Apart from giving the groom moral support and make sure he turns up on time, the Best Man has similar practical duties for the groom as the chief bridesmaid has for the bride.
He should be prepared to:
- Pick up the groom's suit, as well as his own and any other male attendants outfits.
- Make sure all the accessories for the groom and male attendants are present and correct.
- Organise the buck's night for the groom and his male friends.
- Check all transport arrangements for the trip to the wedding venue. He should have local taxi phone numbers ready, just in case.
- Help the groom dress and get him to the church on time.
- Keep the wedding rings safe and be ready to hand them to the celebrant at the right moment.
- Act as the official witness if required.
- Keep the travel tickets and luggage for the bridal couple's honeymoon, ready to hand them over to the groom after the reception.
- Discreetly hand payments to the church or celebrant, organist, etc.
- Prepare a speech and deliver it at the reception.
- Collect all the messages delivered to the bride's home, the groom's home or the reception venue before the wedding, and read them out at the reception.
- Make sure the bridal couple gets away on time to their honeymoon destination and that there transport is ready.
- Help the groom change and return the suits, if hired.
- Help pack up the gifts.
The Grooms Mens
The groomsmen help the best man when he needs it, while the usher's duties are generally at the church. At some weddings, particularly smaller ones, the duties of the groomsmen and ushers overlap.
- Ushers usually arrive at the church 40 minutes ahead of the bridal party to seat arriving guests on the bride's or grooms side of the church or other venue.
- Ushers hand out order of service books to guests and ensure that hymnbooks are distributed, if needed.
- Ushers ensure that all the guests have transportation from the church to the reception.
- Groomsmen or ushers can show guests to their place at the reception.
- Groomsmen or ushers can announce guests if there is a receiving line.
- Groomsmen are escorts for the bridesmaids. They dance with the bridesmaids at the reception. At small functions, they make sure they dance with most of the women present.
- Groomsmen often decorate the bridal couples getaway car. (If the bride and groom have a sense of humour).
While a groom will want to have his best buddies and the men in his life that means the most to him, he should also make sure that he has a group that is responsible enough to handle their duties, or at least one person willing to pick up the slack for the others.
