As the Best Man and Maid of Honour, you should be aware that there are some responsibilities that come along with the impressive title. Not only are you an important friend in the eyes of the bride and groom to be, but you also have the additional duty of planning the stag and hen weekend. We’ve put together some useful tips to plan the ultimate getaway, and it’ll be one your friends will never forget.
Whether you’re going abroad or heading to a different city for a wild weekend, there are a lot of things to consider. Firstly, are you picking a theme? Have you got a guest list? What activities would you like to do?
It’s worth starting with the basics first, ask for a guest list and get in touch with everyone to find out their availability. Once you’ve arranged who can come and picked a date, it’s time to get the planning underway.
Wherever you decide to go, start the weekend off right – get yourself some personalised clothes. The most common aspect to look into is t-shirt printing, you can get anything put on them. For example, you’ll often see a hen party out in a group with their title printed on a top. Whether it’s Bride, Bridesmaid, Maid of Honour or simply Bridal Party, it’s a great way to have a laugh and stand out.
Get your group chat ready – don’t let the bride or groom see anything! – and keep everyone up to date with plans. DSV advise you to assign job roles and spread the responsibility, it’ll mean less stress for you. Plan whether anyone is going to head up early to set up decorations or if you’re all going together, but think strategically.
When you’re planning, think of props and decorations for the place where you’ll be staying. Decide whether you want it to be classy or your standard hen night, whatever you do, make sure you put the effort in. Allow everyone to share their plans on hen or stag accessories, props and decorations – and plan where you want to put everything.
Once you decide to look into activities, you may find a lot of people do bulk bookings and will offer cheaper options when there are more of you. If you’re not good at planning, you can go with a company that will arrange it for you, and most of them will provide an offer that the bride and groom go free.
Activity specialist West Country Games urges people to do an activity that is original to make it a weekend to remember. Consider something that everyone will be excited about doing, but particularly put the bride or groom’s interests first.
It’s worth looking into a package for the group, not only is it cheaper but you’ll get a lot more for your money. Try and make the weekend fun-filled and jam-packed with things to do, but also make sure you have some downtime too.
Most importantly, make sure everyone is having fun all weekend, particularly the bride or groom – remember, this is the one weekend before the wedding that they can be completely stress-free!