Edinburgh Stag and Hen Guide
We are always adding to our Stag Guide to help stag and hen party organisers plan their party weekend. We will start this guide at the beginning the organisation part.
Edinburgh Stag Guide - Organisation
Organisation is they key to a great stag or hen weekend to make it a memorable event. This is not a time to rely on spontaneity to do your mate proud - there is nothing worse for a stag or hen party than an uninspired night, spending half the time traipsing around Edinburgh which you don't know, without any idea of where to go. If your thinking of winging it, rest assured, you've got more chance of finding a million quid than going down in history as the man or woman responsible for a stag do or hen do to remember.
There is more advice in this guide later on on finding dates, who to invite, themes, best man speeches, drinking games and what activities go well together.
Edinburgh Stag Guide - Choosing Your Dates
It goes without saying that you'll have a range of lads or lasses on the stag / hen weekend so budgets and availability will have to be considered. But a night out in the stag's / hen's hometown is, quite frankly, not an option. Not only because this should be a night out with a difference rather than just a night out at the local, but because bumping into a neighbour, relative or friend of the bride - to - be at any point is hardly conducive to giving your mate enough space to let his hair or trousers down.
Edinburgh is a great location as there is loads of cheap flights into Edinburgh also two central stations Waverly (East End) and Haymarket (West End) of Princes Street. Just make sure when choosing the date you check out for rugby weekends, open golf, G8 meetings, festivals as this can make the city incredibly busy.
BOOK EARLY avoid the nightmare of trying to co-ordinate a dozen lads of Lasses by booking them up before it becomes an issue. Traditionally the bride and groom send out their official invitations six to eight weeks in advance of the weddings, so aim to do at least the same thing for the stag do or hen do. Allow more time if possible so that you are guaranteed to be able to get accommodation for a large group especially for Edinburgh. And, of course, being as brides, mothers and mothers-in-law tend to get the hump about husbands-to-be showing up bruised or useless a week before the wedding, plan to have the stag to do at least two weeks before the big day. Or his and your lives won’t be worth living.
Invitations
Who to invite, who not to invite? It's a toss up. Is it better to have the future father-in-law not speaking to the stag because he's hacked off he wasn't invited? Or to have the possibility of him threatening your mate's wedding tackle after witnessing his drunken mauling of the saucy stripper? And do you want the world and his wide boys there, or would you prefer to keep it to a select few? If you've got a tricky situation and are not sure which way to go, the answer is simple – why not have two stag nights? All Alternative Stag do with your real mates and a second stag night down the pub with the outlaws (soon to be in-laws) and wide boys. Nightmare scenario neatly sidestepped. No casualties.
Invitations can be straightforward. But if you've already decided what type of do you'll be having and the dates are informally agreed, you might want to really go to town with them. They are an excellent excuse to get into character for your theme and roll out a couple of embarrassing photos of or quote s from the stag. Just bear in mind that the more effort you make in organising the stag do, the more effort the bucks will be willing to put into the actual event.
