A bachelor party (United States, Canada, South Africa), stag party , stag night , or stag do (Canada, UK, Ireland, and New Zealand), bull's party (South Africa), or buck's party or buck's night (Australia) is a party held for a bachelor shortly before he enters marriage, to make the most of his final opportunity to engage in activities a new partner might not approve of, or merely to spend time with his male friends (who are often in his wedding party afterwards).
Events
A bachelor party may involve activities beyond the usual party and social gathering ingredients (often drinking alcohol and gambling), such as going to a strip club or hiring a stripper, and in some traditions more hazing-like tests and pranks at the future groom's expense, which shows the whole thing is also a rite of passage from bachelorhood (associated with an adolescent lifestyle, often in the common past of most participants, e.g. in their student years) to "more responsible" marital life.
The task of organizing a bachelor party is often traditionally assigned to a male sibling of the bachelor or to the best man. Otherwise, any (close and/or reputedly party-minded) male friend will organize it. The planned activities of a bachelor party are traditionally kept secret from the groom.
Variations
It has also become common for a similar party to be held for the bride-to-be. This is known as a bachelorette party or Hen party. Formally, a party in honor of the bride-to-be is hosted by others. The expenditure, however, needs to be carried out by the person entering into wedlock.
Some also chose instead to hold a so-called Stag and Doe party in the US or a hag party or hag do in the UK ("hag" being a combination of the words "hen" and "stag"), in which both the bride and groom attend.
Australia
Buck's nights may feature a stripper, topless waitresses and/or poker games. The groom's mates often, after heavy drinking, subject the groom to various humiliations, sometimes in public. These can include leaving him tied naked to a pole or placing him on an airplane to a remote location. It has also been quite known to start the humiliation at the beginning of the night by dressing the buck up as a female or making him wear a "mankini".
Due to the advent of cheap travel, many parties may even travel to "party" destinations like the Gold Coast, thanks to a multitude of clubs, strip clubs, hotels, beaches and private "bucks" entertainment.
Canada
Canadian cities such as Montreal or Vancouver or Niagara Falls are popular stag party destinations due to their large number of strip clubs with "dance contact" (lap-dancing). Montreal in particular is popular for this purpose with both Canadians and Americans alike. The female equivalent of a stag party in Canada is often known as a "stagette", "doe" or "bachelorette" (in Québec).
Denmark
In Denmark this event is called Polterabend. The typical polterabend involves the group of friends meeting for breakfast, activities such as paintball, go-karting or kayak polo during the day, dinner at a restaurant, and a night on the town. The last event sometimes, but not always, involves strippers. The groom-to-be is often unaware of exactly what day the polterabend will take place.
France
In France, the bachelor party is called "enterrement de vie de garçon" (for the groom-to-be), which literally means "(the) burial of the life as a boy" or "burial/funeral of the life as a bachelor." For women, "enterrement de vie de jeune fille" (for the bride-to-be) translated as "burial/funeral of the life as a young girl." As in English-speaking countries, such parties often feature heavy drinking and various (although gentle) humiliations, and sometimes the presence of a stripper.
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom it is now common for the party to last for more than one evening, hence the increasing prevalence of the phrase "stag weekend." A spin off has been the growth of the stag weekend industry in the UK with various companies taking the "hassle" out of the weekend. Stag Do is used more in search engine searches than stag weekends.
In the UK, stag weekend trips are becoming mini-holidays with the groups taking part in various day time activities as well as the expected night out on the town. Popular locations include Brighton, Bournemouth, Nottingham, Edinburgh, Blackpool, Newcastle upon Tyne and London
With the rise of budget airlines, some stags go abroad, with Krakow, Dublin and Riga topping the list, followed by Prague, Amsterdam, Bratislava and Budapest.
Groups of friends attending weekends away in the UK and even into Europe with their best friend leave home on a Friday and embrace two days of fun. The groom who normally is called "the Stag" will have a selection of tasks to complete on the stag weekend. Group activities might include paintball, kart racing, poker parties, quiz machining, and clay pigeon shooting.
United States
In the United States, Las Vegas, South Beach Miami, Chicago, and New Orleans are popular bachelor party destinations; they are also popular wedding locations. Increasingly, "destination bachelor parties" are replacing standard nights out, with Americans traveling to Montreal or Mexico.
Bachelor parties in the US often entail the mass consumption of alcohol, the hiring of a stripper and general rowdiness toward which the bride might not have a positive reaction (especially since the bride is not typically among the invitees). Increasingly, bachelor parties have come to symbolize the last time when the groom is free of the influence of his new wife.
See also
- Bachelorette party
- Bridal shower
- STAG: A Test of Love reality television show about bachelor parties
- Very Bad Things
References
- ^ a b Boyer, David. Bachelor Party Confidential: A Real-Life Peek Behind the Closed-Door Tradition New York: Simon Spotlight Entertainment 2007. ISBN 1416928081
- ^ Austin, Michael. "Bachelor parties skip town." Crain's Chicago Business
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