Oh, great minds of the boards, I need your insight...
One of my close friend (a player in my D&D game) is getting married and asked me to be the best man at his wedding. Now as best man, I learned that I have to organize some sort of bachelor party for him before the wedding (this May).
Well, I'm at a lost.
I need some ideas for a bachelor party (activities/things to do) but I don't want anything degrading or ending up at strip club... I want something neat and fun; Something that'll make him say "woah, I can't believe we've done that"...
It could be an activity for a whole day. And I won't say that I have a big buget for this, but don't mind the expense.
Have you had any neat experiences for a party you would like to share with me (just to get my ideas flowing)?
Ultradan
Bachelor Parties are sort of the last Hurrah, the last time a guy can unabashedly hang out with his buddies (including any girl buddies in the group) and do stuff that the bachelor in question wants to do. It should be tailored to his likes. If he wants to play miniture/real golf do it, There's a certain type of restraunt he likes take him to a slightly more upscale version. He likes movies - rent a theater and do your own version of MST3k or if you can find a place that lets you hook up your x-box to a big screen do that (if he likes video games). Is he into theme parks and big roller coasters? Does he like sports? Has he ever wanted to go up in a hot air balloon? Or take a ride in a jet at an airshow? Skies the limit and don't forget to snag some cash from the other guests either. Heck, you could even go boating or fishing if that's what he's in to. If you are tight for funds you could have skip the limo and maybe have one of the other guy play chauffeur (maybe in a nice roomy rental car for that limo smell). You might even coordinate something with the maid of honor so that the two all day parties "accidentally" meet someplace along their respective journeys (probably not the strip club, though that could be funny). ;)
Good luck Mr. Best Man,
GGG
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I need some ideas for a bachelor party (activities/things to do) but I don't want anything degrading or ending up at strip club...
Crap, there go all my ideas. No offense intended, but in my opinion without strippers, porn or something of the sort, it just dosen't even deserve to be called a bachelor party.
Just in case you do go that route, however, remember: any man who brings a camera to a bachelor party can legally be killed and eaten by his fellow party goers. That's a law.
I do have some advice though, regarding the cost. Normally, I believe its tradition for the other party goers to throw in some cash.
I take being a best man very seriously.
Since you're disallowing the depravities of the sex industry (solid choice--when that was once asked of me I've had to bow out of the wedding party altogether) you've opened the door on creating a custom tailored, truly orginal experience for the groom.
Aside from gaming, what else is he into? Perhaps find a way to work his interests into a road trip/vision quest. Rent a suburban and take everyone to a cabin and for hardcore gamer weekend, or just camp, swim, and talk. Drink so much that you wake up in a canoe while he's crying about something happened to him when he was twelve. It's all good.
Unless he's been living with his fiance for a long time, getting married is most likely a turning point in his life, and when navigating other people's turning points I attempt to supply, aside from the raucous laughter and amusement, the opportunity for tender and introspective moments.
So, if you're comfortable with it, let's list his interests here and see what we can come up with.
BTW, the groomsman should at least pay their own way. If one of them doesn't have the funds, solicit the others to help pull his weight. You'll probably endure the brunt of the cost and pay for the transportation and housing expenses, but you shouldn't be paying for their groomsmen's linguini. Groom pays for nothing!
edit: Aberzombie brings up a good point. To some guys it isn't a bachelor party unless strippers and/or hookers are involved. Best to find out a groom's expectations early on because each best man knows what he's capable of supplying.
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Something I tried to organize for my brother was a day at a Paintball field (almost none of us had played). We had planned that sometime near the end of the day we would all turn on the bachelor and try to cover him in paint as a sort of initiation into his new life. Everyone was stoked about it but we got rained out and couldn't get it done before the big day. His band-mates had already taken him on a strip joint tour and I wanted to do something different.
Another thought is maybe have a night at a theme restaurant/show type place like Medievil Times or something similiar if you have one around you. Eat some mutton, watch a joist, hoist a few tankards.
You could do something different and simple like a marathon D&D session with a one shot, or a movie marathon if you don't wanna play, and have Good Drink, some good catered food or make some cool olde style food (talk to Lilith on this one) and just get drunk, eat till you wanna explode and either watch some cool flicks or play all night. Turn it into a sleep-over so no one is driving in an adverse condition. I would love being able to drink and not worry about who is driving/how do I get home.
I will keep this in my head and see if I can come up with more.
FH
He he he, you said "ORGINal".Wait a minute...crap! That isn't even a real word! Ah what the hell, I'm sure there is some kind of sex joke in there somehwere.
Well... there's always taking him to Origins and telling him a dirty joke once there. <:)
EDIT: Oh orgy. Wow... didn't see my own spelling error even when you spelled it out. Derrr.
I like what FH had to offer here.
Getting far away from the daily grind and giving yourself more than day. It allows alcohol to be slept off and it also doubles down on the chance to makes a memorable experience he will never forget. When guys take you out and spend a lot of money on you for a night it means a lot. When they give you a weekend, you feel truly blessed... unless bad things happen during the weekend... then you're suddenly starring in a dark comedy or horror flick.
Thing about strip clubs is... if the groom has never gone to one, well then you've got yourself some kind of experience. But if he's seen his share of funny munny it's just another jaunt.
Here's two potential ways to do a bachelor party:
1. Give them what they think they want, encompassing those activities that they're already comfortable with, ie going to the multiplex, dining at Shvengi's House of Bean Curd, bowling night etc.
2. Give them something that blows their minds that is so far beyond what they thought they wanted or would receive that they are forever in your debt.
Note: #2 can potentially cost three to four times as much as #1. But not necessarily. Some people are enchanted by the simplest of gestures. Just got to know your man is all.
This guy is a straight guy...
He doesn't drink (ever)...
I don't think he (or we)'d have much fun in a strip club...
He loves gaming (video games and RPGs)...
Not much of a sports buff (breathing problems)...
He'd give his left arm to help anyone in need...
I like the idea of doing something completely off-the-wall... Like a sky dive, white water rafting, (or seomething else that I can't put my finger on), something that his new wife won't believe we made him do on that day.
Keep it comming guys, you're a big help!
Ultradan
Sky diving and white water rafting both offer something great... a bonding-in-the-face-of-fear rite of passage.
He will never forget this party, not into old age. Risk death during the day, then roll dice at night and make it all last for three for a weekend or an extended weekend.
If you're looking for something less death defying you can also hike to a low summit (no death by freezing please).
You can certainly stay urban (if you are urban to begin with... I recall you're in Canada but I don't remember where), but if you do, perhaps show him the city he's never seen.
How does your buddy feel about guns?
Lol... We're Canadians. Most of us never even seen a gun before.
Ultradan
Well, I'm not a dude, but here's some things I'd want to do before the big event:
Paintball or Laser Tag. Pretty sure you can find indoor arenas somewhere. Along these same lines, maybe an indoor archery range? That's always good for a hoot. Makes you appreciate the art a lot more.
Rent a really big, high def TV. You know, the ones where the astronauts could see it? (Well, maybe not that big...) If he likes video games, rent this and get a good old fashioned fighting game and duke it out over chips n' salsa. Watch Brotherhood of the Wolf on it.
Go to the arcade. Fist fulla quarters for the win. :D
If you have a Medieval Times-type restaurant in your region (I believe you said you had something of the sort at one point), that could be fun. What would be even funner is if you hired some local stage actors to come in and act out a scene from a favorite adventure. Kind of like a singing telegram, but a hell of a lot better. (Obviously, you'd have to OK it with the restaurant management.)
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Yeah, Paintball last time was a hit!
We knew that he loved such things but never had been playing it. He was very grateful at the end of the day...
We also did Parachute jumping, we managed to get a beamer for video gaming, once we just went into a club and had a lot of fun, we also managed once to contact a very old friend of the husband which he hadn't seen in times... (I can't believe that so many of us are married...you could changes his mind...just kidding...)
Try to think what he likes and haven't done yet or not very often. This way you surely score a hit! The sex-club-thing is not always wanted, and I felt like a farmer-boy going into town (everybody in that club knew that we usually not frequent such establishments - strange feeling!).
A very nice idea once has been:
We took some pictures and fotocopied them a hundred times so that we had about 700 pics (b&w). Than we organized the key to the couple's appartement and hid them EVERYWHERE: in jackets, in cupboards, we but them "deep" into the toiletpaper, under carpets, into gloves, cd-rom, plants, we emptied the cornflakes box and put a photo in the bottom then filled the box again and so on. The marriage has been in 2005 and they still find another picture now and then...
Oh, great minds of the boards, I need your insight...
One of my close friend (a player in my D&D game) is getting married and asked me to be the best man at his wedding. Now as best man, I learned that I have to organize some sort of bachelor party for him before the wedding (this May).
Well, I'm at a lost.
I need some ideas for a bachelor party (activities/things to do) but I don't want anything degrading or ending up at strip club... I want something neat and fun; Something that'll make him say "woah, I can't believe we've done that"...
It could be an activity for a whole day. And I won't say that I have a big buget for this, but don't mind the expense.
Have you had any neat experiences for a party you would like to share with me (just to get my ideas flowing)?
Ultradan
Paintballing in drag. After that you go to a pub and get a little drunk then finish the night off with some late night bowling. During which you arrange a big beary stripper dressed as a viking to come lapdance for your friend.
A day you will never forget. ;)
A few friends and I try to get away once a year. We will rent some canoes (one loaded down with beer and life jacketed coolers), and float down a river. It’s always a blast. You can race each other and yell and compete, or you can just chill out, float down river and drink. If you can go after it’s rained a lot so the river is high and flowing. If you do this it turns into a comedy act. We will flip a couple of canoes, sink them and spend and hour trying to get it back up (we once ripped one in two). Then land somewhere and eat, swim, drink and joke around. If you are brave, you could even try to get a D&D game going after you land somewhere, just make sure you have something water proof to put the gaming gear in. One of the good things about this is you don’t have to be “out doorsy” to do this. I love the woodsman kind of thing, but several of my buddies are very techie, oh God wants that burning ball of light in the sky, why won’t my wireless internet pick up out here in the middle of the woods kind of people. It’s not just for the guys either. You may have female friends that would love to come along. Oooohh if only you could get strippers to go along. Hope this helps.
Fizz
And remember to hire a limo!
A stripper dressed up as Samwise Gamgee? It doesn't get any hotter than that.
Paintball or Laser Tag. Pretty sure you can find indoor arenas somewhere. Along these same lines, maybe an indoor archery range? That's always good for a hoot. Makes you appreciate the art a lot more.
Actually...i've been to three bachelor parties that have done paintball. And even for us older guys (30s) it's a hoot! Our group has only been 3 or 4 times ever, so we had to rent everything. I would absolutely recommend paintball, but make sure you plan the party a few weeks in advance of the wedding...
HAHAHAH, just remembering this gets me chuckling every time...we did a bachelor party the week before my buddy's wedding and he was peeking between a pair of tires or something when he took one from another friend who was in a tree right on top of his bald head...wow, not only did that hurt, but he still had a bruise at the wedding and his wife was none too pleased!
Sorry, getting a bit carried away, but man that was funny.
Paintball is a definate two thumbs up!
As ever,
ACE
Somebody beat me to the skydive idea. I've never really skydived but...there are "indoor skydive" places...verticle wind tunnels where you get all dressed up in the outfits and "fly" without the chance of suffering terminal Sudden Deceleration Trauma. It was a blast and only took a couple of hours. Also the cost was pretty decent, only about $50 per person. If there is anywhere near you that does this, I'd give it a big thumbs up!
When my friend got married a few years ago, they held a paintball party and everyone had a good time. He went to a strip club, but it was pretty much just him and two friends. An arcade/batting cages kind of place might be good if there's one in your area; it may depend on the place, but sometimes they rent out the establishment overnight to people for a 'lock-in' event. You could go gambling at a casino, even, but that may end up being a little too cheesey. Do stuff that he likes: if I were getting married, I would just want to enjoy the things I would be cutting back on from single life, like being able to play video games until 5 AM and things like that.
Personally I would recommend steering away from things he specifically likes to do and does often, and go for things he is not opposed to and has never done. Skydiving and bungee jumping are possibilities, as is horse riding or shooting range...strip clubs are a cliche but how about a masseuse (and I am talking about a real professional one here)?
Come to the Dark Side Ultradan. We have strip...er, I mean "cookies".
I'll never join you!!
You're not my father!!
Ultradan
I've never really skydived but...there are "indoor skydive" places...verticle wind tunnels where you get all dressed up in the outfits and "fly" without the chance of suffe....
In some of the big music clubs over here there are little skydiving machines that you can float around in while your friends dance around watching you! I always wanted to try it out. :)
Come to the Dark Side Ultradan. We have strip...er, I mean "cookies".I'll never join you!!
You're not my father!!
Ultradan
Here is...Cookie. And Candy too. Or would you prefer some Sherry?