Testimonials. Bachelor parties: an “unforgettable moment” or a “poisoned chalice”? They tell their stories.

With spring, they're making a comeback. Bachelor parties and bachelorette parties have become a well-established ritual to bid farewell to single life. Has this booming tradition evolved over time? Between organizational challenges, budgets, unforgettable memories, and those to be forgotten, our readers shared their experiences.

The testimonies agree on one point: organizing a bachelor or bachelorette party is no easy feat. "I organized one for one of my best friends two years ago, it was quite a challenge to get everyone together and find a weekend together, especially with our current lives, children, work...", lists Clémentine, 37, from Dijon (Côte-d'Or).

A "real headache," admits Séverine, 46, who lives in Kembs, in the Haut-Rhin region. She recently had her first bachelorette party, "better late than never." "I didn't know anything about it. You see it on TV." For her, the hardest part remains agreeing on the program. "We didn't all know each other, between the bride's family and her friends, with all of us having different personalities and lots of ideas," she says, noting in particular the difficulty of agreeing on a budget.

The question of funding is often central to the organization. For the bachelorette party Séverine attended, the budget was around 300 euros per person, making a total budget of 3,600 euros for the group of 12 participants. "That's where things often get stuck. Some people didn't come because the price was too high for them," she says.

For Lisa, from Villeurbanne (Rhône), while the idea of ​​a bachelorette or stag party seems "super nice" on paper, "it's often a poisoned chalice." The thirty-year-old, a witness for one of her best friends, has mixed memories of the event. "It's always tricky when the people organizing it don't know each other, there are differences in budget and ideas... One wanted a grand weekend in Spain, the other a simpler weekend in the countryside. We decided and went to Marseille, but the organization was chaotic," she says. "We still had a good time, but I'm not sure I'd do it again... Or at least in a very small group with close acquaintances!"

In terms of activities, have practices evolved? While it's still not uncommon to see future brides and grooms in disguise on the street taking on improbable challenges, our readers seem to see these weekends more as getaways to "have a good time" with loved ones, as Clémentine from Dijon puts it. "A weekend of restaurants, a trip to the beach, a spa, a massage, and a walk. And above all, no nightclubbing with a stripper, no ridiculous costumes, or humiliating challenges. Fortunately, I feel like those days are over."

Philippe, 58, from Cuzieu (Loire), remembers stag parties "in the 90s" as "unforgettable memories." "Back then, one of the participants made me a small wooden coffin so I could beg during an impromptu recital. The fruits of the generous harvest paid for our morning snack. And of course, the future brides performed the same ritual, with a ban on our groups crossing paths," he says. Séverine remembers organizing, during the trip to Milan, "forfeits for the bride-to-be," then "a treasure hunt in the city," with a photo shoot, restaurant, and night in a hotel. The same program for Anna, 28, from Héricourt (Haute-Saône), but this time in Lisbon.

Aymeric, 32, from Talant (Côte-d'Or), "loved" his bachelor party organized by his brother. "I couldn't see myself getting married without it; it's an important day," he says. It's a way to "turn the page on the young man who is about to become a groom." "My wife, who also had her bachelorette party, loved it just as much," he adds. For him, "without going to extremes," the bachelor or bachelorette party remains a must-do before the wedding. "It's truly an unforgettable moment. When it's well organized."