No best man

We are getting married in July 2022 and my fiancé has no best man. No groomsmen (American term anyway! ) at all in fact as he isn’t close to his brothers. They are invited but they never bother with him and his dad has passed away. We won’t have any speeches either. Do what you like, it’s your day!

If he is comfortable with it then I think you should not overthink and try to conform with what is tradition. It is your day, and you do it your way X

The thing is he's not comfortable with not have a best man, he likes the thought of a 'traditional wedding' and I feel obligated to have a maid of honour and 3 bridesmaids when in reality I'd happily just have a maid of honour

You shouldn't feel obligated to invite anyone to be your bridesmaid if you don't want them. And having 3 bridesmaids is no more traditional than having 1.

Also, if your fiance wants a best man, then it is his job to work out who he wants. If he is old enough to get married, he's old enough to sort this for himself.

We are not having any wedding party at all but it is our 2nd marriage & will make sure our grown up kids are included but we just didn’t see the need for best man, bridesmaids etc. So as others have suggested do what you are comfortable with x

Our little boy will be best man he will be 10 just 2 days before the wedding.

We're having a small wedding. My sister is my bridesmaid but fiance having no best man. It's what he wants rather than have one because it's expected. I'm not sure what role a best man would take on other than make a speech. We've agreed only my fiance is going to make a speech so that's probably the only time anyone might notice but otherwise, I don't think it will impact the day at all. It's such a special day, you should go with whatever makes each of you comfortable.

A friend of mine was in a similar situation, she had a maid of honour and her fiancé decided to have their dog as his best man 😊 it was really sweet!
But I honestly don’t think anyone will really notice and the most important thing is to have a wedding that you’re both comfortable with not caring what other people think 😊

Hello. Both myself and my Husband to be have set our big day in August 2023. With this being a small wedding for us my partner has decided not to have a best man but he has asked his nephew to stand by him but no formal duties to do just to be with him in the church that’s all. Hope this helps. Congratulations to you both. X

View quoted message Completely agree with this!


Try not to get stressed about it yourself. It’s his job to sort it out. My partner and I are the opposite. He’s having a best man but I’m not having bridesmaids. There’s plenty of people I could ask but I’ve just decided not to have them.

Technically you only 'need' 2 witnesses. You shouldn't have to feel pressurised into anything else just because it's the done thing. Many weddings don't follow traditional formats.

Obviously it completely depends on the family dynamic but my husband was the same - he had nobody close enough he would choose as a 'best man'. He asked his dad and my dad if they wanted to wear the same suit as him, and they both made speeches, but he didn't have a best man. I had 3 bridesmaids and it really didn't feel unorthodox, silly or one sided at all!

My partner hasn't got any close friends he felt he could ssk so instead he has asked his grandad to be his best man. Maybe there is a close family member, like you mentioned his sister, that he maybe wanted to ask. But as others have said, don't feel pressured to follow tradition, it's yours and his special day. Do what makes you both happy!

My fiancé doesn't have a best man either, and it's lucky I have no bridesmaids too. So we've decided we're just not doing that, it's not something we're interested in

I'm getting married on Saturday and my partner didn't want a best man (or stag do, or anything else). He felt awkward asking and doesn't have that one best friend. I've got three bridesmaids because I wanted my sister and two close friends to be with me when marrying. We just went with what we wanted and felt like us. Partner has subsequently thought about it and has asked one of his oldest friends if he'd stand next to him at the altar and it feels right. Stick to what is most "you" and it'll be magical whatever! X