10 of the Most Important Groomsmen Responsibilities

Want to know the key groomsmen responsibilities so that you can be the most help possible for your friend’s wedding? These are the most important things for you to do as part of the groom’s wedding party.

Being a part of your friend’s wedding party is a huge honor and can be very exciting, but if you’re anything like me (but are male), you want to know what the groomsmen responsibilities are. Having just recently gotten married, I have seen this confusion first hand, and I’m here to give you the top 10 wedding etiquette approved responsibilities that belong to the groomsmen.

You are going to find more clarity around the most important groomsmen responsibilities from best man duties, groomsmen attire, what do groomsmen do before the wedding, and more.

After going through this list of groomsmen responsibilities, you are going to feel super confident in making decisions and helping your friend on his wedding day. You will help to alleviate stress, and be a valuable part of the wedding party.

This post is all about the most important groomsmen responsibilities and how they will make you the TOP participant in the wedding party.

Key Groomsmen Responsibilities

1. Attend all Events

One of the MOST important groomsmen responsibilities is to ATTEND. If you accept the invitation to be a groomsmen, you better be prepared to make the wedding, with all its festivities, a priority.

You’ll be expected to attend only the events you are formally invited to. RSVP to such events. If you are required to travel to get to where events are taking place, you can communicate with the groom which events you’ll be able to make it to. (Don’t sweat it if you can’t make it to all if that’s you.)

At each event, you’ll want to be as HELPFUL as possible to the bride and groom. Pay attention to what they are asking for, or seem stressed about, and lighten the load. Depending on the event, best man duties may be unique, but more on that later.

The event you MUST attend is the wedding ceremony. If the wedding couple has their wedding party standing with them, you will need to be up there, smiling!

2. Help Plan the Bachelor Party

This is definitely one of the most fun groomsmen responsibilities that you get to go crazy with. Work together with the other groomsmen to make the bachelor party a real party. Nobody else is going to do it.

The best man duties often include rallying all of the groomsmen to organize the party, but if you find that this isn’t happening… YOU can do it! Find something that is fun and within the other groomsmen’s budget.

Consider including individuals who are not part of the wedding party, but who the groom is close with. This will make the event more memorable and exciting in general.

3. Give a Nice Gift

Boys.. I know it’s tempting to give gag gifts.. but let me tell you, it is a super important groomsmen responsibilities to give a nice gift that the new married couple will appreciate. Even if the gift is only for the groom, make it worth his while.

You can find gifts that he may want on the wedding registry, or you can even ask him what he wants! One of my bridesmaids did that for me and I was so grateful. That way you KNOW that what you are getting is something he’ll use.

Giving a nice gift is one more way to celebrate your friend and groomsmen gifts are seriously cherished.

4. Give a Classy Toast

I’m serious when I say classy! Sometimes this is only part of the best man duties. Be sure to find this out beforehand. If there is an open mic for toasts, then there is a good chance that you are one of the people who should say something nice.

We have all heard cringe toasts, heard horror stories of awful experiences with the mic. Don’t be that guy. When you make your speech, prepare something that will make your friend’s day better NOT worse.

Be sure that you also don’t hog the spotlight. Make your toast an appropriate length. Again, preparation will really help with this. Be sure that you keep your time short, sweet, and impactful.

5. Get Your Own Wedding Attire

You maybe weren’t expecting that, huh? Well, yes. You are expected, as part of your groomsmen responsibilities, to get your own groomsmen attire. This is not as easy as it sounds.

Most wedding parties will need to match, so you’ll need to find out what you are expected to where, and match that with preciseness. Make sure that you are clean and presentable at each of the wedding events. That’s right! No bed head.

To go along with this, you may want to offer your help with the attire of the groom. See if he might need you to pick up his tux at the drycleaner and bring it to the venue. This is not required, but could be a very helpful gesture.

6. Be Photo Ready

Like I said before, you will want to be presentable at each event also because you will want to be non-distracting in wedding photos. You might not be a picture person, but you are going to be standing in a lot of photos.

Find a way to be helpful by corralling the wedding party to take photos at the designated time. This can be a real challenge for the bride and groom, who everyone is trying to talk to. You have the ability to help with organizing this.

Be sure that you are smiling and cheerful in these photos. No matter how many are taken, or how often you have to come back to take more. It’s your pleasure! And your friend’s memories.

7. Help on Wedding Day

This is SUCH an important one of the groomsmen responsibilities! The wedding day is often pretty stressful. You may not know all the details of everything going on, but if you ask the right people, you’ll know how to help.

So many moving parts need assistance, and you are there to meet the need of the Wedding couple. Think of yourself as the groom’s man. You’ve got his back. The day really isn’t about you at all, so find ways to make yourself useful!

Moving things, helping with dishes, walking elderly in from their car, lighting sparklers. You name it. These are the ways that you can really stand out as a fantastic groomsman.

8. Make Things Lively

You’d be surprised how much your attitude and energy can impact the wedding events. Keep this in mind as you think about what your groomsmen responsibilities are. By helping make things fun and happy, you’ll be doing your groom a huge service.

Many weddings have dancing. It doesn’t matter if you aren’t a dancer. Get out there and make a fool of yourself! Don’t go too crazy, and try to make the bride and groom the center of attention. Help make the party a real party.

People won’t remember all the details of their wedding, but they do remember the energy and fun. It’s your job to make that happen!

9. Decorate the Getaway Car

Ok, talk about one the most fun parts of being a groomsman, you get to decorate the getaway car! This means that you’ll need to find stuff to decorate it with that won’t hurt the car at all, especially the paint.

Sometimes other people like to get involved with the decorating, but part of your job is to make sure that things don’t get out of hand. Your friends car is your responsibility!

Some people rent cars to leave the wedding in, and if that’s the case… you might not get to decorate. You’ll want to check with the groom to find out what his plan is so that you don’t mess anything up.

10. Clean Up

Weddings are messy, and someone has to clean it up. Part of your responsibilities as a groomsman is to help clean everything up. Make sure that the bride and groom’s families aren’t left with doing everything themselves.

This shows a lot of love and respect for your friend that you are willing to help with the less glamorous parts of the day. Most people overlook the cleaning, so you lending a hand is a very important thing to do.

Make sure everything is taken care of before you leave. Give a huge thank you and congrats to the families. They will be SO grateful for you, no kidding. Again, you are there for the groom, to help him in whatever way you can, not just to enjoy yourself.

Be sure to also enjoy yourself!