It’s time for you to work out how to plan a bucks party (or Bachelor Party / Stag Party).

Your mate is engaged, he’s asked you to be his best man and its up to you to plan the pre-nuptials celebration. Planning the best time of his life before the best day of his life can be pretty easy really. A bit of planning will get you organised and pull the crew together so you’ll throw the groom an awesome bucks bachelor stag party that’ll make sure he’s ready to walk down the isle and say I Do! How to plan a Bucks party

Talk to the groom

Unless you share an identical-twin-like connection with the groom, you need to talk to the groom to work out how to plan a Bucks party that suits him – not so he can decide the plan, but so he can give you some general preferences for what’s in or out. talk about things like:

• Big invite list, or a tight group.
• Father-in-law invited, or mates only.
• Booze and debauchery, or get back to nature.
• Dates the groom is definitely not available.

Once you know the general vibe of send off the groom is after you’ll know how to plan a Bucks party he’ll love, and whether he wants to be in the dark on the plans or guiding the ship.

While you’re talking to the groom, you should also decide if you need to run any of your ideas past his bride – I’m sure you know where we’re going here (and in case you’re not sure, we’re talking things like female entertainers or temporary disfigurement like eyebrow removal close to the wedding date). If you plan on doing anything that the bride might take exception to, you should probably flag it with her. The last thing you want to do is have the bucks party change the ‘I Do’ into an ‘I Don’t’. Doing some thing that could jeopardise the upcoming nuptials is not how to plan a Bucks party.

Draw up the guest list

Now that you know who the groom does and does not want at his bachelor party (and you have tested anything necessary with the wife-to-be), get the invites out. This is one of the most important steps in how to plan a Bucks party.

Calls, group texts or, dare we say it, emails. Do what ever you can to sound the alert that it’s on and get it in diaries. One of the most challenging steps of how to plan a Bucks Party is getting a date that suits everyone, or at least as many people as possible.

Details might be light-on at this early stage, but it’s important to get the event and date on the radar early and pull the core crew together to start planning. Make sure you flag up the level of secrecy from the groom – are all activities top secret or are there some things the groom is OK to know.

How to plan a bucks party that is both a surprise and a memorable experience for the bucks is to make sure there are no leaky ships early on… or that the right stuff is leaked to to the buck so that the excitement (or anxiety) builds appropriately!!

You should also work out the best way to keep information flowing to all those invited. More emails, Messaging Apps or private social media groups… whatever it is try to get everyone on the one platform. Get the right contact details from those attending now so you don’t need to chase them up later.

Create the itinerary and set the budget

No matter how many people the groom-to-be wants on the invite list, it’s likely he’s got a core crew – 3 or 4 fellas who are his best mates, and since you’re the best man they’re probably your best mates too. Get together, have some beers and work out how to plan a Bucks party he’ll remember for the rest of his days.

. Share the vibe the bucks is after with the crew and get those creative juices flowing.

No matter if it’s a night out on the town, a weekend full of shenanigans, or travel abroad, make sure it’s an experience that the buck will remember. No mater what you call it – bucks, bachelor or stag party – it should all be about providing your mate an experience he’ll never forget.

Budget is a tricky one, so you might want to make expensive activities are opt-in.

If party is going to be an overall expensive event, you should really make sure there are a couple of lower cost options in there for anyone who might be a bit strapped for cash. It’ll let them opt-in for one or two parts of the festivities and be part of the groom-to-be’s send off.

Think about the date (not the night before unless it’s a really tame affair), location, travel, accommodation, activities, gifts, food, drinks, gear, entertainment, pranks, and anything else that might be needed for the bachelor party. If you’re thinking about getting some adult entertainment at the party, make sure this is optional so it’s easy for individuals to opt out.

Write the itinerary down – this is important to the ‘how to plan a Bucks party’ because your memory is not as good as you think it is!

Get out the old spreadsheet, scribble on a white board, take a page in your note book, or tattoo it on your leg. Just make sure you keep track of what your doing, how much its all going to cost, and who is helping to pull it all together (like, Davo agreed to go to the bottle shop to pick up the beer and the ice).

It should go without saying that the Bachelor should not spend a penny, so make sure as you’re working out the per-person budget you factor in a little extra to cover the Buck.

Get RSVPs and lock in the activities

Now that you’ve got the plan and budget, work out the date and send out the details to everyone that’s invited. Be creative with sending out the details. This is the first opportunity you have to start setting the bucks party vibe, so put some thought into it – this is important to how to plan a Bucks party that everyone feels included in.

Remember, there might be a few people who don’t know you, or anyone else that’ll be attending, so do your best to make everyone feel included so they’re more like to attend and make memories for the Buck. This is how to plan a Bucks party where the groom only remembers everyone that is important to him was there and having a killer time.

Let everyone know when they need to confirm their attendance by – the RSVP date. Might sound a bit formal, but it’ll help make sure you can lock in who is attending everything, who is attending just some of activities and who can’t attend at all – and what each person’s $$ contribution is. Make sure you track this somehow, like in a spreadsheet, to-do-list, email invite with accept or decline… what ever works best for you.

Once you know who is coming and that date, start booking everything that you can – lock it in Eddie. Make sure you get the time slots you want for activities, the entertainment you want will be there, the best table at the restaurant has your name on it and the right number of rooms provide the comfy beds you and the lads will need once the day’s shenanigans are over.

Lock it all in as soon as you can, otherwise you’ll have to work out Plan B. Going to Plan B is not how to plan a Bucks party – you want Plan A all the way!

Make sure you have a plan for the budget and you’re clear about this with everyone upfront – particularly for pre-payments. We’d recommend getting payment for activities up-front wherever you can. It’ll save a lot of chasing up payments close to the day, or even worse after the event (and you’ve had to fork out $$ yourself to pay for an activity).

Keep the hype rolling

It’s likely there’ll be a bit of time between the invites going out, people RSVPing and the bucks party itself. Keep the communication going so everyone knows what’s going on, get into the spirit, get to know one another a bit more… and remember that it’s on. The more you do to set the vibe ahead of the day, the more likely everyone will come with the the right attitude and mood.

Thanks to COVID, pretty much everyone is used to video calls. Its a good idea to get everyone that’s attending on a call or two to run through what’s happening – use tech to work out how to plan a Bucks party that everyone is excited to attend. It also gives everyone the chance to meet the wider group which is particularly helpful if there are people who only know the Buck.

Remember, as the best man it’s your job to make sure that the Buck sees everyone having a great time.

Something important to agree is if the party will be under the ‘what happens on tour, stays on tour’ mantra. And we’re talking to you Mr Social Media. Will it be no social media posts, clean social media posts or a warts-and-all picture and video docu-series? Whichever it is, make sure it’s what the buck wants and those attending all agree.

Be organised – is the best ‘how to plan a bucks party’

You don’t want all your hard work and planning to go down the drain because you’re not organised on the day.

• Think about how to plan a Bucks party that the groom will love – it’s all about him.
• Put everything down in a list, and check it twice.
• If you’ve got other crew members doing things, follow them up to make sure they’re onto it.
• Double check everyone who RSVPed can still make it, and if some people can’t, amend your bookings early.
• And while you’re at it, confirm your bookings with any businesses / venues you’ll be attending.
• Make sure everyone has sent you their cut for the pre-paid expenses.

Make sure everyone is on plan at the party. If you’re moving between a few different locations / venues / activities, set some timers in your phone so you can start rounding everyone up so you’re on time for any bookings you’ve made – this will make the Buck see nothing other than a well-oiled machine!

Featured Image: Robert McGoldrick