Pushing through to stag do gold! Written by StagWeb’s Managing Director.
Timely for the Olympics perhaps but the theme of this blog is pushing through and staying committed.
Too many great intentions don’t come to fruition as time and other matters take priority but when it comes to being a bestman the extra effort goes a long and memorable way and it’s genuinely the difference between great bestman and and not. It’s also the difference between a great stag weekend and an average one, a fantastic speech and a fumbled one. In the first instance you’re going large and long for the groom, he’s asked you to ‘reprezent’ after all and so you should, even if you’re of a relaxed disposition this is one of the occasions you should take control. You’re also going to bat for other stags, as well as the wedding party (as far as the speech is concerned – more on that later) and you need to do right by them.
When it comes to organising the stag do going the extra mile involves first accepting the expectations that go with it. Bottom line don’t chance it here, why would you when there’s quality assistance easily at hand. Without getting too serious the celebratory pre-wedding weekend is a window on you, how you feel about the groom and consideration for the other attendees. But honestly don’t worry, even if you’re not a natural organiser it’s nothing you can’t handle, with a bit of prep and the right assistance you can walk it. Take the stag by the horns and get started as early as possible, you’re in pole position from the get go and that usually leads to some fine planning. Truth be told if you keep delaying you’ll probably spend more time and energy putting it off, dreading and avoiding it than it takes to plan something decent.
Making first up decisions with the groom like where you’re going, when and who’ll be getting the coveted invitations is key to achieving early momentum. So take time to get into what the groom wants, and then try and meet his desires with a plan that’s going to suit everybody. And the earlier you start this process, the easier it’s going to be and the more value, better scheduling and rewarding itineraries you’ll realise.
Now you’ve got ideas on what you want, the next stage of pushing through is setting it up. You don’t want to appear all mouth and no trousers, if you’ve got plans in mind … make them happen. Commit to making some decisions and you’re on our way, whether you end up with gold, silver, bronze or worse is up to you. The extra mile here is seeking out quality propositions, we live in challenging economic times and even more reason why good value is absolutely essential. We all know value trumps cheap every time, when you’re in a responsible position like the mighty bestman it isn’t the time to forget that. So seek out the propositions that provide advantages and guarantees, seek out expertise, service, value and benefit. If you wanted a decent return you’d expect to use quality services, you wouldn’t expect to get it for nothing, stag weekends are the same.
And guess what you’re not paying for everything, you’re just sourcing and setting up – so here’s the rule of thumb that you simply have to stick to – source quality and then tell the lads. Make the extra effort to do that and everyone will be happy and privately impressed. They’ll quickly appreciate your reasoning and respect the fact that you’re quality focused. They’ll be less worried and more likely to commit, plus you won’t get your ear bent ever 5 minutes about the weekend’s more obvious shortcomings. Despite the clamour for something cheap the stag party won’t be happy if you sell them short by shaving a couple of quid but end up with a very poor outcome or even worse, put them or their money at risk. You could be putting yourself in a nightmare position, at the very least where you’ll have to cough up loads in drinks and on site extras to keep everyone happy as the rest of the weekend falls apart. You’ll understand that could become very expensive and the few quid you saved by going cheap as possible will be a distant memory.
So when you’ve got a stag do to plan, if you want gold think like an athlete. Plan well, know the goals, invest in good preparation and you’ll be in with a better shout at a (bestman) medal. You might as well be Usain Bolt rather than Useless Bloke!
My advice … talk to StagWeb, you’ll find out why we’re all about the gold standard.
Written by Simon Denning, StagWeb Managing Director.
