A very dear friend of mine is finally getting married to the woman he loves this Summer. He’s a bit of a different guy. I met him when we both worked for Monolithic corporation together, then he opted out after a few years, despite a very promising career, so that he could teach high school kids math and travel the world. He’s done some wonders teaching math and computer skills, and spent long stretches of times in foreign lands, teaching English in a remote town in Hungary, several months in Africa, India, etc.
Anyway, his wedding is in Guatemala (just because it would be fun to do) and he was initially reluctant to have a bachelor party. Another friend of ours is trying to coordinate one and we’re looking for fun alternatives to the traditional. It probably won’t involve semi or undressed women; it’s just not his style, or even the style of the guy throwing the party. People will be attending from all different parts of the country, so most everyone is travelling no matter where it is. One suggestion was Las Vegas, where we could gamble, drink, smoke cigars*, talk, whatever. We’re an older crowd, between 35-45.
Any other suggestions or good ideas? Something outdoors might work. We’re targeting May 15 weekend (which pretty much puts me out of ChiDope).
My best friend got married at a “later” age, too. We started out at a Paintball range in the afternoon, basically “playing army.” We all went to our respective homes afterward to get presentable, then met for dinner at a steak place - including SO’s. We abandoned the women to finish the night at a pool hall (one of the yuppie types - clean, good food, lots of tables). It was a daylong thing, a little bit of something for everyone, and very civilized. And fun.
My bachelor party last year was pretty great. There were two women at it, but they were guests, not performers; they were two of my good friends. And why shouldn’t they be there?
We went camping in Graveyard Fields, a beautiful spot in the Appalachian Mountains. They got me drunker than I’ve gotten in a long time, and we ate foot packed in with us and built a campfire and had drunken heart-to-heart conversations.
The next day was hell, but at least the next day wasn’t the wedding: we’d had the foresight to do the bachelor party two days ahead of time, not the day ahead.
They’d have to get me drunker than a skunk to eat that, so you must have been soused.
This one is about a month and a half in front of the actual wedding, so as long as he can be revived by paramedics we should be okay. I think something outdoors would be nice, I also really like rimshotgdansk’s evening out; the pool playing is particularly appealing to me. Sounds a lot like another one I attended in Manhattan. We started out with steaks and beers at a very nice restaurant/Irish bar, then rented out a downstairs private room at Chelsea Billiards (the only way to have alcohol and pool tables in NYC?). We did end up at a strip club at that one, which was mostly a drunken mistake but did have a nice comic effect if not a bit depressing. I later saw the same strip bar in a movie and was amazed at how much better looking the women were on TV… not the junkies we’d had to endure. Bleh! Anyway, we were kicked out for sneaking in a few cases of beer, and ended the evening scarfing down heavenly BLTs from a nearby market.
How about a comedy club for a party. Laughter all around and possibly make arrangements for the comedians to roast your friend from the stage or while he’s on stage.
A guy I worked with told me that he and his wife to be swapped batchelor and hen nights. He went out with her girlfriends and she went out with his friends. Apparently both had great nights out and everyone met up at a club after midnight. Mind you he was the kind of guy who had his first wife as his “best man” so YMMV.
There’s no rule that says Bachelor Party = naked women.
Go to a ball game, go to a race track and bet on horses that remind you of the bride-to-be (sleek, graceful, legs up to here…), or all night poker game?
For my brother’s party, we rented a cabin at Bass Lake (near Yosemite) for the weekend. We went mountain biking each day and then drank, smoked, and gambled at night. Great time except for the fact that his fiance kept calling every couple of hours…but that is another story.
We had a fairly traditional one for my best friend but the set up was pretty cool. We had told him that it was going to be on the 20th but had actually set it up for the 13th. He was at a family barbecue on Saturday afternoon when we rolled up in a rented van with all of us wearing ski masks (his fiance and family were all in on this). We jumped out, tackled him, put a pillow case over his head, handcuffed him, threw him in the van, and whisked him off to the party where a bunch of out of town friends were waiting for him (my friend had been told that the out of town friends weren’t going to be able to make it so it was quite the surprise). Anyways, it was pretty fun.
Paintball is always a good time for a bachelor party. Even better if you make the condemned …er…bachelor wear a blaze orange or stark white shirt over his camo so he can’t hide.
Golf works too (assuming you guys like to golf). I’ve done it where the groom rotates through the foursomes at each hole so everyone gets to play with him and give him a hard time. Drinking bets (i.e. groom has to beat someone in the group or he drinks) make it interesting.
Otherwise, camping (watch out so no one makes you eat foot), gambling, or a Vegas weekend sound great too.
I agree the strip joint thing gets old (not to mention expensive) when you’ve gone to enough bachelor parties, or when you reach a certain age.
