Wedding survival guide – The Best Man
It is a dubious honor to be chosen as a best man. On one hand, the position of best man is an honored title and allows the chosen gentleman to be privy to the most exciting and special events of his close friend’s holy matrimony. On the other hand, the best man has an incredible amount of responsibility including the all important bachelor party and the great privilege of being keeper of the bride’s wedding ring.
Being “Lord of the Ring” sounds fun, oh let’s say, about six months before the wedding. The best man may even begin to imagine that he will bear this ring through an amazing adventure with elves and hobbits through talking forests with sword fights and camping trips. But as the months turn into weeks, and the weeks into days, the fantasy fades and is replaced by uncomfortable jokes from the bride and mother-in-law about how the best man better not lose the ring or they’ll cut off his arms and beat him to death with them. These jokes are sort of funny, until you notice that the bride and her mom may not be kidding.
Dear best man, here’s a tip…don’t lose the wedding ring. If you want, I can offer a few ideas to help you keep hold of that all important, very little piece of jewelry.
- Don’t accept the ring from the groom until the day of the wedding. The less time you have it in your possession, the greater the chances that you won’t lose it.
- If you do accept this ring at an earlier date, say the day before, don’t bring it to the bachelor party. I saw the movie The Hangover and I’m merely trying to protect you from marrying some call girl in a drunken haze the night before the wedding with the very ring you were sworn to protect.
- Buy a box to hold the precious in. If you’re a handy fellow, fashion a clip for it to your tuxedo, kind of like those belt clips Wall Street dudes have for their Blackberries.
- Don’t wear it. It probably won’t fit and you probably won’t be able to get it off at the crucial moment.
- If you do lose the ring, or are all sweaty and nervous that you might lose the ring, buy a back-up just in case. You can find super cheap ones at the dollar store. Just about anything round that can fit on a finger is legal to be wed with, if you want a good laugh, it can even be edible.
Most of all, relax. The groom chose you as his Best Man because he loves you and he trusts you to help make his wedding day special. Keep hold of that ring and the bride will probably let you keep your arms, that is until she sees the pictures from the bachelor party.
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