Best Man Duties & Advice

Don't fret about whether your best friend is "up to the challenge." He'll be fine. Here are the official and unofficial duties of the Best Man.

You don't have to be Shakespeare. You just need to have a plan, execute it, get in, get out. So don't wing it, don't overstay your welcome, and don't piss off the locals.

I have 3 best friends that I'm trying to decide on a best man. All 3 of us go back to elementary school together and have grown up through the years. I don't know how to choose one and not sure if I can, any one of them one be a great best man...would it be dumb to have 3 best men?

You can give a lousy speech and the guests will still clink their champagne flutes, applaud, and then return to their cakes and dancing. So relax. Mediocrity will suffice.

Who needs to be thanked? How long should it be? How do you end it? What if you barely know the bride? Don't worry...we've got you covered.

Picking your groomsmen can be difficult. You have questions. We have answers.

You have three options.

What to do if he's derelict in his duties

The best man should be your brother or your best friend, period.

If you need inspiration and ideas, here are some guys who crushed their toasts.

We've rounded up some real-life examples--some good, some outrageous, and some clunkers--and provided our mini-reviews, extracting a few lessons for your own toasts.

The marriage has one lone bright spot for the groom: the bachelor party. So why not get it right?