In such an unequal battle, it is easy to “give up” and turn into one of those cowardly ostriches who close their eyes and ears at the word “wedding.”
Who can be a witness at a wedding?
According to ancient customs, a witness at a wedding can be a young, unmarried friend of the bride who is not her relative. However, this is just an old tradition, based on beliefs and signs, and at a modern wedding it can be completely neglected.
The main qualities that a witness should have are sociability, originality and the ability to take an unconventional approach to any task, responsibility, and positivity. She organizes the bachelorette party and the wedding itself, so for this role the bride should choose her closest friend who knows her best.
Special task
Also, the groom's friend can perform such an important mission as picking up the bride's bouquet before going to the hero of the occasion in the morning. It would seem that everything is so simple - pick up the flowers. But in fact, this task is very responsible: after all, you need to agree in advance with the florist about the place and time of the meeting, know what the bouquet looks like, so as not to confuse anything. In addition, we advise you to check with the florist on how best to deliver the bouquet to its destination; if it is to be picked up the day before, then under what conditions (including temperature) it should be stored to avoid withering. And don’t forget about boutonnieres - as a rule, the same craftsmen make them and the bride’s bouquet.
Who can be a witness at a wedding?
For the groom's best man at a wedding, according to customs, the same requirements apply as for the bridesmaid - he must be an unmarried young man. But in this case, traditions are also often violated; any friend or relative of the groom can play this role.
When choosing, you should focus on the same qualities as when choosing a witness.
The best man helps the groom in everything before the wedding and during the celebration, so he must be cheerful, but responsible.
Dance of the groom and his friends
Another fresh tradition at weddings is the groom dancing with his friends. This dance is presented to the bride as a gift, a demonstration of the ardor and seriousness of the groom’s feelings, and therefore is often performed at the ransom. The groom's friends, like faithful companions, support the young man and help in preparation. The dance that the guys perform is either improvisation or a small planned production.
This is always a very cheerful, interesting spectacle, so the young man’s dance with friends becomes one of the brightest moments of the celebration. Watch the video of one of these performances:
Can married or divorced people be witnesses at a wedding?
The condition that witnesses at a wedding must be unmarried (we are talking not only about family relationships between the bride’s friend and the groom’s friend, but also about marriage in general) is based on a sign. According to her, passion between witnesses on the night after the wedding is the key to a long and happy marriage for the newlyweds.
Another sign says that if the bride's friend and the groom's friend are husband and wife, the relationship between the heroes of the occasion will not be strong. The same thing supposedly awaits future spouses if one or both witnesses are divorced.
Clothing options
- Identical suits . In the classic version, all friends wear suits of the same model and color; sometimes only identical jackets are enough.
- Shirts with the same print . Checkered shirts look original.
- Vests will help you create a stylish, elegant look.
- You can distinguish the groom's friends from the crowd by resorting to using accessories of the same style and color:
- Shoes can be represented not only by classic boots or shoes, but also, for example, by stylish sneakers and comfortable loafers.
- Unusual headdresses. Hats, top hats, and caps can highlight the individuality of each friend and create a unique, unified image.
- Ties or bow ties will turn your friends into gallant gentlemen.
- Cufflinks, tie pins – small stylish details.
- Boutonnieres will immediately indicate that you belong to the groom’s team.
- Shawls . You can use original neckerchiefs or scarves, the corners of which neatly stick out from your jacket pocket.
- Belts or suspenders can also attract attention. Suspenders can create a light and slightly naughty look.
- sunglasses are perfect for a summer wedding .
- socks with an unusual pattern look quite original . In this case, a complete match in color scheme is not necessary, the main thing is that everyone has a cheerful print.
Attention! The uniform image of the groom's team should only be in harmony with the appearance of the future spouse, and not repeat it completely.
Why are witnesses needed?
How the celebration will go depends largely on whether there are witnesses at the wedding. The groom's friend and the bride's friend are the main assistants of the newlyweds during the pre-holiday events (bachelor party, bachelorette party) and the wedding itself.
They do everything to make sure one of the most important days in their friends' lives goes perfectly. The newlywed's friend watches her dress and appearance in general. The best man controls the atmosphere at the wedding, smooths out conflicts between guests, makes toasts and congratulations.
Together with the toastmaster, they conduct competitions and quizzes, helping him with props and making sure that everyone present at the celebration is happy and cheerful.
Competitions for groomsmen
In addition to the groom dancing with his friends, there are also a lot of competitions in which the newlyweds’ friends are also involved. Taking part in such competitions is the immediate responsibility of the friends, as well as finding a toastmaster, arranging entertainment, and fun for the guests. Competitions with the participation of friends from my husband’s side are always a very fun, positive spectacle. It is good to involve the culprit himself in them. Carry out during the ransom process, as a test, or during the feast itself. Here are some ideas for organizing such competitions:
- The art of shaving. Distribute inflated balloons, razors, and foam to the young man’s comrades. Participants must apply foam to the balloon and “shave” it without bursting. Protect the clothes of your friends and other guests, because if the balloon bursts, the foam will fly around.
- The right ball. Inflate a lot of balloons, place notes in them, one of which says “key”; if the friends choose the wrong balloon, the guys will have to pay a ransom, and so on until they find the right word. If the competition is not held at a ransom, but during a feast, the wrong ball may mean the fulfillment of a friend’s wish.
- Ladder. Make a wish for your future husband to walk up the stairs to his beloved without touching her or using his arms or legs. The solution to the puzzle is to carry your friend in your arms, which the friends must do. If the participants do not guess, they will be punished, for example, they will pay a fine.
- Apple. Blindfold your friend. Bring him three apples - red, white, green. The friend’s task is to guess the color after taking a bite from each one. To make it more difficult for him, inject alcohol (cognac, wine or any other strong drink) into one or all apples with a syringe.
The groom's companions play the most important role at the wedding - they make it fun and interesting: they entertain the guests, fool around, support, help him, participate in competitions and organize them. They fill the wedding with the spirit of celebration, romance, fun and endless positivity. If the groom has good, cheerful friends, then the wedding will definitely be a success.
Responsibilities of witnesses during a wedding
What do witnesses do at a wedding? As during preparation, they make sure that the future spouses worry about organizational issues as little as possible and enjoy their celebration.
During the wedding, a witness from the groom's side:
- helps a friend buy his bride. The best man should take a few small bills with him, as the groom will probably forget about it;
- before the wedding ceremony, the registry office checks that passports and rings are in place;
- during a banquet in a restaurant, monitors the behavior of guests and waiters, avoiding conflicts and other unpleasant situations;
- doesn't drink too much alcohol.
At a wedding, the bride's friend acts as a maid of honor. Responsibilities of a witness:
- carry out a ransom;
- carefully monitor the bride’s appearance and inform her if her makeup has rubbed off, her tights are torn, or her hairstyle has deteriorated;
- help guests find their seats in the banquet hall;
- help the bride accept bouquets and gifts.
Both the best man and the bridesmaid should come up with several toasts and parting words to the future spouses. The witness's toast at a wedding should be original and memorable.
Rules for boyfriends
The role of the bride's witness is a little simpler: her main task is to choose a dress and accessories for the celebration, help the bride with a visit to the stylist and hairdresser, and organize the ransom in accordance with the ceremony (the scenario should be written out in detail so that there are no unpleasant hiccups). If dresses of the same cut and style are provided for the bridesmaids, then the bridesmaid negotiates with tailors to take measurements, sew dresses and try on them on time. Everything must be done in advance and flawlessly .
Photos of bridesmaids
The bridesmaid's task is both to organize the bachelorette party and to help the best man with the banquet. Decorating the interior of the banquet hall, choosing invitation cards, decorating the wedding car and ordering a wedding cake, receiving congratulations (gifts and bouquets) after the official wedding ceremony, making arrangements with the temple for the wedding - and the witness can help with this. For the groomsmen and groomsmen, you need to know the plan of events in advance and prepare the distribution of responsibilities for preparing for the wedding between the friends and relatives of the bride.
Whether witnesses are required to sign at the registry office - it is better to find out in advance, since a passport may be needed for identification
Wedding superstitions
Many wedding superstitions involve witnesses. For example, in ancient times, the groom's friend and bridesmaid were dressed in the same clothes as the newlyweds. This was done with the expectation that the witness would literally replace the newlyweds in the event of an unforeseen situation.
In Rus', witnesses were required to perform small rituals so that the life of future spouses would be happy:
- The friend makes sure that the bride is not jinxed. To do this, she pins a pin on the wedding dress and hems its hem.
- The best man takes with him white threads, which will come in handy if the bride or groom drops the wedding ring.
- At the end of the wedding ceremony, the groom's friend and the bride's friend kiss.
Despite many superstitions and customs, there is no connection between the behavior of witnesses and the life of the newlyweds after the wedding.
Traditions are not so important; the main guarantee of strong family relationships between spouses is love and mutual understanding.
Girlfriend Responsibilities
For the bride, the wedding begins with a bachelorette party. The girlfriend should either take charge of organizing it entirely, or help the bride as much as possible. There is nothing extremely complicated in this, just make the dreams and desires of the newlywed come true, she will definitely appreciate it.
Another of the most important duties for a bridesmaid is to help the bride put on her wedding attire. After all, the bride will be nervous, which is quite natural, and may miss or not notice something. The girlfriend’s task is to carefully monitor everything and pay attention to all the little things.
Also, the witness should try to relieve the bride’s workload as much as possible by taking upon herself the resolution of some issues. Now many couples follow traditions, and if this is your case, then you need to carefully think through and prepare the bride ransom ceremony.
If necessary, you should discuss some of the nuances with your friend and try to bring him up to date as much as possible. Safeguarding the engagement ring until the ceremony is also the responsibility of the bridesmaid.
Movable Question
In addition, the groom can entrust his friends with such matters as selecting transport for the newlyweds. But here it is worth considering that when choosing, it is necessary to take into account the tastes and wishes of the couple: what brand and type of car they prefer, whether the option you propose will fit into the overall concept and overall design of the wedding, and so on. In a word, discuss these points with your future spouses in advance. Also, do not ignore the issue of parking for guests' cars. And if you are also responsible for selecting cars for invitees, make sure that the cars you choose have enough space for all guests.
