Bachelor & Bachelorette Party Planning: The Complete Checklist

The short version: order decorations, tableware and anything edible two weeks out; games and the gag gift one week out; bake two days before. Budget roughly £4–8 a head for supplies. Everything below is filtered to what’s genuinely in stock today — if you can see it, we can ship it.

Someone’s getting married and the send-off landed on you. It doesn’t need to be wild to be good: it needs a rough plan, food people will actually eat, and a few props that do the work while everyone else relaxes. This is the checklist we’d use ourselves, in the order you’ll need it.

Work backwards from the date

Almost every party that goes sideways does it for the same reason — something arrived late. This timeline avoids it:

• 3–4 weeks out — lock the date, venue and headcount. Everything else scales off the headcount, so don’t order until you have a real number.
• 2 weeks out — decorations, tableware, anything edible. This is the deadline that actually matters: party stock moves hard through wedding season and there is no second run on a discontinued novelty.
• 1 week out — games and the gag gift. Shorter lead time, less to go wrong.
• 2 days out — bake. Novelty moulds want a practice run if you’ve never used one.
• On the day — decorate before anyone arrives. The reveal is most of the fun and it only lands once.

How much to buy

• Straws and shot glasses — headcount plus 20%. They get lost, and people take them home deliberately.
• Balloons — about one pack per ten guests.
• Confetti — one pack per table, not per person.
• Cake — one small-pan cake per person, or one medium as a centrepiece for eight to twelve.
• Games — two, maximum. A third never gets opened.

One thing worth knowing before you shop: our bachelorette range runs to 311 pieces in stock against 13 in the bachelor range. That’s what the industry manufactures, not what we chose to buy. Most of what follows works for either party — it’s simply labelled for one.

Decorations and the reveal

Do this before guests arrive. Confetti, balloons, a piñata and one large ridiculous centrepiece carry a room further than a bigger spend spread thin. Hold the piñata back for later in the night, when the energy dips and you need a reset.

Browse all 311 party supplies →

Baking: the cake pans are the sleeper hit

Consistently the most fun part of a hen do, and the most underestimated. The novelty pans are disposable and come in packs, so nothing needs scrubbing afterwards and everyone can take one home.

Size is the decision people get wrong. The small pack of 6 is right for individual servings; medium, pack of 2 suits a table centrepiece; large, pack of 2 is a showpiece you’ll be carrying carefully. Use a standard boxed mix, grease properly — novelty moulds have far more corners to stick in than a round tin — and let it cool completely before turning out or you’ll lose the shape. Two days ahead at the latest.

If anyone’s catering for allergies, do the baking yourself rather than buying pre-made novelty sweets: the imported confectionery in this category rarely carries full UK-style allergen labelling, and we’d rather say so than have you guess.

Browse all party supplies →

Sweets, gummies and edible gags

Cheap, disposable and reliably funny. Raid this for table scatter, party-bag filler and the dare forfeits nobody planned for. Nobody’s keeping it, which is exactly the point.

Browse all 61 candy and novelty food items →

Straws, shot glasses and cups

The best value on this page. Novelty straws and shot glasses get used all night, appear in every photo, and cost less than the decorations they sit next to. Buy more than your headcount.

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Games people actually finish

One good game pulls the quiet guests in — that’s the entire job. Play it early, before anyone’s too far gone to read the instructions. Look for short rounds and no setup; anything with a rulebook stays in the box.

Browse all 67 party games →

Sashes, pasties and things to wear

More of a hen-do staple, though the rules are yours. Pasties are the low-commitment choice: they work over or under an outfit, cost little, and survive a long night better than most costume pieces.

Browse all 237 pasties →

The gag gift for the guest of honour

The one present the whole room watches get opened, so choose it deliberately. Funny first — keychains, signs, inflatables, general nonsense. Read the room on how far to go, and save anything genuinely intimate for a quieter moment rather than the group table. A gift that embarrasses rather than amuses is the one people remember for the wrong reason.

Browse all 276 novelties →

Something that outlasts the hangover

If you’d rather give the couple something they’ll still own next year, our Best Couples Toys guide is built on live stock and honest specs, and the Date Night Kit is a ready-made set if you’d rather not assemble one. Both sit between a joke and a real present, which is usually the right register for a stag or hen do.

Discretion, delivery and the bit nobody asks about

Party supplies get shipped to the wrong house on purpose more often than any other category we sell, and to workplaces more often than you’d think. Everything leaves here in plain, unbranded outer packaging, and the billing descriptor doesn’t name the shop — so neither the parcel nor the statement gives the surprise away. If it’s going to a shared house or an office, order to a named person and give them a heads-up.

FAQ

How far in advance should I order for a bachelor or bachelorette party?

Two weeks for decorations, tableware and edible items; one week for games and the gag gift. Party novelty stock sells through quickly in wedding season and discontinued lines don’t get restocked, so ordering earlier is the single easiest way to avoid disappointment.

How many novelty straws and shot glasses should I buy?

Your headcount plus about 20%. They get mislaid during the night and guests take them home on purpose, so running short is far more common than over-ordering.

What size novelty cake pan do I need?

The small pack of 6 gives individual servings; the medium pack of 2 works as a table centrepiece for eight to twelve people; the large pack of 2 is a showpiece. All are disposable, so there’s no washing up.

Do novelty cake pans need any special preparation?

Grease them thoroughly — novelty shapes have many more corners to stick in than a round tin — use a standard boxed mix, and let the cake cool completely before turning it out or it will lose its shape. Bake no later than two days before.

Will the packaging make it obvious what’s inside?

No. Orders ship in plain, unbranded outer packaging and the billing descriptor doesn’t name the shop. Nothing on the parcel or the statement identifies the contents.

Do you stock as much for bachelor parties as bachelorette parties?

No, and we’d rather be straight about it: there are 311 bachelorette items in stock against 13 bachelor-specific ones. That reflects what manufacturers produce rather than our buying. Most decorations, games, tableware and novelties in this guide suit either party regardless of how they’re labelled.

Are the novelty sweets suitable for guests with allergies?

Treat them as unsuitable unless you can read the label yourself. Imported novelty confectionery often lacks full allergen labelling, so if you’re catering for an allergy, bake it yourself using the pans above.

How we chose what’s on this page

Every grid above is generated live from stock, not hand-picked and left to rot: products appear only while they’re genuinely in stock, ordered by real sales rank, and disappear the moment they sell out. Nothing on this page is a paid placement — we don’t take them. Where our range is thin, we say so rather than padding the list. You can read the full editorial standards we hold ourselves to, including how we handle claims we can’t verify.

Next: the full party range, the Guide Library, or the best sellers.