by Jodi A. Shaw
William and Kate this, Royal Wedding that. Kate Middleton had a Dirty Dancing themed stagette, while Prince William’s bachelor party is rumoured to have had a water theme: speed boats and wakeboarding and a boat-borne pub crawl.
Sounds like fun. But while I doubt Will spent a lot of time worrying what Kate was up to at her hen party, I wonder if Will’s stag gave Kate a royal freak out?
Mention the words “bachelor party” to many a bride-to-be and her body stiffens, her heart quickens, and within seconds she’s laying down the rules and regulations for her guy’s night of fun. I recall seeing an article a few years ago with the no-nonsense thesis: “Don’t let your man’s bachelor party destroy your wedding.” As if we’re our fiancés babysitters.
We women drag (yes, drag) our men to wedding fairs and cake tastings, torture them with endless questions about linens and centerpieces and party favours (questions to which there is likely no correct answer), then shoot down their suggestions and get mad at them when, later, they are less than eager to share their opinions. But let the men find something they can get actually excited about planning — the bachelor party — and watch out.
A co-worker of mine told me about his brother’s bachelor party, held in Los Angeles. “All the women were spazzing because we were leaving the country, like we were trying to hide something. We rented a couple of over-priced hotel rooms, went golfing, toured L.A., drank some beer and went to bed.” Most of the men, he said, received at least two phone calls from their partners per day while they were away. “We had to explain what we were doing, what we were going to do next, and what we thought we would be doing in a few hours. They made it difficult to have fun.”
You could say it’s part of the wedding tradition, the bride losing her shit over her man’s desire to go out and party it up with his guy friends. But it shouldn’t be. More likely than not, he devotes most of his Friday nights to spending time with you and has watched enough chick flicks and taken you out for dinner enough times that he’s earned a night or weekend of guy time. And given that you’re getting married, he’s already committed to spending the rest of his life with you, so really, give the guy a break.
The Bridezilla in you doesn’t take too kindly to his ideas regarding the wedding (which is half his, by the way. And the cotton candy machine he wanted and you vetoed could have been fun). So leave him alone and let him have a party. This isn’t The Hangover. The guys won’t be taking roofies, stealing tigers, or marrying strippers. Obviously, I can’t know this for sure, but I’m reasonably certain that bachelor parties aren’t as reckless and destructive as Hollywood makes them out to be. They certainly aren’t worth getting our panties in a bunch over when there are plenty of other things to stress about.
You know, like seating charts and save-the-date cards.
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