The Bestman's Role _________________________________________________________

Traditionally, it is the role of the Bestman to get himself and the Groom to the church. This usually should be half an hour prior to the ceremony. He should prepare a speech about the groom and take care of the rings prior to the day. He should also organise the stag do and generally take care of the nervous Groom, both on the day and on the run up to the day. The Bestman's speech is usually the most entertaining speech yet should ensure that it does not offend. He should respond on behalf of the Bridesmaids, in order to fullfill his duties. He should also take the oppurtunity to speak on other occasions, such as introducing the Bride and Groom to the first dance and read out any telegrams.

Speeches should be well prepared before hand and ideally written down to avoid any possible mind block problems. To appear relaxed, confident and cool, the Bestman should prepare the speech in advance and aim to keep it to a length of ten minutes. By creating cue cards, he will be able to see at a glance what topic he is next approaching and generally ease the overall flow of the speech. Speeches should be rehearsed well in advance to build up confidence and perfect the delivery. When doing the speech, he should aim to adopt a sincere and relaxed approach and possibly have a glass of water nearby. He should aim to be flexible and adapt to the audience where appropriate. If necessary, he could include romantic or witty quotations, whatever the tone and most of all enjoy it.