Bachelor and bachelorette party planner: pick the weekend everyone can make
The hardest part of a bachelor or bachelorette party is the date, and it has to be settled before anything gets booked. With WeGoWhen the best man or maid of honour sets a window, sends one link to the group chat, and everyone taps the days they are free. It ranks the weekends and longer stretches the most people can make, and shows who is in each. Free, no sign-up, nothing to install.
Why the date comes first
Flights, a rental house and a block of hotel rooms all need a date, and the cheaper ones go first. So does the group: the longer a stag or hen sits at "sometime in spring?", the more weekends fill up with other people’s weddings. Most of the friction in planning one comes from guessing a date, booking against it, and then finding out two people cannot come.
There is also one person who has to be there. A date that works for nine guests and not for the person getting married is not a date, so check the honoree’s days before anyone else’s.
How to pick the date in four steps
- Set the window, not the options. Something like "any time from March to May, at least six weeks before the wedding". A wide window finds a weekend you would not have thought to propose.
- Ask the honoree to mark their days first. Send them the link before the group. Their days are the frame everything else has to fit inside.
- Send the same link to the group chat. Each person types a name and taps the days they are free. Nobody signs up, gives an email or installs anything, which matters when half the group are friends of friends.
- Read the ranking with the honoree filtered in. Set the minimum length to the trip you want - two days for a weekend, three for a long one. Each row shows the dates, how many people can make all of them, and their names, so you can see at a glance whether the person getting married is in it.
Weekend, long weekend or a week away
Decide the length before you read the results, because it changes the answer. A two-night weekend that ten of twelve can make is usually a better party than a five-night trip abroad that six can. Set the "Min" days box to the shortest trip you would accept and look at what the top rows offer at that length, then raise it and see who drops out.
For a trip abroad, plan further out and use a longer window: people need time to book leave and flights, and a wider window gives the ranking more to work with.
What WeGoWhen does not do
It picks the dates and nothing else. It does not book anything, split costs, build an itinerary or send reminders - nudging the people who have not answered yet still happens in your group chat. Once the dates are fixed, move the rest of the planning to whatever your group already uses.
Questions people ask
How far in advance should you plan a bachelor or bachelorette party?
Settle the date first, and as early as you can: for a weekend away three to four months is comfortable, and for a trip abroad six months gives people time to book leave and flights. WeGoWhen handles a window up to a year long, so you can collect availability before anything else is decided.
Is there an app to pick a bachelor party date without everyone signing up?
Yes. WeGoWhen runs in the browser and nobody needs an account or an email address, including the organiser. Share one link, everyone taps their free days, and it ranks the stretches of days the most people can make.
What if the person getting married cannot make the best dates?
Then they are not the best dates. Each ranked range lists the names of the people who can make all of it, so skip any row the honoree is missing from. Tapping names in the participants list also limits the ranking to just those people.
Can it handle a big group?
One trip holds up to 200 people, and the ranking stays fast at that size. For a large stag or hen it is often worth looking at the core group first by tapping their names, then seeing how many of the wider group fit.