It’s an honor to be chosen as the best man for a friend or family member who plans to get married. It simply means that you are very special to him, he trust you and believe that you can successfully act as his best man on the day of his wedding.
Saying ‘yes’ to his invitation means that you are willing to take some responsibilities during the course of planning and on the actual day of the wedding. As the best man, your official duty is to arrange a bachelor party for the groom. If you and the rest of the groomsmen are planning to buy gifts for the bride and groom and have contributed money, you are the one to purchase the gifts and present to the couple on behalf of the men in the bridal party.
It is your duty as well to get the groom dresses and to be in the church on time. If there’s anything that the groom needs, it is you who will get it for him and assist him in all ways you can. Usually, it’s your job to arrange and pay for the limousine or other transportation to and from the wedding and wedding reception. If the groom prefers to be driven to the church by car, it is going to be you who is his driver. This also entails that you will drive the happy couple to their wedding reception and hotel or airport thereafter.
It is you who to hold the most important ring of the bride at the wedding. You are the one who will give the ring to the groom when the moment comes that they have to exchange bonds. Additionally, it is your job to escort the maid of honor of the couple down the aisle. Before you enter the reception hall, you have to stand in the receiving line and pose for pictures. Subsequently, you have to witness the marriage signing of the couple and present the clergy person, organist, altar boys and others who participated in the wedding with payments or sort of a tip.
You and the maid of honor will act as the host and hostess of the wedding reception and greet the guests on behalf of the wedded couple. Traditionally, you are required to make a make a toast for the happy couple and make a speech to honor them. If there are staff and crew who provided services to the wedding reception, you have to make sure that they received tips at the end of the evening.
Once the wedding reception has ended, it’s also your job to see to it that the groom has his going-away clothes and all tuxedos have been collected to be cleaned and returned to the rental shop in a timely manner. If there is a car you plan to decorate with the ushers, you can jokingly do the task secretly so that the bride and groom will be surprised and laugh. You can then drive them to the destination they desire using the decorated car.
Traditionally, to thank the best man, groomsmen, and ushers, the groom will have to give wedding party gifts to them. Ideal best man gifts usually include cufflinks, watches, flasks, money clips, bar accessories, and the like. Choosing gifts should depend on the best man’s personality, taste or hobby. Today, among the most popular wedding gifts are engraved gifts that depict a name or initial of someone the gift is intended to.
