Two Day Magazine

The Evolution of Stag Night

Two really good ideas to keep in mind when planning a bachelor party:

• Focus on the groom
• Think outside the box

A third one I would add is to keep in mind that this is not your grandfather’s stag night. While strippers can um . . . amplify . . . any bachelor party, quite frankly, if they are the main focus, then there is a distinct lack of imagination going on. Furthermore, a recent poll by ThePlunge.com revealed that 61% of their readers do not want strippers at their bachelor party. Why? ThePlunge thinks it’s because today’s groom is older, wiser and has already drunkenly stumbled through his booze-soaked 20s. A spate of recent items in the news seems to back this research up.

Russell Brand (Get Him To The Greek star) is widely said to be planning a Robin Hood themed fête where there’ll be white water rafting and arrow shooting. Okay, he’s a comedian. . . . And British. But, the trend away from lechery is showing up in the U.S., too. Last month, food writer, Oliver Strand, reported (in the New York Times) on a bachelor do at The Breslin (a meat-centric Manhattan eatery) that included a groom, his friends, and a suckling pig. The only female “entertainment” was the woman who cut and served up the pork.

And recently, my friend Marissa Guggiana (farmer, butcher and author of Primal Cuts: Cooking with America’s Best Butchers) told me about a soiree held at her farm. It was a kind of bachelor butcher bash. While it is clearly not for everyone, it highlights the idea that the bachelor party is a special day for the groom that involves brotherhood and support for a guy as he is about to brave one of life’s more rigorous rites of passage.

Here’s the story. The best man, an obviously thoughtful, creative and, yes, nurturing, friend, gathered 8-10 pals of the groom (a budding foodie) at Marissa’s farm to learn the art of butchery. They began simply by boning a chicken, moved on to a leg of lamb and ended with Marissa and an assistant demonstrating how best to dismantle a pig carcass—skin, snout, tail and all.

“They had been drinking before class,” Marissa said, “so there was an atmosphere of controlled chaos. But, everyone came through mostly unscathed. There was only one cut—very minor—and the camaraderie of two girls teaching a group of guys was amazing fun.”

After class, the men got to grill and eat their homework. Beer drinking and football throwing ensued.

Could a stripper or, say, a dwarf (dressed as Porky Pig perhaps) have enhanced this party? Maybe. But more likely it would have muddled the celebration and made it less personal, less meaningful.

“The groom absolutely loved it,” Marissa told me. “He spent time with his buddies, learned a skill, and ate good food. And, everyone took home lots of meat.”

Maybe the stag night is evolving—at least for some.

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Want more great ideas (that vegetarians and carnivores can both enjoy) for throwing a unique and exciting bachelor party? Read: Christopher Measom’s most recent book Stag Night: a Bachelor’s Last Night of Freedom which is currently on sale in celebration of bachelor party season.