Best man

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For other uses, see Best man (disambiguation).

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The best man is the name given to the chief male assistant to the bridegroom at a wedding. Usually the groom extends this honor to someone who is close to him, either a brother or his closest male friend. Alternatively, should one of the groom's male friends have been directly responsible for introducing the groom to his bride (or otherwise responsible for bringing them together), the honor of best man might be extended to him in gratitude.

1 Duties
2 Traditional Role
3 Best man in various cultures
4 References
5 See also

[edit] Duties

In the context of a traditional American/British white wedding, the best man's duties typically include:

Organizing a bachelor party (U.S.)/ Stag Night (U.K)/ Buck's Night (Aus.) for the groom
Possibly helping plan or organize some details of the wedding
Getting the groom to the wedding on time
Supervising the groomsmen or ushers
Ensuring the rings are brought to the ceremony (usually they will have been given to the best man either earlier in the day or previously) and then passing these to the bride and groom at the appropriate point in the ceremony
Giving a speech at the wedding and thanking the bridesmaids (often supposed to be humorous and to (mildly) embarrass the groom)
Making a Toast to the Bride and Groom at the Reception.
Decorating the car of the married couple with soap, ribbons, cans and whipped cream.

In the US, the groomsmen assist the best man with these functions.

When the groom wishes to give this honour to a woman, she may be termed the "best woman" or "best person", or may still be referred to as the 'best man'. The bride's equivalent of the best man is the maid or matron of honour. A neutral term is "honour attendant".

[edit] Traditional Role

The role of best man was introduced by the Germanic goths at approximately 200 AD. [1] Due to a shortage of women, Goth men frequently resorted to bride kidnapping to procure wives. When the groom went to the bride's house with the intent of carrying her off, the best man was dispatched to help fight off the relatives of the bride.[2]

[edit] Best man in various cultures

In Anglo-Saxon England the Best Man would act as a bodyguard for both the groom and the bride. During Anglo-Saxon England weddings the bride would stand to the left of her groom so that his sword arm was free. The Best Man would keep his hand on his sword ready to fend off trouble and protect the couple. Often during these times, the best Swordsman in the area was chosen as the Best Man.^[1]

In Uganda a best man does what is described above but he is also challenged to guide the newlyweds in ways of marriage. This means that ideally a best man must be married, preferably to one wife and should be in position to give sound, tried and tested advice. A best man must be a confidant and be discreet about the details he shares with the new couple.^{[citation needed]}

In Malaysia, it is acceptable that the best man is married - in fact, this is mainly the case as the percentage of married men far outweigh those unmarried (refer Lawrence).