Woman Says That The Only Appropriate Bachelor Party For Her Fiancé (And All Men) Is Going Camping In The Woods

Are traditional bachelor parties becoming a thing of the past? Many people seem to think so, as both men and women are less attracted to the idea of spending their prenuptial night filled with debauchery.

Meryl Carlton, a 24-year-old, has made her views clear on the video-sharing app TikTok. She believes the ideal bachelor party for her future husband, and all men for that matter, should entail something more wholesome and meaningful. And she is not alone.

She said that the only appropriate bachelor party is going camping in the woods.

"I already told my fiancé, like, no strippers at the bachelor party. Like, I'm not about it," Meryl declared. 

She continued to elaborate her thoughts, underscoring her vehement opposition to the norm. She joked as she imagined a hypothetical situation where her boundaries were crossed.

"I'm so petty that I would pay the stripper however much money she would like to charge me to wear my dress and walk down the aisle," she said. 

Instead, what would she rather her husband-to-be do with his friends before their big day? Well, she shared her vision of an ideal bachelor party. It's a vision that contrasts sharply with the conventional strippers and heavy drinking image, leaning towards camaraderie and adventure.

"I really feel like the only appropriate bachelor party is, like, going camping in the woods. You know, like... guys just being dudes together, catching their dinner, cooking it over the fire, eating baked beans out of a can. You know, like, go chop logs or build furniture or something," she explained. 

Her sentiment aligns with the changing attitudes toward bachelor and bachelorette parties.

A 2019 Bloomberg article discussed the "death" of bachelor and bachelorette parties. More and more people are seeking to make their last hurrah before marital life more meaningful.

Photo: Shutterstock via Andrey_Popov

Litty Samuel, an executive producer at Meredith Corp. in New York, chose to forego a typical bachelorette party in favor of a four-day trip to Iceland with her friends.

"As I grew older, I partied less and less," she told Bloomberg. "The more I thought about it, I didn't know if I want to put on a little dress and go out and wear a bunch of plastic penises around my neck. If I could get a group of girlfriends together, I wanted to hike and experience nature with them instead."

A similar trend was observed in a 2017 Vice article that highlighted two men who decided to eschew the typical bachelor party.

Brian Cook, who got married in 2015, reflected on his more relaxed bachelor party. "I was just trying to spend time with my friends. If you're going to a strip club, you're not really talking to people. You're sitting there and spending a lot of money," Cook said. 

Instead, he envisioned the party as a reunion, as their friends had spread out across the country after college. They opted for a casual dinner, some gambling, and drinks back at the hotel suite. While he understood when some of his friends chose to visit a strip club, Cook stated, "It's kind of a cultural expectation, which is why I think some guys were like, 'Oh, we'll go do that.'"

Echoing Cook's sentiment, 24-year-old Drew Lamb also moved away from the typical bachelor party blueprint for his celebration in a Nashville cabin. "I remember one of our buddies asking, 'Oh shoot, do we have to make sure there's a stripper?'" he said.

But that idea was quickly dismissed. Instead, they hiked through a state park, had a cookout, smoked cigars, and fell asleep after drinking. Lamb viewed the decision to abstain from involving a stripper in the celebrations as simple, admitting the ethical implications just made it uncomfortable.

Data shows that these men aren't alone in their desire for a non-traditional bachelor party.

According to a 2022 OnePoll survey for CheapCarribean, the shifting attitude towards traditional bachelor and bachelorette parties might be more widespread than previously thought. 

The survey revealed that one-third of all respondents are tired of the cliché trips to gentleman's clubs, with the majority against it being women. One-quarter of men and nearly half of women are no longer interested in going to gentleman's clubs for bachelor parties.

This trend indicates a shift in preferences, with many people seeking more personal and memorable experiences in their pre-marital celebrations. 

Ethan Cotler is a writer and frequent contributor to YourTango living in Boston. His writing covers entertainment, news, and human interest stories.