Best Man Duties Explained

So your mate finally popped the question. He asked you to be his best man. Which is great, but what exactly are you supposed to do? Best man duties are a bit more complex than just turning up at the wedding venue with a couple of rings in your pocket?¦

The speech

Possibly the most feared of the best man duties, the speech is obligatory. If you take the job, you've got to get up in front of the bride and groom's friends and family and make a prize idiot of yourself.

I've blogged about how to nail the best man's speech before, so I'm not going to go into huge detail here. But I will say that the key to a great best man's speech is to be just drunk enough to be confident, without being so drunk you don't know what you're doing. Notes are a must. Nobody ever winged a best man's speech and got away with it. Oh, and top tip: start with a huge rousing cheer for the happy couple. After that you can pretty much say what you like.

The rings

Ring bearing is the only element of the best man duties that's actually part of the wedding ceremony. You can phone in your speech (if you're a bad friend), roger the bridesmaids and fail to stop the groom from getting hammered on the morning of his wedding day. But if you forget the rings, you're knackered.

Come on, dude. It's pretty simple. Suits have pockets and rings have boxes. Keep them close until it's time to hand them over, and don't do what I did (have a shaking hangover so bad I dropped them on the church floor, causing a 10-minute break to look for them).

The stag do

Is arranging the stag do on the list of best man duties? Absolutely. Your mate's too tied up with wedding lists, overbearing in-laws and Bridezilla herself to be any use in this department. Basically, the first thing you need to do once you've taken on the role of best man is plan and execute that last weekend of freedom.

We can help. Doesn't matter if you're stuck for ideas or know exactly where you want to go. We've got you covered with the best deals, the wildest activities and the most awesome destinations. As for the rest of your responsibilities good luck!