Bachelor Party

How to Throw a Kick Ass Bachelor Party

You know the obvious stuff. (And if you don’t, we cover it here.) The basic things you must do in advance for a bachelor party: Picking a weekend, surveying options, reserving hotels, coordinating airfare.

That’s Bachelor Party 101. And for the weekend itself, we cover your expected behavior here.)

In the past year, however, we’ve hit enough bachelor parties to lose a liver, and we want to add and emphasize the following.

These are the pre-pre-pre moves. Things to think about weeks and even months before the weekend.

1. Save

You know what every bachelor party does not need? Gonorrhea. Okay, besides that? It doesn’t need a mopey dude who bitches about how much everything costs. Yes, the weekend will cost you money. Just swallow it. And brace yourself for it by budgeting in advance, way in advance, like 3 – 6 months out. Those $20 tips to the …ah, “entertainment specialists” will feel less painful if already in your budget.

2. Sketch out a plan

That’s sort of generic, so here’s something more specific (albeit technical and military-sounding) that’s more helpful. You need an itinerary that’s a Strategic, Tactical, Ready to Implement Plan that Properly Executes Resources. (That’s sort of a mouthful… if only it had an acronym.) I can’t think of one. Your plan needs to avoid these two extremes: so detailed that you’re like Clark Griswold in European Vacation, planning a joyless, minute-by-minute trip that squeezes the fun out of everything… or so loose that you all get to Montreal (or whatever) and say, okay, what do we do now?

3. Start an I’m-fired-up email chain

Build the anticipation. Hype it. When you were a kid, the best part of a birthday or Christmas or a vacation or whatever was looking forward to it, not, necessarily, the actual trip itself. Embrace that. A few weeks before the bachelor party, someone should kick off an email chain that just falls short of incriminating evidence.

4. Have a dress rehearsal

This depends on the group, on the event, and on the logistics. Here’s an example. Last year I was part of a Vegas bachelor party. By pure coincidence, The Hangover came out a month before the big weekend. So, a few weeks before Vegas, the entire crew pre-drank, loaded up the flasks, and we all caught The Hangover together. This made Vegas feel like even more of an event, and it got the good vibes flowing early.  Look at it this way: brides have 147 mini-events before the wedding. Why can’t the groom get a mini-event before the bachelor party?

5. Know the boundaries

This one’s less fun. Sorry. But it needs to be said. Before you go online to www.SluttiestAndHottestSkanksinMiami.com, hoping to reserve the Twin Special for the groom, you need to know his parameters. Some grooms simply don’t want to go to strip clubs. Some do, but their fiancées have put if off the table. If that’s the case, you’re not doing him any favors by guilting him into a lapdance.  Best case, you put him into an awkward spot. Worst case, you risk jeopardizing his relationship with his fiancée or his relationship with you. Respect the boundaries.

For much, much more, see our Bachelor Party section.

That’s Bachelor Party 101. And for the weekend itself, we cover your expected behavior here.)

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