Multi-day benders that deplete your mates’ annual leave and wallets are a no-no. Keep it cheeky, cheap and – crucially – enjoyable

A stag or hen do should be a straightforward, fun night celebrating a good friend moving into a new chapter of their life. Instead, thanks to films such as The Hangover and Bridesmaids, as well as the general Americanisation of what a “bachelor” or “bachelorette” party should be, we’ve ended up with too many overindulgent, wildly inconvenient and quite frankly underwhelming send-offs to our friends who are getting married.

Somewhere along the way, they’ve morphed into three-day tests of stamina and disposable income. Groomsmen bankrupting themselves on long weekends in Vegas that are billed as obligatory for anyone who wants to keep calling themselves a friend. Injuries sustained during ill-advised human pyramids on Spanish beaches. Weddings called off after drunken lapses of judgments in strip clubs. To add insult to injury, in 2023, a survey by Aviva found the average person spends £779 attending a stag or hen in the UK – and that goes up to £1,208 when it’s held abroad. Consequently, they’ve become gruelling and – crucially – not even fun any more.