The best man is usually not the person who does a lot of actual wedding planning. We’re not sure if it is because best men are men and therefore unable to plan anything that hasn’t got to do with drinking and being stupid in general. Or if it is because there are people who are usually much more interested to be the planners and the organisers. And to be perfectly honest, let them!
However, this does not mean that a best man cannot and should not get involved, especially if it is an outdoor wedding. Outdoor weddings are particularly prone to disasters, especially if they are happening in wetter climates and a few timely saves by the best man could cement the reputation of said best man as a man of action, sort of a hero if you will; a superhero even. And as we all know, everyone loves a hero.
No one becomes a hero just because they have a great speech prepared.
Know a guy with a generator
Outdoor weddings need electricity just like any other wedding. They will need the power for the band; they will need the power to keep the drinks cool and the food warm. If it is an autumn/winter wedding, they will need the juice to run the heaters. If it goes on into the evening and night, they will need even more power for the lighting. Most places that organize outdoor weddings supply the electricity but there is always a chance that something will go wrong with the supply.
That is where a prepared best man comes in. If you yourself do not know a guy with a power generator, one of your friends will, trust us. Get in contact with the guy with the generator, slip him some money and ask him to be ready to come to the rescue if need be. When (if) something goes wrong and people start panicking, you just ring his number and save the day. Like a boss.
Get some backup marquees
If the outdoor wedding you are best man at is a long proceeding, there will be marquees. You just cannot have outdoor weddings without them. However, once again, and this will become a common theme for this article, things can go wrong. Some marquees are just not good enough and they can topple over, get blown away by the wind or just be subpar due to ‘someone’ skimping on the equipment.
The good news is that you can easily rent or even buy affordable and practical pop-up marquees that will not cost you an arm and a leg and that you can get over and put up in matter of minutes. They will not be anything fancy but they will be more than welcome when everything goes wrong. A few of those things and you can once again come to the rescue. Like a boss.
Organise some blankets to go around
This one is mostly for outdoor weddings that happen in the colder months. People just want to look good at weddings which, during colder months, can result in them not being properly prepared for the meteorological changes for the colder. In short, girls come in short dresses with nothing under and guys come in summer suits. When it starts getting colder, the party starts getting colder as well.
Once again, best man to the rescue. Get a few dozen blankets and have them nearby. When you see that the guests may be starting to freeze, bring them out and wrap the guests up. We don’t need to tell you how many points you will score with a particularly-skimpily dressed bridesmaid with this move. Like a boss.
Get those bug-zappers
This one is mostly for outdoor weddings that happen in the warmer months. No one likes creepy-crawlies and buzzy-biters and unfortunately, they live outdoors, which means that they might be invading ‘your’ outdoor wedding. Most places that organize outdoor weddings are prepared for this and they supply the bug-zappers that should get rid of the problem. Still, there is a chance that they won’t.
This is yet another great opportunity to become more than just the best man. These are really not that expensive to buy and they are even easier to set up. If you notice that the guests have started slapping their arms and legs and scratching themselves till they break the skin, jump in and save the day. If you want to go even further, get some insect repellent sprays and creams (just keep that particularly-skimpily dressed bridesmaid in mind). Like a boss.
All in all, there are quite a few things that you can do to solve the outdoor-wedding-particular problems even before they become problems. These will not decimate your wallet and you will still be ‘that best man who saved that beautiful wedding’‘.
Like a boss.
About the author:
James D. Burbank is a regular Australian guy who has been on both sides of the best man-groom relationship and who has been to more weddings than he cares to remember. He is a huge NBA fan (as if that matters).
