Stag & hen do cost calculator
What is this actually going to cost a head?
The question everyone asks in the group chat, and nobody wants to answer. Put the weekend in below and get a per-head figure, a full breakdown, and the bit most people forget — the stag’s or bride’s share, split between everyone else.
Free essentials · iPhone & Android · Or try it on the web
Per person — change anything you already know
Cost per head
£398
Realistically somewhere between £319 and £498 once the weekend actually happens.
- Travel
- £120
- Accommodation (2 × £35)
- £70
- Food, drinks & nights out (2 × £45)
- £90
- Activities
- £70
- Extras (shirts, decorations, gifts)
- £15
- Each person’s own costs
- £365
- Split of the stag’s share (11 paying)
- £33
- Whole group
- £4,380
Share one trip, keep the running total honest as people pay in.
Estimates only, in pounds, based on typical UK group-trip costs — not quotes. Prices swing hugely with dates, city and how heavy the nights out are, so treat this as a starting point for the conversation and put your own numbers in where you know them.
How to work out a stag or hen do budget
Almost every stag and hen do that goes over budget does so for the same three reasons, and all three are avoidable if you deal with them before anything is booked.
The guest of honour’s share.The group traditionally covers the stag or the bride, which means their travel, bed and activities get divided between everyone else. On a group of twelve that quietly adds about a tenth again to each person’s bill. It is the single most common gap between the number people agreed and the number they end up paying, so build it in from the first message rather than discovering it a fortnight before you fly.
The nights out. Flights and accommodation are the numbers everyone fixates on because they get booked first and arrive as a confirmation email. But on a two-night weekend, food, bars and taxis routinely come to as much as the bed did — and unlike the flights, nobody is tracking them. Give the spending line a realistic number up front instead of treating it as whatever is left over.
Agreeing the number after booking. Set the per-head figure first and fit the weekend to it. Picking the destination first and working out the cost afterwards leaves you asking ten people for more money, which is the conversation that sinks the mood before anyone has packed.
One more practical point: not everyone will be able to afford the same weekend, and the people for whom it is a stretch are rarely the ones who say so in the group chat. A per-head figure circulated early gives them a chance to opt into part of the trip, or out of it gracefully, long before deposits are non-refundable.
Keeping the budget honest once the money starts moving
Working out the number is the easy half. The hard half is the eight weeks afterwards, when people pay their share in instalments, someone books the activity and gets paid back by four of the nine, and the original spreadsheet stops matching reality.
That is the part HolidayPal is built for. Set up one trip, share a code with the group, and everyone sees the same running total on their own phone — next to the flights, boarding passes, seats and the plan for the weekend. Free to start, and nobody joining needs an account.
Planning the rest of the weekend too? The stag do planner and hen do planner cover the meet-up pins, hidden surprises and everything else that keeps a group of fifteen in roughly the same place.
Stag and hen do costs — common questions
How much does a stag do cost per person?+
As a rough guide a UK weekend often lands around £150–£300 a head, while a weekend abroad — Prague, Krakow, Benidorm, Amsterdam — is more often £300–£600+ once flights, accommodation, activities and nights out are in. The biggest swing factors are the destination, how many nights, and how heavy the activities are. Put your own numbers into the calculator above for a figure that matches your actual plan.
How much does a hen do cost per person?+
Hen dos follow much the same shape as stag dos: a UK weekend commonly works out around £150–£300 a head and a weekend abroad £300–£600+. Spa days, afternoon tea, activities and outfits or personalised extras tend to be where hen budgets differ, so adjust the activities and extras lines rather than assuming a different total.
Why is the cost per head higher than each person's own costs?+
Because the group traditionally covers the stag's or bride's share. If twelve of you go and eleven are paying, that twelfth share is split between the eleven — which typically adds roughly a tenth again to everyone's bill. It's the single most common reason a stag or hen do comes in over the budget people had in their heads. Untick the box in the calculator if the guest of honour is paying their own way.
Who pays for the stag or the bride?+
By tradition the group covers their share — travel, accommodation and activities split between everyone else so they aren't out of pocket for their own send-off. It's worth agreeing this at the very start, before anything is booked, so nobody is surprised by the final figure.
How far ahead should we set the budget?+
Before you book anything. Agree a per-head number first, then work the destination and length to fit it — it's far easier than booking a weekend and then asking ten people for more money. Most groups start planning eight to twelve weeks out for a weekend abroad, which is also when flight prices start to firm up.
How do we keep track of who has actually paid?+
This is where a spreadsheet usually falls apart, because people pay in dribs and drabs across several weeks. Set the trip up in HolidayPal, share the code with the group, and the shared budget keeps a running total everyone can see on their own phone — alongside the flights, boarding passes and the itinerary for the weekend.
Are these figures quotes?+
No — they're estimates based on typical UK group-trip costs, and they're deliberately shown as a range rather than a single confident number. Prices move a lot with dates, destination and how the weekend is spent. Use it as the starting point for the conversation, and replace the defaults with real numbers as soon as you have quotes.
