Easy Way to Happiness

The celebratory nights out for the bride and groom are tradition dating back so far that we can only speculate as to its origins. Generally speaking, the groom enlists the help of a best man (obviously primarily to perform the best man customs at the wedding) who then traditionally organises a stag party for him. Different cultures however have different takes on the stag/bachelor party.

UK: The British stag party now usually stretches over more than one day, like a weekend or even a week away. A lot of the time the day will be taken up by activities of a laddish nature followed by night merriment and boozing. With cheap airlines on the rise, weeks or weekends away to affordable destinations are becoming more and more common, top of the popular destinations list are Riga, Dublin, Krakow and of course Amsterdam.

USA: The term stag party is rarely used in the US, it is known as a bachelor party, and these bachelor parties usually consist of the same kind of activities that the British ones do, however their bachelor parties are more to symbolise the grooms last days of freedom from the bonds of wedlock rather than celebrating the fact that hes getting married. Popular destinations include Chicago, Miami Beach and who could forget, Las Vegas.

Australia: The Australian version, most commonly know as a Bucks night, usually involves topless waitresses and/or a stripper and sometimes a poker tournament. It is also fairly common for the groom to be subjected to embarrassing pranks by the party members, these sometimes include, being tied to a pole naked, being placed on a plane to an obscure location, or being forced to dress as a woman / put on a “mankini”.

Canada: The Canadian stag party is often referred to as just that, a Stag party. Popular destinations include Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto and Niagara Falls. This is most likely due to the number strip clubs with lap dancing. The woman’s hen party is known in Canada as a “Stagette” party, a doe party or a bachelorette party.

Denmark: The Danish celebration is called a Polterabend and usually lasts a full day. It will start with the group meeting up for breakfast, then a day full of activities, perhaps such as karting, or paintball or something similar, then dinner at a restaurant, and finally, the infamous night out on the town. The Groom is often not told which day the Polterabend is going to be on.

France: The French call the Stag party enterrement de vie de garcon which, literally translated, means burial of life as a young boy, and the same for women, but burial of life as a young woman (enterrement de vie de jeune fille.) Like in most English speaking countries, these celebrations often include large amounts of alcohol consumption and sometimes a stripper.

So, customs for stag/bachelor parties vary from country to country, but they are all based around the same idea, drunken care free behaviour, and quite often, strippers.