Bachelor party

What it is

The custom marks the end of single life for a man about to marry. In the United States the usual phrase is bachelor party. Britain, Ireland and the Commonwealth say stag night, stag do or stag weekend, and Australia and Canada sometimes say buck's night. The woman's equivalent is the bachelorette party, or hen night in Britain and Ireland. Friends or family do most of the organising, and the guests are usually men. Some groups stage one evening out, others a whole weekend away. In Canada, a couple may instead hold a stag and doe, where bride and groom are both present and money is raised for the wedding.

Origins and history

Ancient Spartans are said to have given a dinner and raised toasts for a groom on his last night as an unmarried man. That is the oldest forerunner recorded. Written Western references appear from the 19th century, when stag nights took the form of a formal banquet hosted by the groom's father, with a toast to both bride and groom. In 1896, a dinner thrown in New York for his brother by a grandson of the showman P. T. Barnum ended in a police raid and a public hearing. The word bachelor began as a term for a young knight in training, and by Chaucer's time meant an unmarried man. The phrase bachelor party reached print in 1922.

How it is kept

The evening or weekend is normally arranged by the groom's friends, sometimes with family help. A traditional British or Irish stag night can run to more than one evening, and the trip is often planned as a short holiday, with daytime activities and a night out. Pranks have long been part of these parties. In South Africa the event is a surprise, hidden from the groom and held a day or two before the wedding, and relatives and friends beyond the wedding party may join. Swedish groups traditionally start with a mock kidnapping and then set the groom tasks that may embarrass him.

Around the world

In Germany the send-off for a bachelor is the Junggesellenabschied. The couple also share a Polterabend on the evening before the wedding, when guests smash old china and earthenware to bring luck, a custom said to reach back to pre-Christian times. In France and Quebec the party is called enterrement de vie de garçon, the burial of bachelor life. Israel knows it as mesibat ravakim. In Manitoba a public fund-raising social often replaces the stag and doe. American parties are pictured with heavy drinking and hired dancers, and since the 1980s some groups have travelled abroad.

Food and drink

Eating and drinking run through these gatherings. A braai is often part of a bachelor party in South Africa. At a Manitoba social, a buffet of regional snacks called midnight lunch is served across the evening, next to a cash bar and a silent auction. In 1830s Lyon, young men dined at a restaurant in the Charpennes district on a dish of very large dumplings. Swedish Svensexa began as a late supper with drinks and snacks from six o'clock. Alcohol is usually the main feature of the later hours.

How Bachelor party is kept

Friends of the groom take charge of planning, sometimes with family help. The event runs from a single dinner to a long weekend away. British and Irish parties may last more than one night and mix daytime activities with a pub crawl. South African groups keep the date secret from the groom and hold it a day or two before the wedding. Swedish parties traditionally open with a mock kidnapping and then set the groom playful tasks. Canadian trips may head to a cottage or a city, or occasionally to Las Vegas, and the plan is often hidden. The night usually ends with heavy drinking.

When and where

It falls shortly before a wedding. British, Irish, American, Canadian and German parties are usually held days or weeks ahead. In South Africa it is typically a day or two before. Swedish Svensexa parties are deliberately not the night before the wedding, but a few weekends earlier.

The custom is kept across the United States, Britain, Ireland, Canada, Germany, South Africa and Sweden, and among Israeli and French-speaking groups. British stag weekends travel most often to Kraków, Dublin and Riga, followed by Prague, Amsterdam, Bratislava and Budapest. Americans favour Las Vegas, Miami and Nashville, or Mexico abroad.

What Bachelor party means

For the person at the centre, the party marks a crossing: the last stretch of single life before marriage. That meaning shows in the French name, which speaks of burying bachelor days, and in the American idea that this is the final time the groom is free of a partner's influence. For the friends who arrange it, the occasion is a shared send-off and a chance to bond. Breaking crockery at a German Polterabend carries another wish, that luck follow the couple into their marriage.

Questions people ask about Bachelor party

See also

Islamic marriageThe sacred contract, agreement and wedding celebration forming an Islamic marriageLoboloA customary practice in Southern Africa where the groom's family provides assets to the bride's family.Rite of passageA ceremony that marks leaving one group and entering another, with a new statusHandfastingA couple's promise made with joined or bound hands, kept from betrothal to wedding

Good reading and sources

• Bachelor party on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-05.