A bachelor stag party may involve activities beyond the usual party and social gathering ingredients often drinking alcohol and gambling , such as going to a strip club, hiring a stripper or escort, 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.
The task of organizing a bachelor stag party is often traditionally assigned to a male sibling of the bachelor stag or to the best man. The planned activities of a bachelor stag party are traditionally kept secret from the groom. 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. A tame version is the so-called Stag and Doe party, in which both the bride and groom attend.
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. 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.
With the rise of budget airlines, there is now a growing trend for stags to go abroad, with Krakow, Dublin and Riga topping the list, followed by Prague, Vilnius, Amsterdam, Bratislava and Antwerp. Groups of friends attending weekends away in the UK and even into Europe with their best friend leave home on a Friday and embrace 2 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 include paintball, kart racing, clay pigeon shooting, quad biking, bungee jumping, AK shooting and white water rafting.
