Trips around the wedding
Planning the bachelor trip
A bachelor trip is a group trip with one person carrying it. The planning is not hard, but it is easy to leave late. Book late and part of the group will not be able to come. Decide the money and the dates first and the rest follows.
AirConxt is our trip planner. It opens in a new tab. Start a wedding plan on OurNave to keep these three trips on the same checklist as the rest of the wedding.
In order
What to decide, in order
Confirm who is running it
The best man, by convention. One person decides and the rest are consulted. A group thread is a good way to collect opinions and a poor way to make a decision.
Ask the groom what he actually wants
How far, how long, how big, and anything he would rather not do. Ask once, early, and plan to the answer.
Set a per person figure before anything else
Say the number to the group before proposing a destination, and make it straightforward for someone to sit this one out. The figure decides where you can go.
Fix the dates
Two options and a deadline to answer beats an open question. Keep it well clear of the wedding week.
Close the guest list
Once the dates are set the list stops moving. Late additions break the lodging count and the per person figure together.
Book lodging, then travel
One place for everyone to sleep sets the group size and the cost per head. Book that, then let people sort their own way there.
Say how money is handled
What is paid up front, what is split, what each person covers, and how it gets settled. Put it in writing with the booking, not afterwards.
Build the itinerary last
One anchor a day. Book anything the whole group has to attend only after the group is confirmed.
Owners
Who does what
OurNave keeps each of these as a task you can assign, so the reminder reaches the person who owns it instead of the couple.
- The best man
- Owns the trip. Dates, budget, list, lodging and the group messages. In OurNave this is a task assigned to him, so the reminder lands on his list rather than the couple's.
- The groom
- Answers the questions and then steps back. He should not be planning his own bachelor trip or fielding every detail.
- The rest of the party
- Answer by the deadline, pay on time, and take one job each. Split across the group it is an afternoon of work.
Timing
When it happens
Everything below is counted back from your wedding date, which is how the OurNave checklist schedules it.
- About five months before the wedding
- Your OurNave checklist raises Plan the bachelor trip here. Assign it to the best man and it moves to his list.
- Within a few weeks of that
- Budget, dates and the guest list settled, and lodging booked.
- The last few weeks
- The itinerary, and the money settled up. Keep the trip clear of the weeks right before the wedding.