Sure, being asked to be the best man is a huge honour, especially if you know that the groom has a number of friends and that he picked you and you alone to be one of the most important people on that special day. However, being the best man can also be a job. A difficult one at that. This is particularly true if the groom is a “traditionalist” who wants everything done by the numbers, strippers and all.
Also, in order to be the best best man you can imagine, you also need to have a whole lot of pockets on you where you will keep all the things that you might need during stag do and at the very wedding.
Credit Cards. All of them
Your credit cards will become your best friends for the duration of your best man tenure. It is an expensive business, especially today when everyone buys (rents) their own suits (tuxedos). And the wardrobe is the least of your problems, trust us.
The stag do is probably going to make the biggest dent in your finances and depending on the number of people invited and the entire setup, it can really make your head spin. Your accountant may have to take an entire month to try and work out the ways in which you will cover all the expenses.
Your credit cards need to be on you at all times. Even if you have taken care of everything in advance, come stag do, there will be a billion new, unforeseen expenses that you will have to cover. This happens pretty much every time and it has to do with the fact that everyone knows you are the best man who is not supposed to be tight with his money. In essence, you’ll be paying a king’s ransom for every little thing.
Cash. A lot of it
Sure, credit cards will come in handy, but when stag do is in question, you also need to have a ton of cash on you. All kinds of bills. As many as you can muster. Really.
The reason why you will want to carry cash with you is that a number of stag-do traditions are not really credit card friendly. For instance, if there is exotic entertainment involved (and no, we do not mean visiting exotic Middle East bazaars, although this would be true for those as well), credit cards will usually not do the trick. Let’s just say that cash is much more appreciated.
If you are travelling abroad for the stag do, cash will come in even more handy. For instance, let’s say that you are somewhere warm and someone from your party gets stupid or violent. The police come. It is not like you can really bribe them with credit cards. This is where cash is king.
Just keep cash on you.
Prophylactics
You are no one’s dad and it may seem silly that we’re suggesting you should carry condoms with you, but trust us that this is one of the best things you can do for the stag party. Quite simply put, people get smashed at stag dos and you never know who might end where and with whom. And since you will be the man who is the most in control of what he does (at least in theory), you should take it onto yourself to make sure no one gets anyone pregnant or picks up something that will have them scratching themselves during the ceremony.
In short, keep a small supply of high quality condoms somewhere on you just in case. Who knows, maybe you’ll be saving someone’s head.
Camera
Someone’s going to do something stupid. It would be a shame not to have a photo or a video of it.
Best Man’s Speech
We are now coming to the day of the ceremony where you will also need credit cards and cash (condoms less) but where another piece of paper will be much more important. We are, of course, talking about your best man’s speech.
For most of us, improvising isn’t really the way to go with the speech. Not many of us are versed and charming enough to do an on spot improvisation and the chances are that it will be a complete embarrassment both for us as best men and also for the wedding party. It is not enough to write a great best man’s speech, but also to have it on you when the time comes. Check your pockets from time to time.
Rings
Also, don’t forget the rings.
Images courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons
