunately, they’ve also tended to get more out of hand as well. In more recent times, bachelor party debauchery has even contributed to numerous celebrity break-ups. Paris Hilton, Mario Lopez and Ali Landry have all had relationships affected by the groom’s last night out.

From fancy five-star dinners to a Texas Holdem weekend at the casino, there are many different ways to throw a bachelor party. But regardless of your party preference, there are some basic tips and advice worth following. These bachelor party dos and don’ts can make or break the celebration – and even the groom if you’re not careful.

1. Don’t let the groom pay
No matter how generous he is, the groom shouldn’t have to pay for anything during his bachelor party. It’s his last night out as one of the guys, so take care of him. Certain exceptions can be made, especially if the celebration spans a weekend or longer: think Las Vegas. But make sure to cover him when it counts – after all, it’s his celebration, right?

2. Do something different.
If your group always hangs out at the same bar or goes to the same restaurant or club, don’t go back to that place for the bachelor party. Take the groom somewhere different – hopefully somewhere nicer too. Whether he’ll admit it or not, this is a big deal for him, so do something special. Go all out, that way there are no regrets when he looks back on the night 10 years from now.

3. Don’t let yourself get tired
This is particularly important for weekend excursions or trips to Vegas. No, we’re not talking about doing anything illegal here, but some real simple things can help make sure everyone’s energetic and enjoying the party. Sleep can be hard to come by on a bachelor party weekend, especially if a night-long US poker tournament is in the cards. So know where to find a good cup of coffee if you’re on an overnight trip. Better yet, bring one of your own coffee makers along with you. This can save you some serious money too – Starbucks gets expensive!

4. Do some advance planning
As great as it made the plot of The Hangover, don’t try to hold a bachelor party any closer than three days before the wedding. There’s just too much that can go wrong. Trust me – the bride and her family will thank you. Be sure to start planning early, as well, especially if there are a number of guys traveling for the occasion.

5. Don’t let the groom do anything he’ll regret
He’s still engaged, after all, so don’t let him get too out of control. It’s the best man’s job to make sure the groom behaves, which is actually the second most important thing he has to do – other than plan the bachelor party. Everyone else is on his own, just make sure to keep an eye on the groom. If Mario Lopez can get caught, then there’s no reason to expect that he won’t.

6. Do remember to have fun
Despite all the excitement and planning going into the bachelor party celebration, the most important thing is to just have fun. At the end of the day, it’s all your friends together celebrating an important moment in the groom’s life. Don’t lose sight of that amongst all the other craziness that may or may not be going on. And remember that at the end of the day, it’s not where you are or what you’ll do that matters – it’s who you’re with that really counts.

—-

We want to hear from you. What other do’s and don’ts do you have for throwing a memorable stag party? Let us know in the comment section below.

With thousands of unique activities and pulsating nightlife the UK really is a fantastic destination for your stag do.

The city of Bournemouth is ideal for a stag party by the sea.

Destinations by the Sea

England offers some of the best activity sites in Europe set along its glorious coastlines.

Bournemouth is top of the list with 7 mile of glorious sandy beaches and more lively bars and clubs then you can visit in a week let alone a weekend.

You are spoilt for choice with the amount of activities on offer that include rage buggies, quad biking, mini car racing, clay pigeon shooting, deep sea fishing to give you just a taster.

Bournemouth boasts Europe’s first artificial reef, which has made this lively seaside town an absolute hub for surfers.

Newquay has always been a hot destination for hen and stag weekends and you will see why from the exuberant nightlife and the activities available.

The centre of Newquay is littered with bouncing bars and clubs all within easy walking distance of your accommodation. Sandy beaches provide the perfect backdrop to the electric atmosphere.

Newquay has one of the best quad bike racing sites in Europe with a track’s capacity of over 30 riders at anyone time. This mile long course will see you tackle adverse and reverse chambers, straights at full speeds and jumps to create air between your bike and the mud.

Newquay is world famous for having reliable swell 365 days of the year so you could become a surf dude or body border or you could throw caution to the wind by jumping off a cliff edge in to the sea during a coasteering session but then again you may feel like putting your two fingers up to energetic activities and just do a spot of sunbathing on one of the blue flag beaches.

UK Cities Rock

A stag weekend in the UK capital city of London has always been choice, however other fantastic UK cities are snapping at its heels. Take Nottingham for example, this city has always been a stag do Mecca, It’s not surprising when you take a stroll around this vivacious city at night with its abundance of trendy bars and fashionable clubs all buzzing.

Nottingham is perfectly set up for the stag do market with an amazing choice of activities to choose from, it also has one of the biggest paintball sites in Europe.

Bristol since it’s billion pound refurbishment is a firm favourite and is now a must do stag destination.

Stag parties that choose Bristol enjoy luxury city centre hotels, copious array cosmopolitan bars and clubs all within easy walking distance. The waterside has stacks of bars and eateries including the American export, Hooters. At the very heart of Bristol you will find some amazing super clubs and contemporary gentleman clubs.

To keep your boys out of the bars during the day the activity sites surrounding Bristol are pretty full on and include activities to keep the adrenalin pumping well into the night.

The Capitals

Edinburgh has an atmosphere you’ll want to pick up and marry, the nightlife is just simply outstanding.

Enjoy the dynamic atmosphere around the Grassmarket bars or eat and party hard in the west end, wherever your stag convey parks up you are guaranteed a cracking good time.

Edinburgh is also only one hour away from the best white water rafting in the UK, however if you feel like becoming a true Scot why not tackle the Highland Games activities which obviously includes tossing the caber.

Cardiff in recent years has been rejuvenated into one of the most modern looking cities in UK. Cardiff Bay has tons going on including loads of bars and clubs, it even offers a man made white water rafting experience.

Just a short drive away is one of the best stag playgrounds for outward bounds type of activities including the extremely popular Gorge Walking.

Last and but not least London, probably one of the most trend setting cities of the world, London is one of the eclectic cities to hold your last days of freedom.

Tour the colourful markets and famous sites by day before experiencing the seven wonders of this great city at night; Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square, Camden Town, Covent Garden, China Town, Notting Hill and Soho.

So for a Stag Do with a magnitude of epic proportions choose a town or city in the UK.

—

Written by the DesignaVenture team.

DesignaVenture is a sponsor of the man registry’s groomadvice blog

If you’ve recently been made the best man for a wedding, your head is probably still spinning trying to form ideas for the wedding reception’s speech. You’ll be forgiven for a 6/10 speech if you can pull off perfect stag weekends, and that’s where we’re here to help.

First, you need to consider the attendees of the groom’s send-off – consider their ages, their budgets and their locations. A factor that affects many best men is that the groom probably has more than one friendship group – often because of university or work these can be from different parts of the country and may never have met. Therefore it’s extremely important to pick a location that pleases everybody, ideally a centre point between these groups.

Ice-breakers

Breaking the ice between groups of people who haven’t met before is vital and can be achieved in a variety of ways. Perhaps a drinking game back at the hotel before you venture out is the way to go. “I’ve Never” is perfect for this. In this game you go around a circle and each take turns saying something you’ve never done, if anyone around the circle has done it they must drink.

Perfect for outing those skeletons in the closet and leaving your stag party open and receptive to one another for the night ahead. Another way to melt the ice is to embark on some activities that give the group a common cause and a talking point.

Location

Europe is perfectly set up to accommodate stag weekends, with cheap inter-continental flight routes and ridiculously thrifty alcohol. Riga stag weekends are particularly incredible, with the city almost built by the God of Stag himself with so many strip clubs and bars per square metre. Latvia’s capital hosts a “parade of the blondes” every year, where beautiful ladies walk down the street, showcasing the incredible beauty possessed by this Eastern European jewel. If you’re looking for some sunshine on your stag weekend, you could do a lot worse than Marbella stag weekends. Marbella is the sun-soaked getaway of the rich and famous and boasts an incredible nightlife, as well as all-year sun and some of the continent’s best beaches.

Get Active

There’s no better way to unite a group than to head out for some good old-fashioned competitive fun. Your group will really have something to talk about in the night ahead if you’ve got a go-karting grand-prix under your belt. You could also earn your stag weekend stripes after embarking on a paintballing war, capturing the spirit of the trenches as you and your boys take up arms against an enemy stag squad. Quad-biking, coasteering and white-water rafting are similar effective in drumming up the spirit of brotherhood for a weekend to remember.

The Night

Ah, of course, any stag weekend’s legacy is surely defined by the quality and the craziness of the drinking action you bring to the city. If you’re in an unfamiliar city for your stag weekend, any research undertaken in the weeks leading up to the big weekend is going to be invaluable.

The worst case scenario is that you leave the hotel and wander around, rudderless, unsure of where the best, liveliest bars are situated. The Stag Company builds in bar crawls with VIP club entry into their packages – road testing them for their stag suitability. There’s really nothing worse than spending the whole weekend traipsing around, wondering if there’s a better party happening elsewhere.

So there you have it, the guide to perfect stag weekends. Keep it fun, keep it activity laden and have the stag weekend your groom-to-be deserves.

By Mark Booth, TheStagCompany.com

—

the stag company is a sponsor of the man registry’s groomsadvice blog

James from Firefly Group Events drops by the blog today with instructions on how to recreate The Hangover: Part 2 for your own bachelor party. If you somehow happen to pull this off, please send photos.

Phil, Stu and Alan are back in The Hangover: Part 2

Phil, Stu, and Alan showed us that bachelor parties can be more than a few drinks and strip clubbing. Between the lost baby, tiger, and naked man in the trunk the Hangover gave bachelor parties something to aspire to. A special kind of forward regression that struck a self-destructive chord in our man-souls. In a few short weeks Hangover 2 will once again shatter all of our expectations for the ultimate bachelor party. To prepare you for your own hangover style party, we’ve put together a package that pays homage to Hangover 2. With this package, you too can wake up in Thailand with a face tattoo and a monkey.

Get there – $1000-$3000
This will be your only sober action since it is pre-trip. We checked and found that the best time to terroize the Thai starts in November. So a quick search on Expedia found flights that start at $1039.90

The Monkey – $1000-$3000
Yes. A monkey is not only possible, it’s encouraged. Not only that, you can party hard with the monkey from Pirates of the Carribean. This monkey is a hard drinking fool so watch your wallet and your women. This little guy is stateside but we’re betting you could smuggle the little guy in via carry on. Just tell everyone he’s an upright chihuahua you rescued. We always see barbies with their stupid lapdogs on the plane so it’s possible.

http://piratesforparties.com/monkey_for_birthday_party.

Another possible resource for monkeys is Greg. We can’t vouch for his possession of simeans but we respect the effort.

http://www.monkeyforaweek.com

The Tattoo – $4.95-$500

Stu can't seem to catch a break.

A face tattoo a la Mike Tyson or Stu is not a decision to be made sober. In fact, after boarding the plane you should immediately max out your alcohol limit. This will set the stage for the BEST bachelor party your fiancee will hate to remember, EVER. Prior to that, take a sharpie and write the following addresses, one on each hand. That way, once you’ve passed out drunk somebody will see one of the addresses and take you there thinking it’s your hotel. We’ve passed along instructions to the artists to only give you a tribal face tattoo(you’re paying).

Bangkok Tattoo
Amarin Plaza, 3rd floor
Soi 4 – Thai Craft Market Zone
Bangkok, Thailand

Tu over at Siamese 5 Tattoo parlor said she’d charge about 9000 baht for the pleasure. However, she also said she never tattoos anyones face…http://www.siamese5tattoo.com

If you want to sissy out and go the non-permanent route you can but a temporary tattoo replica of Tyson and Stu’s tattoo here: http://www.tvstoreonline.com/tysontattoo.html

Mike Tyson – $99.95

Mr. Tyson is an impressionable young man but he’s also a bit unstable. As such, we are not advocating his actual involvement in your post landing chaos. Instead, try bringing your very own Mike Tyson. Here’s a couple of companies that specialize in life-size cardboard cut-outs. It’s all the photo-ops without the chance of bodily harm.

http://www.lifesizegreetings.com/custom-stand-up-order.htm
http://www.partystandups.com/catalog/custom-cutout-standup-feet-tall-p-82.htm

The Sunglasses – $19.95

The perfect sunglasses to wear to the Jonas Brothers show.

No Hangover wannabe party is complete without the oh-so-cool shades that Alan sports in the movie.

http://www.tvstoreonline.com/hangoverglasses.html

Wolf T-Shirt – $19.99

No Hangover experience can be complete without proper clothing. Again we look to Alan’s example and give the wolf t-shirt our full recommendation. We found a great website, that takes itself very seriously, where you can purchase your own wolf pack gear.

http://www.everythingwolf.com/shop/productslist.aspx?categoryid=11

The Rest of it

We’ve given you the basics. If you’re a purist you’ll need to find the tiger, naked man, roofies, random baby, and the chicken on your own. We know that you can do it if you put your mind and enough alcohol together. Never underestimate what you can accomplish when smashed and wandering in a foreign city.

—

James is co-founder of FireFly Bachelor Parties, a bachelor party planning company in California that plans parties throughout the United States. Check out what kind of trouble you can get into with their bachelor party packages at: http://www.fireflygroupevents.com/bachelor-parties.php

our friends at redseven leisure are dropping by the blog today to give some tips on the do’s and don’ts of stag parties. sit back and relax men, class is in session.

When it comes to getting married, you make sure you’ve got the right person. There’s no waking up in three months time andchecking if there’s a sale or return – this is for the long-term!

The same goes for your stag party: you only get one, so get it right. Here are three destinations to not go to and three to shortlist.

The don’t go’s

Boat cruise party: Somalia

No matter how beautiful a country Somalia might be, it’s not the place to be taking a cruise right now. If your best man rolls up with this idea, you really should put him on a slow boat to China, one way. Somalian waters are backed up with hijacked boats, so the only way you are going to see the shore is onboard a rescue helicopter.

North Korea

We are full of ideas for stag weekends abroad but some places just aren’t open for business. North Korea has been off-limits for as long as anyone can remember. The nearest you’ll get is the ‘freedom bridge’. Sipping a cocktail in China you’ll see the lights go out in North Korea  – that’s because the government turns them out!

Afghanistan

Officially the most dangerous country in the world 2010, Afghanistan is strictly out of bounds. Fly in with US military if that’s your day job, but you won’t hear of soldiers returning for their stag parties. Even without the current state of turmoil, it’s a country run by tribes happy to fight over opium crops, and forget the beer and strippers – not cool in this part of the world.

The must go’s

Amsterdam

Chilled, cosmopolitan, and with a reputation only matched by party town Las Vegas, this is a place to go. Your Amsterdam stag do will see you chilling in the bars, cycling the streets, losing your mind in the red-light district and raving it up in the clubs. A firm Euro favorite, and completely unique.

Prague

Characterful capital of the Czech Republic, this town has become party central. Attracted by the cheap, strong beer, European stags have helped turn Prague stag weekends into the stuff of legends. Relaxed gun laws let you blast away in the woods before banging mixers you never even heard of. And if you’ve a cultural bone in your body, you’ll see every style of architecture around since medieval times.

Barcelona

Soccer fans get ready. European soccer legends Barcelona infuse this Catalan centre with sporting life. Les Ramblas is the part of town for the party crowd. You’ll enjoy the smartest of bars, chic street cafes and clubs that stay open all night. Built around the Ramblas Boulevard, it’s largely pedestrianised, so walk the streets of this Spanish must-see destination and make your Barcelona stag do a night to remember.

—

redseven leisure is a sponsor of the man registry’s groomsadvice blog