Being a Best Man
The title of Best Man is one of the most sacred a man can bestow upon a friend without having first consumed a half bottle of whisky and several pints of Guinness. But once all the hugging and backslapping has ceased, how should a Best Man assist his chum in taking the future ‘trouble and strife’ up the aisle?
The Best Man is essentially the Bride Groom’s helper at the wedding. A very good Best Man will be a combination of Wooster’s Jeeves, Crusoe’s Man Friday and Hong Kong Phooey’s side kick Spot. As Best Man your duties include organising the stag do and making sure the Groom gets home in one piece, preferably wearing more than just his socks, carrying the wedding rings on the Groom's behalf (a well practised Best Man will carry a cheap spare ring, just encase the unfortunate should happen and the real ring tumbles down a church drain/gets stolen by the stripper, gets eaten by the family pet), other than that its the Best Man’s job to read out the letters from those who could not attend the wedding and make a speech. The speech is probably the most onerous of a Best Man’s tasks, but judge the content by the audience and you should do fine. Or in other words: if the Bishop of Canterbury is present it’s probably best to leave out the sheep shagging jokes (best take note Harry).
If this all seems a little too much responsibility for just one man, it is worth noting that there is nothing in the rules about not having more than one Best Man. After all Elvis Presley had more than one when he wedded Pricilla, and if it is good enough for the King it’s good enough for us.
