Party animals

by Sarah Modlock

27 April 2005

Receiving a wedding invitation should raise a smile, not an overdraft. But these days it's likely to involve a four-figure sum and a trip to an eastern European fleshpot. And that's just the girls. Stag and hen nights have become weekends and even whole weeks of debauchery and indulgence. Prolonging the 'last night of freedom' maximises fun. And alcohol poisoning. But apart from a killer hangover, the morning after the week before now delivers a big bill.

With the wedding season fast approaching, new research from Egg Insure estimates that some one in three stags and hens will head abroad, spending around £550 each. One in 10 party animals will blow more than £1,000. Top destinations over the last five years are Spain, Amsterdam, France, Ireland and the Czech Republic.

More than 3.3 million Britons will attend a hen or stag night this year according to Morgan Stanley bank. Not surprisingly, food and drink will be the most expensive part of any celebration, with men spending an average of £112 - twice as much as women. 'It seems that the days of saying goodbye to single life over a couple of beers in the local pub may have come to an end,' says Morgan Stanley's Patrick Muir. 'The modern hen and stag experience has evolved into a costly affair. Best men and bridesmaids have a minefield of options available and our research shows the ex-Soviet Bloc countries now rival their Western neighbours in terms of cost,' he explains. Morgan Stanley's research - a tough job but someone had to do it - shows that hens and stags in Prague will pay about 46p for a pint in one of the city's bars, whilst a glass of wine will cost 72p. Amsterdam was most expensive for a pint at £2.50 and glass of wine was £1.54.

Big groups heading on big trips require excellent planning skills - not something that boys are known for unless they are in the army. But thinking ahead can help avoid unnecessary costs. Friends of mine spent a long stag weekend at the Munich Beer Festival last year. The best man booked plane tickets and a hotel room for the groom and himself but by the time he sent the details round to the rest of the stags, the hotel was full and the flight prices had shot up. Not only did the boys resent spending beer money on the extra air fare, they were scattered in hotels over different parts of the city which dented the group spirit a little as their taxis headed off in different directions each night.

For richer for poorer

The competition to organise the best and most memorable event seems to be fierce among boys. Every best man wants his golfing-drinking-belly-dancing extravaganza to be the most fun any stag has had. Elsewhere in the forest, the hens just want to have fun. With no best man under pressure to deliver, girls don't feel the need to constantly up the anti. But both sexes can be guilty of overlooking the financial constraints that many people are under. It's incredibly hard to own up to being skint or miss out on an event which is talked about for years after. But if you're honest about your limited budget, you might find that others are relieved, too.

It seems the older we get the bigger the pre-nuptial festivities become. I suspect this has a lot to do with the number of partygoers who are already married and want to make the most of a rare night or five away from children or 'the old ball and chain'. Has anyone else noticed the irony of men and women congratulating themselves on getting 'permission' to go out and play or persuading their other half to babysit their own children all in the name of celebrating a forthcoming marriage? In itself, this often makes longer or more exotic trips harder to justify. Apart from the time off work and the chance to escape, partners need to justify spending a pile of cash on a holiday without their family. For either sex, persuading your other half to look after the children while you disappear off to slip a week's wages into a stripper's thong in Las Vegas can't be easy. Never will your hangover be met with less sympathy.

For around one in 10 fun-lovers, a hangover is the least of their worries when they end up in hospital. The same applies to the one in 20 who wake up in a police cell. Needless to say, it's the chaps who are far more likely to end up locked up or in plaster according to Egg. This is not all down to fights and bad behaviour though - the rise of risky stag activities such as paint-balling, quad-biking or go-karting increase the potential for accidents. After all, the worst thing that can happen to a girl at a spa is a smudged pedicure.

Almost one in five will lose valuables or have items like purses, wallets and mobile phones stolen. Perhaps they're better at letting their hair down but men do appear to be the most accident prone whilst 'on tour' with four times as many stags losing personal items as hens, and twice as many being victims of theft. So before you head off to Uzbekistan with L-Plates and an inflatable sheep, get some travel insurance. 'In a high spirited environment, involving alcohol, people can often be careless,' says Andy Deller of Egg. 'Losing possessions, becoming a victim of crime, or sustaining an injury can spoil the pre-wedding experience. Taking out travel insurance can help avoid the nasty shock of returning home to substantial medical bills, or the prospect of paying for valuable items that have been lost or stolen.'

One groom who broke his leg on a foreign stag weekend had to be specially flown home in first class. He then hobbled down the aisle on crutches and the couple had to cancel their honeymoon. Luckily, they had plenty of insurance. And a great story to tell their grandchildren.