Modern Bachelor Party Ideas (Gauteng)
For many grooms, one of the most anticipated parts of the wedding festivities is the Bachelor Party – a welcome oasis away from seating plans, flower arrangements, first dances and watching their Fiancé morph from normal chick into Bridezilla!
It’s a little known fact that the tradition of having a Bachelor Party stems from the Spartans, who originated the idea in the 5th century BC. The men would hold a dinner for the groom-to-be on the night before his wedding and the evening would be spent rather enjoyably feasting and toasting.The tradition of having a “bachelor’s dinner” was popular and continued on throughout the ages. It was traditionally arranged and hosted by the groom’s father and involved much of the same toasting and eating that the Spartans had enjoyed.
As with most traditions, it has changed with the times and during the last few decades, the “dinner” was dropped and replaced by “party.” Whilst still a celebration, the evening’s focus turned to that of the groom enjoying a final night of “freedom” before settling down. The arrangements also fell to the Best Man rather than the Father of the Groom. Consequently, the bachelor party became an occasion to do all those things which would be considered taboo after the “I do’s”.
The result of such changes has been that most people upon hearing the term “Bachelors Party” immediately have visions of drunken groups of guys at strip clubs. Many a bride has stressed about what the guys are going to get up to on these “rites of passage”. However, most grooms in this day and age don’t fancy such debaucherous behaviour and while they want to have fun, they’d really prefer to avoid upsetting their fiancés. Thus it’s up to the Best man to plan the party in such a way as to not cross any limits and at the same time not do anything boring.
Luckily, there are some fabulous and different bachelor party ideas that all the guys will enjoy, without having to collaborate on cover stories for the wives for the day after.
Here’s a look at some fun bachelor party packages in Gauteng:
- Acrobranching: Get the testosterone pumping with a fantastic 2 hour obstacle course up in the trees including Zip Lines and Tarzan Jumps.
- Knobkeirie Golf: Novel & fun way to spend the morning, playing with your authentic knobkeirie “club” on a beautiful course in Magaliesberg.
- Road Trip: Choose from a number of fun accommodation packages with or without activities worked in.
- P P P P P Poker Face: Las Vegas Style Gaming Package played in the comfort of your own home, or can be brought out to one of the accommodation venues!
- Feast on Steak: High class private room package at one of Joburg’s premier Steak houses.
- Indoor Beach Volleyball/Dodgeball: Incredible active fun, with an onsite big screen TV and fully stocked bar!
- Party Bus / Mini Bus: Choose from a number of different sized vehicles and options to safely ferry the guys from place to place, without stopping the party!
- Survive “Her” / The Amazing Disgrace Packages: Adventure packages styled on the popular TV series.
- Giant Sumo / Kangaroo / Fat Slapper Wrestling Suits: Hilarious set of giant suits that the guys climb into and wrestle in – guaranteed to be an instant hit and the talk of the party!
- Booze Cruise: Sail off into the sunset at Harties while indulging in a 3 course spit: the perfect way to celebrate!
Whatever you decide to do, make sure the groom is front and centre in your planning. While you want everyone to have a good time, he's the one who really matters.
For more information on these packages and more (go-karting, abseiling, white water rafting etc) go to www.bachelors.itsadate.co.za
Words of Advice & Planning Tips:
Preferably, plan the party at least 2 or 3 weeks before the wedding. You’ll be saving the groom from any embarrassment he might face at the wedding if the party was the night before, e.g. turning up hung over, or with bruises from a more active party (like paintballing). Guys, also let the guests know as far ahead in advance as you can to give the guests a chance to schedule any time off they need to attend (as well as save up if need be).
For the modern Bachelors party, it’s more than acceptable to ask the guys to pay for themselves. Please do, however, consider the relative budgets of the guests. You don’t want most of the groom’s friends to skip the party because they can’t afford to come. Once the plans have been finalized, split the costs equally between everyone going, except for the groom (traditionally, the groom goes free so work out his share and incorporate it into the final cost).
Don’t do anything insanely dangerous (or illegal!) You want to have fun, but you don’t want to risk breaking one of the groom’s limbs. He’ll find it difficult to go scuba diving on his honeymoon with a cast on his leg.
Lastly, remember that marriage does not signal the end of the Groom’s days of strip clubs and bar hopping: he probably grew out of that stage some time ago if he’s been in a serious, committed relationship. But marriage (and eventual parenthood) will leave him less free time to hang with his boys. So instead of viewing a bachelor party as your friend’s last chance for depravity, a party should really serve as a golden opportunity for male bonding, a chance to have some testosterone fuelled fun, and a time to blow off pre-nuptial jitters.
