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Duties of the Best Man

Duties of the Best Man


Alison Hargreaves Guides for Brides Bio
Alison Hargreaves Updated:
8th of March 2023

If you want your wedding to run smoothly and your groom to be as calm and organised as possible the choice of his Best man needs to be taken carefully. Here is the information you need to help you decide who is the best man for the job... 

It is good to choose the Best Man early as he will be the groom's right hand man throughout the wedding and the earlier he is asked the more he can be included and the more that he can help you. He may have an old friend or a brother whom he always knew he was going to ask but if this is not this case he needs to choose someone who is reliable and does not already have large time commitments. He needs to be reliable as he will be giving an important speech and organising the stag night, so he needs to know when to take responsibility but also when to have fun!

Before the wedding day, the Best man needs to help the bride and groom with the organisational side of the wedding such as organising the wedding transport and booking the wedding disco. If the bride and groom have decided upon a large venue to hold their wedding or reception, the groom needs to get to know the location so that he can brief his team of ushers. This means that ushers will be able to direct guests and sort out any problems if they arise. The Best man also has the responsibility of getting to know the ushers and bringing them together before the wedding so they can get to know each other.

On the wedding day itself, the Best man should have organised the ushers so that he can be totally free to support the groom on his big day.

  • Firstly he needs to get the groom to the ceremony on time and in a calm state.
  • Traditionally he should sit on the right hand side of the aisle, next to the groom and give him a little pep talk before the wedding if necessary!
  • The Best Man should also be in charge of the wedding rings are present them at the right point of the wedding. If you are having page boys the best man needs to give the rings to the page boy at the right moment so there is less risk of the loosing the rings. At the end of the wedding the Best man should escort the chief bridesmaid down the aisle after the newly wed couple.
  • At the reception the Best man traditionally gives a witty speech about the groom, this is something that he needs to start writing as soon as possible.
  • When the dancing starts, after the bride's and groom's parents have taken to the floor the best man should traditionally ask the chief bridesmaid to dance.
  • As the end of the evening approaches the best man could sneak out and decorate the vehicle which they will drive away into the sunset!

Once the wedding has finished it is the responsibility of the best man to make sure that the bride and groom get away safely, the guests all find a taxis to get home or to their accommodation, and make sure that everything that needs to be put away at the end of the evening is. A few weeks after the wedding, when the groom is on his honeymoon it is the role of the best man to make sure that all the hired suits are returned and any equipment which is hired is also returned in time.

Alison Hargreaves Guides for Brides Bio

About the author


Alison Hargreaves

Alison has been advising brides, grooms and bridesmaids for more than 25 years. She has an unrivalled knowledge of the British wedding industry and frequently appears on podcasts and expert panels. She regularly attends international wedding conferences to keep the UK at the forefront of wedding planning trends.

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