Bachelor party planning for your best friend is no easy task – there are a number of things to consider, such as what will be on the itinerary, questions about budget, guest list, and other logistics. While it’s the best man’s job to organize the bachelor party, it doesn’t hurt when the groomsmen pitch in as well.
Planning a Bachelor Party
“Bachelor party planning begins with whose invited, so you need to discuss the invitee list with the groom,” said Angelo D’Ambra of Montreal Nitelife, a company that specializes in organizing bachelor parties. “Our stats from having organized 25,000 bachelor parties show 60% of invitees will attend. Then the organizer has to have an idea of what kind of a budget he is working with – he speaks to the groom about this. It’s actually the groom who’s going to decide what he would like to do, whether its stay local and play pool, stay local and go crazy, or travel abroad and go crazy, and this will dictate the budget.”
Bachelor Party Destinations and Budgets
If the man of the hour wants to stay local and play pool, D’Ambra said it will cost between $30-40/per person. But if he’d prefer to explore a different city, $250/per person is a base starting price for a weekend in Montreal. “An important thing to consider is how far the budget will go – does it include hotel (if so, what category of hotel), alcohol, food, gambling, and strip clubs? For the 30+ parties we’re booking every weekend the guys are spending around $450-500, but that includes everything unless they go crazy at something like the casino.”
Bachelor Party Invitations
The next step in bachelor party planning is sharing the info with invitees by sending out an invitation. The wording may go something like this: “Hey guys, It’s time to celebrate the groom’s last few nights of freedom as a single man and we’re going up to Montreal. The price for this event will be $??, tentative dates include (give the invitees a couple of selections in dates), please RSVP by ?? to best man so-and-so, etc….” D’Ambra added, “You should also ask if people have hook-ups with hotels by getting friends and family rates. Those are generally lower than corporate rates. Shop around… don’t assume the big online travel agencies have the lowest prices.”
Bachelor Party Logistics
So, to recap: When you’re taking your bachelor party on the road, the logistics of traveling abroad include the following:
– the date (had already been polled and agreed upon)
– the destination (has already been decided by groom and best man)
– the budget (has already been decided by groom and best man)
– the number of travelers (has already been polled and tallied)
Bachelor Party Ideas
Finally, it’s time to plan the itinerary for the trip, so the best man should start researching the bachelor party destination of choice. “This is never an easy task for any organizer who’s responsible for the decision of 11 people, which is the average size of a bachelor party,” he explained. “He has to decide which hotel fits the budget, if the location of the property is the best possible logistically for what they’re going to do once they’re in the city, and if there are any amenities within the hotel that the groom really wants, like a pool or a presidential suite that is big enough for 11 men to congregate in, entertain themselves with a friendly game of poker, or have something like strippers in their room.”
While you may want to please everyone as the bachelor party planner, the most important person to consider is obviously the honouree – the groom. If you’ve decided on an out-of-town bash in a place like Montreal, start by creating the guest list as well as a budget based on what the groom-to-be wants to do, and then the fun begins – creating the trip schedule.
Look for next week’s bachelor party article – the inside scoop on the client’s experience in Montreal.
Photo Credit – Wenn.com
