The Best Man Question

[Piemaster]

Me and the missus have decided to get married next year. Obviously I won't have much involvement in planning the wedding, but among my paltry list of my responsibilities is chosing a Best Man.

The problem is it's such a tough choice. All the possible choices have something to bring to the table, but all also have reasons not to pick them too. In the spirit of flippant internet polls, here is an opportunity for my friends at ITH to vote on who should be my Best Man. Like a crap reality TV show, the audience vote will be combined with the judges (me, the missus, my ineligable friends etc) opinion to determine the winner.

Here are the roles I will expect my Best Man to perform:

Organise and execute a good stag night/week
Pose for a few official photographs
Make a good (or at least not awful) speech at the wedding
Schmooze with the wedding guests a little bit
Keep me sane

So without further ado, I present the candidates, in alphabietical order of their real name for the sake of neutrality.


Candidate A
One of my close friends. A sensible, straight-up guy who would certainly take the job seriously and perform to the best of his abilities. On the downside, I think he would get pretty nervous and I doubt he could pull off a good stag night. Also his speech would probably be a bit bland (although that could be a good thing of course).

Candidate B
My brother. We have always got on well, although since he joined the navy 8 years ago, we haven't seen that much of each other. He would probably pull off a good speech delivery wise and unlike the other candidates he has the advantage of knowing my family, who will of course make up a lot of the guests. On the down side, as he isn't in my social group, he doesn't have the real juicey stories for the speech and he doesnt kniow my friends very well, so he might struggle to organise the stag night.

Candidate C
A guy who I have known since uni and has been a good friend ever since. Would probably do a decent job in all areas, but the problem is he has just moved to Canada. As a result, he wouldn't be around to assist with anything in person and would have to do everything remotely. Also, as he has just moved away, it is possible that we will lose touch a bit over the next year and so come the big day he might not seem like a very good choice.

Candidate D
A guy who I have known for ages and would probably be very good at all aspects the job, especially the keeping me sane bit as we have a very good chemistry. In a vacuum I think he would probably do a better job than any other candidate, but the downside is I don't see him that often. He lives quite a long way away (by English standards) and so he would seem a strange choice to a lot of people.

Candidate E
Probably my best friend throughout most of my twenties. As a result, he has all the material for a good speech and would probably do a good job at the stag night too. Downside is that he doesn't really like weddings and is pretty busy with work lately. Also he had the highest potential to implode by doing something stupid at the wedding like getting drunk and molesting a bridemaid.


Vote Now! Calls cost 25p from a regular landline, please get permission from your parents or whoever pays the bill before calling.

[evil_roy]

There is only one way to go here.

Obvious choice.

[ciaran]

Not sure if you do things differently over there (or, I suppose, even elsewhere in the US), but in the South it's pretty common for there to several bridesmaids and an equivalent number of groomsmen. In cases like yours, divvying up the workload would typically be the order of the day. E would get the party-organizing, and B or C would probably get the official title for speech-making/social responsibilities. Anyone "left out" would have the job of molesting the bridesmaids (or, at least, relating plenty of stories from the stag night at (in)appropriate times).

[Piemaster]

[Llanlad]

This is a kop out ! .. getting ITH to make the decision for you !!...

Ive actually been a best man once .. and its without doubt the scariest day of my life ..

If any of the candidates gets nervous ( A ) then they should not do it .. it would be just too much for them ..

candidate E gets it for me ... you NEED someone who just might implode on the day ... it just adds to the whole scenario ...

I myself allmost imploded and tried to get the vicar drunk ... ( think he was the vicar, some church guy anyway )

Thankfully the bridesmaid's where not the best ... so molesting was out of the question ..

Anyways ... congrats Pie ..

PS ... can i be candidate F ?? ... I have previous experience

[SuitedPair]

First - CONGRATULATIONS!!

Second - It's not a job interview, it is a position of honor. It is irrelevant who would "do it best." It has to be your brother, hands down. Your friends will come and go throughout your life. Your brother will always be your brother.

[mchilger]

I don't think your best man has to be the person to organize your stag party. For me, the stag party should be done by one of your closest friends. I agree with Suited that it isn't about who would do the best job. If it's about doing the best job, I will nominate Bull to organize your stag party for you.

Matthew

[mchilger]

wait....

Congratulations

Matthew

[jrspm]

Candidate E and it's not even close.

Sucks that your brother isn't a part of your social crowd, otherwise it's him all the way.

[jrspm]

Oh, and congrats obv.

[the_hawk]

Been a best man twice before - both times for uni friends. Piece of piss.

On both occasions there were friends from the groom's "other" social groups involved in stag shenanigans, and I only met either family the day before the wedding or so. No problem on either front whatsoever. Would love to have molested the chief bridesmaid on one of the two occasions - but didn't

Hence I don't think the downsides for candidate B are serious and he gets my vote.

[nsidestrate]

To me it is clearly down to B or E. In my case, I went with B and as time passes I think it is more clear than ever it was the right choice for me.

[Piemaster]

[Bullajami]

[nsidestrate]