10 Steps: How to Organize a Stag-Raiser
A Stag-Raiser is a type of Bachelor Party where the focus is on raising money for the groom with a large crowd of friends, family, and everyone in between.
Aside from raising money, the purpose of the Stag-Raiser is to reframe society’s version of the typical Bachelor Party (think the Hangover movie), into something more meaningful, memorable, and helpful to the groom & his pack.
Raise money for the groom, not for bail!
Across nearly every culture on earth, people have been celebrating their last night of freedom for centuries – and all in different ways. Stag Pack was born in Buffalo, NY – “The City of Good Neighbors”, where we grew up with this tradition, recognized its value, and wanted to share it with everyone.
How to Organize a Stag-Raiser:
The success of a Stag-Raiser is determined by a few key things:
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Ticket Sales & Turnout |
Venue | Food/Drink | Transportation |
| This will be the mechanism for you to raise money | This will determine the size of your party | This will entice people to come and spend money | This ensures safe travel to-and-from the party |
Money Manager: Since money from ticket sales will be flowing in prior to your event, it's important to designate someone from the wedding party to collect, hold and dispense this cash at the right times (typically the Best Man).
Money Separation: there are multiple streams of money coming your way, and it's important to keep the sales separate so you can see which aspect of the event made you a profit, broke even, or took a loss (i.e. Entrance ticket sales vs. Raffle ticket sales).
Step-By-Step:
| Step 1: Venue |
Search your local area for bars/venues, and find out which of them can host a party of your desired size. Additionally, find out if the venue offers a food/drink special for your event. Once you've determined your venue (and date), you now know the maximum size of your party. |
| Step 2: Pricing |
Now that you know the cost of venue (along with food/drink), we now need to figure out ticket prices to ensure we can cover the expenses of the event.
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| Step 3: Guest List |
With ticket prices solidified, you can now figure out how many guests you'll need to:
Compile your guest list (and don't be shy), more guests = more ticket sales. Here are some examples of people to invite:
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| Step 4: Awareness | There are multiple ways to spread the word about your event - we recommend choosing the social platform(s) you and your network prefer (i.e. Facebook Event) |
| Step 5: Invitations |
Now that you have the Venue, Date & Guest List, it's time to put together the invitations. These can be home-made via computer/printer, or there are 3rd party services who can also print custom tickets, or provide digital tickets (adds additional cost). Pre-Sale vs. Door Sale:
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| Step 6: Raffle Prizes |
This is the heart-and-soul of a Stag-Raiser. Raffle prizes are offered on stagpack.com, and are curated with a guy-focus, built for Stag-Raisers. You can also add your own prizes! This can be anything from bottles of liquor to signed sports jerseys and even TVs (we've seen it all). Our Recommendations:
A Note on Bringing Your Own Prizes: The purpose of the Stag-Raiser is to band together to help the Groom. With this in mind, we traditionally have each member of the wedding party donate one prize. This helps spread the up-front financial cost amongst multiple people. Donations can be anything from the outside world, or even a Stag Pack Raffle Prize. |
| Step 7: 50/50 Tickets |
50/50 tickets are an excellent way to make money for both the groom and his guests. This is usually a big win for the groom - here's an example:
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| Step 8: Other Supplies |
Other supplies include the following:
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| Step 9: Transportation |
With any party, there are those in your network who will come and celebrate (but leave early), and there are those who are with you until dawn! A Stag-Raiser is a celebration - please drink responsibly and coordinate transportation ahead of time. This will not only save your life (and marriage), but potentially save another life out on the road. Our Recommendations:
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| Step 10: Roles & Responsibilities |
The Groom should have as little responsibility as possible - that is where the Best Man and Groomsmen come in:
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