The “Bachelor Party”
A bachelor party, stag party,
stag night, or stag do (UK, Ireland, and New Zealand), bull’s
party (South Africa), or buck’s party or buck’s night
(Australia) is a party held for a bachelor shortly before he
enters marriage, to make the most
of his final opportunity to engage in activities a new partner might not
approve of, or merely to spend time with his male friends (who are often in his wedding party afterwards).
Events
A bachelor party may involve activities
beyond the usual party and social gathering ingredients (often drinking alcohol and gambling), such as going
to a strip club or hiring a stripper,
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.g. in their student years) to
“more responsible” marital life.
The task of organizing a bachelor party is
often traditionally assigned to a male sibling of the bachelor or to the best man. Otherwise, any
(close and/or reputedly party-minded) male friend will organize it. The planned
activities of a bachelor 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. Formally, a party in honor of the bride-to-be is hosted by others.
A tame version is the so-called Jack & Jill party, in
which both the bride and groom attend.
Bachelor parties in the US often entail the
mass consumption of alcohol, the hiring of exotic dancers / strippers and general
rowdiness toward which the bride might not have a positive reaction (especially
since the bride is not typically among the invitees). Increasingly, bachelor
parties have come to symbolize the last time when the groom is free of the
influence of his new wife.