Bachelor and bachelorette parties have become synonymous with wild and reckless nights, the details of which are slightly obscured when describing it to significant others later. Movies like Bachelor Party and The Hangover paint the occasion as a shame-inducing free-for-all of alcohol and bawdiness, but it hasn’t always been that way. The origins of bachelor and bachelorette parties are remarkably tame when compared to the ones we know of today, so how did this once-low-key event get transformed into the craziest night of a groom- or bride-to-be’s life?
It Wasn’t Always an Excuse for Excess
Whether it’s called a stag party in Canada and the UK, a bachelor party in the U.S., or a buck’s party in Australia, the general idea behind celebrations for pre-grooms remains the same. A bachelor party marks the rite of passage a man takes from adolescence to becoming a family man. It’s thought to have originated in Sparta during the 5th century BC, when soldiers would get together the night before a fellow fighter’s wedding and toast him at a dinner. It didn’t involve strippers or a weekend trip to Las Vegas—at least, not that we know of. The dinner was simply a way to bond with friends and release some anxiety and nervousness before the wedding.
People aren’t exactly sure when the bachelor party transitioned, but according to an Oakland Tribune article, it may have happened during the late 1800s. Gentlemen of the Victorian period wanted a night to say goodbye to friends who might be too embarrassing to bring over to the house once the wives moved in. That’s not too different from what goes on today, except now the parties are more about having a final send-off for scandalous behavior rather than scandalous friends.
Time magazine lists a 1922 edition of a Scottish publication as the first time the term “bachelor party” was used in relation to a fun event. Since then, it has become the rowdy display of male bonding we know and love (or begrudgingly allow, as the case may be).
