While everybody is busy congratulating your mate for sealing the deal with his forever partner, everyone seems to have forgotten just how big of a deal it is for you to be named best man. We see you!! Not only does this mean you get to sit next to your buddy on the bridal table, but you've also got the honour of throwing him an epic buck's party to celebrate his final days of freedom. So, consider this our congratulations to you!
And now that we've passed on our good word, it's time to talk serious business. We've all seen enough Hollywood blockbusters to know just how crazy and elaborate stag do's can get these days, and while these shindigs might look like an absolute blast on the big screen, they can pretty much break your bank account if you even attempt to recreate a scene. And not everyone has that kind of money to throw around.
But that's not to say that you have to fork out the big bucks to put on the celebration that your buddy deserves. There are actually plenty of ways you can keep the bill down and still have a ton of fun.
To help kick start your buck's party planning, we've put together our top tips to help you pull off the event of your dreams on a limited budget.
Top five tips for planning a buck’s party or a stag do on a limited budget
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1. Set the date early
The first step in planning a buck’s party is to lock in the date. Seems obvious, right? Well, securing a time as early as possible won’t just give you more time to plan an epic celebration, it will also help you save some dollars too.
Giving partygoers plenty of notice about the celebration will provide you with time to work out who can actually make it to the event and who is just throwing banter in the group chat for the heck of it. Get your party goers to commit to the date by asking for a deposit from each person and setting a deadline for them to transfer it to you. Once someone has handed over their money, they’re less likely to pull out at the last minute – which reduces the likelihood of you wasting money by having to cancel any larger than needed bookings.
When you’ve locked in numbers, you can also start making your bookings well ahead of schedule for activities, attractions, accommodation and all of that fun stuff. Most providers will reward you for doing this early by offering a pretty generous discount too.
2. Who do you really want there?
Another way that people rack up a massive bill without even realising it is by inviting every man and his dog to the party. While your buddy's second cousin's son would probably love an invite, it's important to consider who your mate really wants there. It's essential to have a good crew for all the good vibes, but sometimes the best parties are the one with just a few close friends and immediate family members.
The best way to work out who to include on the invite list is to think about the event as a celebration of the soon-to-be groom's relationship. Think about the people that have played a pivotal role in his life up until this point or are actively involved with the couple. While you might want to handle the organisational side of things on your own, this is one stage of the planning process where it can be super helpful to get feedback from your happily engaged buddy. You might even discover that he would prefer just to have a couple of close mates there too.
3. Stay local
You might be dreaming of a week in Vegas or a getaway to Spain, but it's often the location and travel costs that makes throwing a buck’s party so damn expensive. Instead of splurging on a flight or spending tons of time and money getting to an exotic destination, why not look at some of the options a little closer to home? You can either pocket the extra cash that you would have spent on transport or you can use it to allocate extra funds for the party. Did someone say topless entertainment?
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4. Get the groomsmen to lend a hand
You might want the glory of earning the title of being the best-best-man, but your job is going to be a whole lot easier if you recruit help from the rest of the groomsmen. With all hands-on-deck, you've got more eyes and ears to help sniff out a good deal.
Having all the groomsmen lend a hand also means you can tap into everyone's connections with venues, catering, entertainment and other providers, which can lead to some great mates-rates deals. After all, it's all about who you know, not what you know.
5. Focus on the big picture
It's easy to get carried away when you're planning a stag do or bachelor weekend. But does that extra round of drinks, giveaway, customised invitations or personalised trinkets really make a difference in the scheme of things? When you sweat over the small stuff, you can easily spend hundreds of dollars more than what you planned.
To help keep yourself in line and stop yourself from going too OTT, it's helpful to create a budget on day one and then record your spending as you go. You can also consider looking at some bucks packages. When you start getting closer towards the higher end of your dollar’s allocation, you can begin looking for areas to cut back in. You may consider making it a BYO event to reduce your alcohol expenses, asking everyone to chip in for bucks accommodation or cooking dinner for yourself at your hotel rather than lashing out on a 5-course meal at a local restaurant.
Author: This is a guest blog from the guys at Wicked Stags who can help you to organise an unforgettable Stag and Bucks night for you and your friends.
