Best man duties – The bachelor party part two.

Well the most enjoyable of the best man duties is over and done with. The bachelor party went well and based on the guest of honor and all the other guests had a great time so I will consider it a successful event. Not to say that things ran smoothly because there were a few hick-ups along the way and mainly due to not planning carefully enough and not following my own advice *blush*.

First problem arose the week before the event when booking in for 9 holes of golf at the local golf course. They had competition golf all morning so we could not get a game. No big deal, we decided that we would goto a driving range instead. One that serves a great breakfast too. On the day, we showed up at 8:30am and it was closed and did not look like opening any time soon. Time for plan C. Head to a local cafe for some breakfast instead. Not too exciting but good none the less.

Time to head over to the grooms house for a beer. About half of the guests went over for a beer and to wait for the 11 seat taxi to take us to the marina for the fishing charter. The taxi ride cost about $60 and everyone chipped in so that was good. We got to the marina and loaded up the boats ice box with ice and beer. I handed out the can coolers and everyone loved them (see photo). We then headed out on the bay. The weather was fantastic and we were eager to drop the line in. We fished, ate and drank beers for about 4 hours then headed back in. there were many fish caught but they were all the same (flathead) and the guys running the charter took the fish home for dinner My only complaint for the fishing would be that more food was required for the guests. Other than that it was great!

After fishing we headed off to a bar called the Belgium Beer Cafe which is a huge outdoor beer garden that serves beers from all over Europe. We jumped in taxis to get there and a few guys headed home. As I said in an earlier post, the more places you go, the more people drop off on the way.

Anyway, We got there and the security would not let us in because we didn’t call ahead to request entry for a bachelor party. This is one of the things that I suggested doing at the planning stage but I didn’t do it myself. It took me 30 minutes of pleading with management for them to let us in. Once inside we had a great time. Beer was flowing and so was conversation. We stayed their till sundown and then headed downtown to a nightclub. Again we lost more guests but the main core hung in there. We partied there till the wee hours of the morning and I shall say no more. What happens on a bachelor party stays on a bachelor party

Everyone involved had a great time and we plan on doing the fishing charter again just for fun.

Don’t forget to check out the ultimate bachelor party if you want some more ideas for excellent bachelor parties!

Stay tuned for my next post on best man duties because it I’ll tell you all about the best man speech and post a copy of mine.

Best man duties – Finished the can coolers

Just a quick update on my best man duties. I have finished making the can coolers for the bachelor party. We can’t have our guests having cold hands and warm beer!

I ordered 30 blank can coolers from Mr Stubby for $2.50 each. I then ordered 10 sheets of iron on transfers from ebay at $1 each. Total cost was $85.

I did a design that incorporated the theme (chartered fishing) and a bit of naughty spice t, after all, it is a bachelor party. I could fit 3 of the designs on an A4 sheet of the transfer paper so that would make 30 designs to go on the coolers. There were good instructions on the ebay page on how to iron the transfers on. If you are going to do this, follow these instructions exactly because it is a bit tricky. We had to pull the bottoms out of the coolers so they would lay flat.

They turned out pretty good in the end and it is a cheap item that you can quickly put together to give to each guest for a memento of the day. The design I used is below. Please feel free to take it and use it. I will get a photo of the finished product shortly.

There is quite a bit to do when you are the best man but most of the best man duties are actually fun.

Best man duties – The bachelor party part one.

I’ve just been asked to be best man at my mates wedding so I’m going to blog the best mans duties as they come. The two most important duties are the bachelor party and the best man speech at the wedding.

Traditionally, it is the best man that organises and pays for the party but these days, all the groomsmen help plan and all the guests chip in. One of the first things to do is to find out how much input the groom wants to have. Some want to help with the planning, some just want to show up on the night. If the groom does not want to be involved in the planning give him a chance to tell you and the other groomsmen anything he does NOT want to occur. Let him set some rules if he feels strongly about anything such as strippers etc.

Decide when the party will be. Can I suggest that it is not the night before the wedding. The bride will be furious if the groom is hung over at the wedding.

Next thing to do would be to get together with the other groomsmen for a brainstorming session. grab a sheet of paper and jot down any ideas for the bachelor party. Don’t dismiss any idea, write them ALL down so you can create a shortlist later. We decided that we wanted to do a fun activity in the afternoon then hit a couple of bars that night.

The activities we brainstormed were go-karting, poker, paint-balling, fishing charter, indoor rock climbing and a few other blokey activities. We ended up settling on the fishing charter as the groom had been on one for a bachelor party before and had a blast. After research, I found that for 25 people, it would cost $48 per person for the 4 hour fishing charter and that included all equipment and bait, tuition, BBQ lunch and softdrinks. We can take our own beer on board which is a bonus.

If you plan to go bar hopping, I suggest that you only pick 1 or 2 bars that are fairly close together otherwise the party will get split up as some will want to stay at one bar and some will want to go to the next bar. Remember that some bars won’t want 20 or 30 guys showing up in a big group (without any women) so it might be an idea to phone ahead and check that you are welcome.

OK, so you have the day planned out. Next thing to do is make a guest list. This should really be done by the groom but you can help him with it. It is then the best mans duty to make the party invitation. Try to make the invitation funny or give the party a title. I have title mine “Franks Catch of the Day”. Put the details of the day/night on the invitation but avoid putting strip clubs on it. It is usually assumed that after the bars, guests would head over to the gentleman’s clubs. Send the invitations out at least 4 weeks before the party and ask for a response within 2 weeks.

The bachelor party is now organised in terms of activities, venues and invitations. Now you just need to make sure you have everything you need for the day. Go and buy any beer/liquor that you will need and any other items such as leopard print briefs and handcuffs for the end of the night

If you are still stuck for ideas then Click Here for the ultimate bachelor party!

Part two of this entry will concentrate on what your best man duties will be on the night of the party so stay tuned.