Posted by
James Trenchard
When To Plan A Stag Weekend
For all stag weekends across the UK, having a plan in place is your best shot at making it a weekend to remember. As well as where to go, what to do and who to invite, you are best advised to think about when to go on the stag weekend. Planning a stag weekend for a date that everyone can attend is a key aspect, but there are plenty of other timing-related issues to consider.
If you read this and think that we're just stating the obvious then you're probably already at the point where you should just give us a call and get everything underway. If you read on to find that there are actually ideas you'd not considered, you might also want to have a look at our other stag do blog posts to see if there are any other pointers we can give you.
Now let's crack on with the time considerations for planning a stag weekend, to leave you with plenty to spare!
- Get an idea of the preferred stag do date(s) as soon as you can -
The Wedding Date
With stag weekends generally being before a wedding, planning the stag do before the big day leaves a fairly large amount of time open to suggestion. A good time for a stag weekend is around about a month before the groom-to-be says 'I do'. This leaves enough time for everyone to recover, let their livers have a bit of a break, but also means that all of the things that happen will still be fresh enough to act as a point of conversation for all who attended.
If you're having to get something sorted at the absolute last minute, really try to not go TOO big if it's, say, a week before the wedding day. Even if the activities you're doing aren't dangerous, you have to think if it's worth bruising the 'man of the hour' and getting a right royal rollicking from his wife-to-be.
With regards to the points above, hopefully you are reading this at least six months before, as this should give you just about enough time to organise an amazing stag do. Now that may sound like a long time in advance but if you want to get your first choice for activities, stag do accommodation and generally make sure that everything is top notch, at least six months is advisable.
Don't forget, this includes rounding up the guest list, setting an exact date and then booking everything up. If you're planning to do the stag do a month before the wedding then this really only gives you a few months of actual planning as the final balances for everything are commonly requested at around 4-6 weeks before you are set to go.
If you're a bit stuck on the best process for planning a stag do weekend then you could benefit from taking a look at our ideas on how to plan a stag do.
Stag Do Activities
Picking the best stag do activities should be easy and to a certain point it is. The best way of getting the stag weekend activities which you'd all like, as we've already said, is to book them in plenty of time. If you leave planning everything until too late, you will likely miss out on doing everything you want to do. Take a look at the stag do activities we offer to see what you like the look of and then you might want to give us a shout to get the ball rolling. You're possibly planning on looking to do activities in the late morning to early afternoon so that you can have a few drinks the night before, but guess what... so are a lot of other stag groups. If you get on with sorting it now, it's not something which will need addressing and you can cruise through the weekend just as you planned.
It's definitely worth thinking about the time of year that you're going. Some stag do activities are closed over winter due to the weather, so it may be worth double checking if what you're looking to do is possible before telling the group you've sorted it. It is most common for stag weekends to run in the spring/summer but if not, have a look at out winter stag do ideas and you may just be inspired.
On a final point, it's worth checking that the activities you're after can be run in the stag do destination of your choice. We've got a great article on the best stag do destinations if you're not yet sure.
- Don't leave the stag weekend activities to chance -
School Holidays
If you're considering the stag weekend to take place during school holidays then we would advise that it's not the best time to plan a stag do for. Generally, costs will be higher, places will be busier and you'll inevitably find that more children are out in public. IF you can, try not to book a stag do during any kind of school holiday.
That being said, if it's out of the question (e.g you're all teachers and weekends are for marking) you can still get some good deals, but make sure to book even further ahead so that you don't wind up being suckered into paying over the odds and emptying your life's savings for one weekend of fun. Booking (or at least starting to look at) your stag weekends plans is even more important if you have to plan it for any school holidays.
National Holidays
A really popular choice for stag weekends is to go over a weekend of a bank holiday. It's so popular because it means you can usually have an extra day for the weekend, therefore maximising your stag weekend. It works really well for a stag do canal boat weekend as it gives you more cruising time and normally boats are hired out from Friday to Monday anyway, so you're getting your full money's worth.
Having the extra day eases travel pressures, means you don't feel the need to cram everything into one (or two) days and will just calm everything down a bit. It should also mean you don't need to book any extra time off work as you could leave after work on Friday and still have 2 whole days of fun. A lot of people have bank holidays off anyway, so it all fits together quite nicely.
Being a bank holiday may increase prices slightly (mainly for stag do accommodation), so it's something to discuss with the group, to make sure that a bank holiday weekend is the best choice for when to plan the stag do for.
If you're unsure of the closest banks holiday to the wedding date, have a look here to see when you might utilise a bank holiday weekend.
Seasons
Depending on what time of year the wedding is set for, the stag do will probably be within the same season. This does impact on your ability to plan when the stag do should be, but there are still some pointers to... well, point out to you.
Firstly, possibly the most obvious thing about seasons is that the weather can vary from season to season, so make sure to choose activities that are going to go down well with everyone. Whilst a stag do canoeing and bushcraft trip in the winter may go down well with some, others may see no point in freezing their knackers off to show support of the stag handing his over to his future wife.
Something slightly less obvious is the fact that many stag do activity centres shut down some or all of their activities between late autumn/early winter until early spring. So, certain activities, such as amazing off road buggies might not be running if you book the stag weekend for too early in the year.
There are absolutely LOADS of great stag weekend activities to consider whatever time of year you're looking at sorting the stag do for, so you can always find something for the group to enjoy.
If you're looking at a summer stag do, take a look here at some of the top summer stag do activity ideas.
- Choose a time of year when you can do exactly what the stag wants -
Planning Prevents Poor Performance
There's not all that much more to say, other than imparting our final pearls of wisdom upon your head. Planning a stag do can be a bit of a task on your own, so make sure to get everything started off sooner than you think you should. This way, you can start to sort out any stragglers at any early stage (trust us, there are stragglers extraordinarily often) and get plans into place well in advance so that you can sort out any money which needs to be collected/paid and hit the deadlines.
On this note, finances may be an issue for some people so giving everyone plenty of time to save up is well worth it.
Finally we're reiterating the point, but get in nice and early and you'll more than likely get exactly what you're after, from accommodation to activities and beyond. IF you leave everything too late, you could wind up missing out on the perfect stag do activities, with timings that don't flow from one to the other and generally a bit more of a hectic weekend when you're there.
If you're looking for general stag do ideas, it might be worth taking a quick look at our article on simple stag do ideas to see if we can help to unscramble your brain.
To summarise, deciding when to plan the stag do is an important part of a successful stag do weekend and here are the most important things to consider:
- The Wedding Date
- The Stag Do Activities That Are Available
- School Holidays
- National Holidays
- Embrace The Season
- Planning Prevents Poor Performance
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