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The stag party, as its called in the UK, Ireland, New Zealand and Canada, is a tradition dating back to before records began. The groom will enlist the aid of a close companion to be his best man and it is then up to said companion to organise a no-holds-barred, all-out party for him to celebrate his wedlock. However, different customs are standard in different countries around the world and this article will look at how some of the worlds different cultures celebrate with the groom-to-be before marriage.

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: In Denmark, they call a stag/bachelor party a Polterabend and it will usually stretch across a whole day. To start with, the group will usually meet for breakfast and will then proceed to take part in various day time activities, possibly such as kayak polo or paintball. The evening generally consists of dinner together, and then of course the night out where the large amounts of alcohol will be consumed. Strippers are sometimes included in the last stage of the day and the groom himself often will have no idea of exactly what day the Polterabend will start.

France: The French call the Stag party enterrement de vie de garcon which, literally translated, means burial of life as a young boy, and the same for women, but burial of life as a young woman (enterrement de vie de jeune fille.) Like in most English speaking countries, these celebrations often include large amounts of alcohol consumption and sometimes a stripper.

So, customs for stag/bachelor parties vary from country to country, but they are all based around the same idea, drunken care free behaviour, and quite often, strippers.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, July 12th, 2009 at 8:07 pm and is filed under Travel Tour Guides. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.