Best Man Duties

Congratulations! You’ve been asked to be the best man in your friend’s wedding….now what? Although, a lot more attention is given to the responsibilities that the maid/matron of honor may have, you have a lot to do as well. There are numerous tasks that come up during wedding that the groom will need assistance with. Here, I outline the most important, however each wedding will differ slightly due to the uniqueness of each individual.

First you will be in charge of keeping track of all the other groomsmen and ushers for the wedding. It will fall on you to double check with the tuxedo rental shop to make sure all the groomsmen and ushers turn in their measurements in time for the wedding. If there are groomsmen and ushers that live in town you will be the one to go with them as they get measured.

It will be your responsibility to plan out and pay for the bachelor party. You should always check to see first if the groom wants a bachelor party and what it should entail. Also, you should discuss the guest list from him. If you are throwing a bachelor party be sure it is at least a week before the actual wedding. You don’t want to take the groom out the night before his wedding and have him be to hung over to enjoy it.

When the day of the wedding arrives you will help the groom, groomsmen and ushers get ready. After the wedding, you need to make sure that the limo or other car service has arrived. You need to help carry out any presents, decorations or left over items from the church out.

Next, if there isn’t a ring bearer you will be in charge of carrying the wedding bands that will be used during the ceremony.

After the wedding you along with the maid/matron of honor will sign the marriage license.

At the reception it will your responsibility to give the first toast and/or speech to the couple right before dinner is served. What type of speech or toast is given will depend on the formality of the reception. Be sure to talk to the bride and groom before hand so you are prepared for whatever they expect you to do. Take time to plan out your toast or speech, do not ad lib, chances are you’ll forget what you wanted to say and start rambling or say something you really didn’t mean to. This is especially true if you have a couple of drinks prior to your speech. As long as you put some effort into your speech to make sure it is tasteful and personal you should do fine. And YES it is ok to use notes, in fact the speech will probably be a lot better if you do.

You will have a special dance with the maid/matron of honor.

Once the reception has ended or the following day you will pick up the formal wear from the rest of the wedding party and return it for them.

If there is a gift opening or couples shower for the wedding you will be expected to attend both of those occasions.

This list may seem a little daunting but I’m sure you will be able to accomplish everything on the list. However, the groom has at least 10 times as many tasks on his list so he could really use the help. If you have already gotten married I’m sure you understand and if you haven’t yet, one day you will be thankful for all the help you received from your best man. Lastly, you should always talk to the groom to see if there is anything else that you can do to help.