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There are many theories about the origins of the Best Man. One theory is that in the times of the Wild West in the developing United States the Best Man was the best friend or most trusted ally of the Groom. The Best Man was charged with the responsibility to protect the Bride and keep her safe from the time of the marriage proposal until delivering her to the church for the wedding ceremony. Needless to say marriage engagements were only a matter of a few days, at most a week.
Other theories suggest that during these times a woman of marrying age was typically kidnapped by the Groom and most trusted friends from her family home and taken by force to enter into marriage. This theory is based as early as the sixteenth century, when the Best Man was an integral part of this process. It is thought that in these times young men would choose their wife from their own village or close neighboring villas though sometimes there were not enough young women of the right age for marriage.
Their solution was to gather a group of young men and organize a kidnapping raid to steal young women from more distant villages. The Best Man was named after the kidnapping had been completed and was the one who was the most help to the Groom when acquiring his wife. The Best Man was then given the responsibility to guard and protect the Bride and Groom, mostly from the Brides family who would want the Bride back and return her to her rightful home. The Best Man also may also in these times be called on to negotiate with the Brides family, to convince them to accept the Groom and if this failed he was then needed to keep the Brides family away from the Bride and Groom until after the wedding ceremony .
The Best Man duties did not stop there; he was also required to protect the Bride from being kidnapped by other young men who were also seeking a Bride in the time leading up to the wedding day. During the wedding ceremony the Best Man was required to stand at the right side of the Groom with his hand on his sword through the ceremony to protect both the Bride and Groom from any potential threat.
In modern times the role of the Best Man is seen as an honor and the most difficult part of successfully fulfilling this role is to make the Best Man Speech at the wedding reception. This can stir fear in the Best Man and surprisingly recent statistics show that many people fear public speaking more than death. It would be sensible to conclude that the Best Man of the sixteenth century would fear death more, as their role in those times could certainly risk both life and limb. Thankfully, the modern day Best Man no longer needs to fear the Speech at the wedding reception as there are many tools available to assist him in delivering a professional, funny or witty Best Man Speech with minimal work and maximum effect.
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Source by Bev Langford
