Stag Parties In Different Countries

The celebratory nights out for the bride and groom are tradition dating back so far that we can only speculate as to its origins. Generally speaking, the groom enlists the help of a best man (obviously primarily to perform the best man customs at the wedding) who then traditionally organises a stag party for him. Different cultures however have different takes on the stag/bachelor party.

UK: The British stag party now usually stretches over more than one day, like a weekend or even a week away. A lot of the time the day will be taken up by activities of a laddish nature followed by night merriment and boozing. With cheap airlines on the rise, weeks or weekends away to affordable destinations are becoming more and more common, top of the popular destinations list are Riga, Dublin, Krakow and of course Amsterdam.

United States: In the United States the term stag party will rarely be heard because there it is referred to as a bachelor party and although they include pretty much the same kind of activities as a British stag party, the American version is more symbolic of the grooms last free days without being tied down to a marriage, whereas the British version is more a celebration of the marriage. Popular bachelor party destinations are Miami Beach, New Orleans, Chicago and (it almost goes without saying) Las Vegas.

Australia: In Australia, the celebration is known as a Bucks night and more often than not will feature topless waitresses / a stripper and a poker tournament. A lot of the time the guests of the party will subject the groom to some embarrassing forfeits such as stripping him down to his underwear (or sometimes nothing) and leaving him tied to a lamp post. It is also fairly common for the embarrassment to start early on in the night for the groom as he is often made to dress up like a women or wear a “mankini”.

Canada: In Canada, the celebration is also called a stag party and the most popular Canadian destinations include Montreal, Vancouver, Niagara Falls and Toronto, this is probably down to the amount of strip/lap dancing clubs in these locations. In Canada, the women’s equivalent of this party is sometimes referred to as a stagette, bachelorette or doe party

Denmark: The celebration is called a Polterabend in Denmark and usually a group of friends will meet up for breakfast, and during the day take part in activities like paintball or go-karting or the like, usually followed by dinner in a nice restaurant, and then of course, the night out. The Danish Polterabend is no stranger to strippers who are sometimes included in the last event of the evening, and more often than not the groom himself is not told when exactly the Polterabend will be taking place.

France: The literal translation for what the French call a stag party is burial of the life as a young boy or young girl for bachelorette party. In French it is called enterrement de vie de garcon / jeune fille and as in most English speaking countries, it involves lots of drinking and occasionally a stripper.

So although stag/bachelor parties throughout the world are all based on more or less the same sort of plan, (drinking and strippers) there are differences in the way that these celebrations are carried out between most countries around the world.