So your best mate has finally agreement to sacrifice his freedom, take the plunge and get married. Of course over and above his future happiness there is only one thing on both the grooms and the best man's mind...STAG DO!

These days the weight of expectation on the Best Man to organise a Stag Do, like no other can feel like big pressure. Gone are the days where you would make a handful of phone calls (most of whom you already knew) and arrange to get all your mutual friends together in the pub for a casual few drinks, reminiscent of when you were all 18 years old. No, these days the Stag Do has to be big, bold and unforgettable.

So what to do? There are a number of key points to consider; Group, Location and Costume but above all else there are driven by one thing, budget.

A common misconception is that if you have a low budget then this means that your Stag Do is forced to be mediocre at best, not true! Speaking from personal experience I had the honour of being a best man many years ago and knew that most of the group that were attending were all pretty strapped for cash, myself included. Yet 4 hours in to the Stag Do I could actually hear one of the men shout out in a drunken state that he was having the best day out ever! Yet he had only had 6 half pints of lager. So what did I do?

Being children of the 1980's, we lived in a time where some of the most iconic films were released, including the one and only Indiana Jones Trilogy of which we were all massive fans (who isn't?). For all the critics out there, yes I have completely ignored the 4th Crystal Skull film as its pants, moving on.

So I thought it would be a good idea to organise a Treasure Hunt around Liverpool City Centre. Effectively this involved me making a few trips to Liverpool a couple of weeks before the Stag Do and wandering the streets looking for interesting clues that would lead the lads, donned in full fancy dress costume, along a certain path. This would include the use of a cheap local map (putting my primary school skills to full effect with the use of tea and coffee to stain the paper), road signs, landmarks, points of interest and local history facts that would force them to work as a team and lead them from pub to pub. Another good knock on effect to this Treasure Hunt that wasn't realised at the time was that typically there can be a lot of Stag Do's where you will find that some people don't know each other. So its important to have something for them all to 'do' which forces them to engage each other in conversation. You will also be scoring points with the bride come the wedding when people are a lot more friendly with each other on the big day.

Looking back at what I would done different I would have stuck to only including little old pubs for the simple reason that they would always be more welcoming of your parties arrival as you burst through the doors. Furthermore, I could tell that some of the lads were getting a bit embarrassed in the early hours when we were hitting bars, not pubs, this was having a serious dent in their wallets. So stick to small 'old man' pubs to keep the beer cheap. To keep the costs down even more, not to mention stagger the all day drinking, ensure you follow the golden rule, no more than half a lager per pub. Now we all have that one mate who will say 'bollocks to that' and will get the shots in at round one, my answer to that? Let him get on with it. There is no point having an argument with him about it, the Stag Do is suppose to be a celebration so the last thing we need is a pissed up confrontation. He will probably be on his back come 4pm so just chuck him in the back of a taxi when he looses his ability to walk. Of course if that same friend is the Groom, unfortunately you are going to have to lay down the law early and curb his drinking during the daytime, although I will assume that this is a rarity.

Regardless of what type of party you are organizing one aspect that cannot be overlooked is the Stag Do costume.  Once again this tradition has changed dramatically over the last few years and thankfully this has seen a marked improvement. In days gone by you would all chip in to buy the Groom a woman's dress, lipstick and a set of handcuffs whilst you all scoured the scene looking for a lamppost in a heavy populated area to handcuff him to. Not any more, these days the men prefer to unify and get dressed up together. Dressing up as a group can be a hell of a lot of fun and is sure to draw attention from other people on a day/night out. If your costumes are loud and proud then people will naturally approach the group to ask who the Groom is and will think nothing less of offering their congratulations. Some will ask for a picture with you all, making you local celebrities for the day, who knows you may even go viral and go famous worldwide! #stagdo

There are many companies out there that offer the great ideas for Stag Costumes, some of which are even dedicated to Stag Do Costumes. To name but a few these include; StagSuits, StretchySuits, MorphSuits, Last Night of Freedom and many more. For example Stag Suits are dedicated to producing some of the most outlandish men's patterned suits / costumes on the market with over 25 styles to choose from. These include £50 note Money Suit and Rainbow Suit. Stag Suits even produce a large range of plain coloured suits (including jacket, trousers and tie) which means all Stag Parties are catered to so they can fight it out as to who gets to wear their teams colours!