One of the most important members of the groom’s entourage is the best man, who incidentally takes on a number of responsibilities in the pre-wedding preparations as well as the on the very day of the wedding. If you are given the honor of being appointed as one, then you should know that the best man duties does not merely entail you to be present on the wedding day looking dapper in your best tux. In fact, you’d be surprised to know that there are actually a number of best man responsibilities that you have to keep tabs on if you want to do your part and act your role. So here’s a few guidelines on every best man’s duties that may prove helpful in give you an idea what is expected of you:

Before The Wedding

Make sure that you are present in every outfit fittings to ensure proper fit of your formalwear as well as provide assistance to the groom. It is also the part of the best man duties to help in planning the stag party and pay of it. You should also help in scheduling the pick up of the formalwear right on time and make sure everything is well prepared on the groom’s end.

At the day of the wedding, make sure that the groom will not forget to bring the marriage license and also help the groom in packing for his honeymoon. The best man should also help in overseeing the luggage arrangements of the bride and the groom in preparation for their honeymoon if it is immediately scheduled after the wedding reception. Its is also part of the best man duties to check on the travel arrangements such as the reservations and tickets just in case the groom needs assistance.

During The Wedding

The best man duties during the ceremony and the reception is basically to help ensure that all guests are seated on the designated spots or supervise the ushers in providing assistance to guests, and roll out the red carpet before the bride will enter. You will also ride with the groom on the way to the church on the day of the wedding and generally perform small tasks for the groom if he is too busy to personally attend to it. A lot of grooms forget to remove their gloves when the bride walks down the aisle, perhaps because of too much tension – so remind the groom subtly. After the reception, the best man should also take the initiative to load the gifts to the car before the bridal car and the newlyweds depart.

Best men should also provide assistance to the groom if the latter decides to change into his travel suit. Since the couple often immediately flies off for their honeymoon, you will in charge of taking the grooms tux to the cleaners and return them in time just in case the formalwear was rented.

Best Man Speech

During the reception, the best man gives out a speech and proposes a toast in celebration of the couples union. If you have a gift for gab, you may not have any trouble in preparing for the speech but for the rest of the mere mortals, it requires a small degree of preparation, especially if you don’t want to mess it up and cause some embarrassment. Try to be funny but not obnoxious, innovative and not clichéd. If you plan to crack a joke make sure no one will be offended by it and its also a good idea to write your speech down on a piece of paper just in case you suffer from temporary memory lapse.

As you can see, best men have important tasks in ensuring the success of the wedding, and its responsibilities should never be taken lightly.