Throwing an awesome bachelor party comes like second nature to some groomsmen, but others struggle with ideas and how to execute them.  It can be a lot of pressure to make this the best party the groom has ever been too The most important thing you need to take into consideration when deciding on the bachelor party plans is to think about what the bachelor wants to do. Every groom wants something different, so here are a few different ideas outside the norm of Vegas that we’ve come up with for a great party that won’t get any of the groomsmen in too much trouble, let alone on the groom.

Rent a lake house. Lake houses are probably the best choice for many reasons; they are inexpensive after splitting the cost between everyone, you can do water sports like ski or inner tube and you can literally do nothing at any time of the day. You can float around in the water with a beer or two, play ping pong on the cool patio by the water (assuming you have the options to rent a house with one of those—in which case you absolutely should) and BBQ every night if you want. You can go into town a couple times, or you don’t have to go anywhere at all. There are also fun activities in most small lake towns, like parasailing or mini-golf, or regular golf if your groom is more into that sort of thing. You can also rent jet skis if you’re feeling the need for more sporty activities. This route is the most relaxing, easy and cheap party to throw.

Camping. Usually I wouldn’t recommend camping to a bunch of guys looking to go party with their friend who’s about to sign a legally binding contract for life with their partner; this is like a trigger for men to do something crazy, as in some pre-marriage celebratory act of sanction. That being said; camping can be dangerous for this reason alone because it’s usually at least 90 miles from the nearest hospital and severely lacks cell phone service. BUT camping is also really fun because most men like being outside, eating with their hands, and shooting things with BB guns. If this sounds like your groom, then this is the trip for him. Instead of going straight tent camping though, it might be safer to stay in a cabin—running water can help with any sort of wound cleaning needed after someone pokes someone else in the eye with a stick during a fake sword fight.

Sports. Sports, yay! If your groom likes to be involved in physical activity instead of just hanging out (or maybe a mix of both, in which case you can go out to a fun bar after one of these excursions), you should organize one of the following activities: paintballing, baseball game, basketball game, golfing, snowboarding/skiing, Nerf ball fighting or really any other sport that he likes to do and the rest of the gang will be into. You can just throw one of these games in if you opt for one of the above activities also. Then, you all can chill and go to a cool bar or club after.  Or you can all go to a professional ball game of your choosing then go out after that. The possibilities are endless!

If you want to break away from the ordinary Vegas bachelor party and do something different that your groom will actually enjoy, with the least possibility for derailment or post-party groom/groomsmen shame, we hope you choose one of the ideas we’ve listed here.  On Thursday we’ll go over how to make your bachelor party vision come to life, so stay tuned!