How to throw a bachelor party… For the love of God start planning it before you start drinking.

How to throw a bachelor party… For the love of God start planning it before you start drinking.

So I just recently got engaged. On top of pondering my own perfect bachelor party, I have been in charge of 2 bachelor parties, both of which went without a hitch... Both figuratively and literally… No one got drunkenly, “Hangover movie” married on either Bachelor party. But I learned some lessons that can be passed on to future Bachelor parties for efficiency.

1   1.) Put someone in charge. Pick someone who is organized, straight forward and who is up for the task; this may or may not be the Best Man. If you are staying local and the best man is from out of state, he most likely isn’t as familiar with the locations, directions, trends or local night life as someone else in the bachelor party. Make sure the person in charge is not scared to make a decision or take charge because odds are the group leader will most likely be the final voice on most decisions.

     2.) Ask what the groom wants and make a plan. Give the groom the chance to at least design the cornerstone of the weekend, and then make a plan to fill in the rest. If the Groom wants a relaxed golfing weekend, set up the weekend around golf with a few nights out. Likewise if the Groom wants a crazy, end all be all party… Grab some blow-up dolls, a few strippers, a case of penicillin and go to town. At the end of the day, letting the groom build the cornerstone of his last hoorah will allow him to get what he wants out of the party while the rest of his friends use it as an excuse to act like wild, adolescent assholes away from their significant others.

     3.) Give the group a voice. Create a Facebook page, an e-mail feed or a group text message feed. My choice would be a Facebook page; almost everyone has it and you can make it private, e-mails could get sent to spam and no one wants their phone going off every 5 seconds at work. The only downfall to a Facebook page are those “I’m too cool for Facebook” people that you have to contact separately to keep them in the loop… If there are too many of those, the other 2 routes may be better. Use the groups to communicate, vote and make decisions so that you can get some sort of itinerary set up. You can also ask the group for any hook-ups in the area; someone who can get in to a club for free, discounted drinks, discounted rooms or car rentals… you never know who in the group knows until you ask.

     4.) Get a payment app. Everyone paying up front is awesome, but something always pops up that the group needs to pay for and people always “need to go to the bank” because they didn’t bring enough cash. Use an app like Venmo or Chase quick pay and make sure everyone has it set up before the trip. Venmo is great because people can write descriptions of the payment to keep everything organized and remember who paid (i.e. dinner, hotel room or strippers). The worst thing in the world is being the person collecting money because you put everything on your card and people “forgetting” to pay you.

    5.)  Have a good time. Sounds easy enough right? Just make sure people are comfortable with what’s going on. This trip is all about the groom, so if he doesn't feel comfortable getting a lap dance, find a “no touch” strip club or sit away from the stage and enjoy the view… the rest of the heathen friends will be sure to spend all of their money on the back room delights if they choose to. Make sure to casually mention your with a bachelor party to the server or bartender (don't be all in your face with it, night life people hate that) and you may score a round of shots or get some good insight on where to go.

Plan the trip according to the group’s specs and you’ll be sure to have a good time. Keep the pictures to a minimum (don't agree to delete them at the end, that shit never happens) and for God’s sake don’t check in to places on social media… You’re just asking for a pre-wedding break-up.