A Complete Guide to Traditional Groom Responsibilities

A Complete Guide to Traditional Groom Responsibilities

In order to build a solid foundation for your marriage, treat your engagement as a practice round for lifelong partnership, and make everything involving your wedding a joint effort. Although the process will ultimately be a collaboration, there are certain tasks that traditionally fall to the groom. We spoke with industry experts Katy Eriks and Jerod Walburn to dive deeper into these groom duties.

During Wedding Planning

Congrats! You’re engaged. No matter your level of interest in wedding planning, these early stages are when you should be the most involved. The most important aspects of the wedding should be joint decisions that accommodate both of your needs and desires. The four major things you’ll want to settle together are:

  1. Budget: How much do you have to spend, and where are the funds coming from? 
  2. Guest List: Who are your must-haves on both sides, and who makes second-tier? Knowing your starting number determines your venue, which determines so many other aspects of your wedding, so it’s crucial to start a solid figure in mind.
  3. Venue: Your venue impacts so many other aspects of your wedding (your date, maximum guest count, catering, ambiance, etc.) so it’s crucial to pick the one you both like.
  4. Overall Vibes: Out in the country, or smack dab in the city? Casual and relaxed, or formal and fancy? Selecting a wedding style that reflects aspects of both of your personalities will ensure you’ll both be excited to plan it. 

From there, have an honest conversation about what details matter most to each of you. If you won’t be working with a wedding planner, divide and conquer along those lines. Tradition typically has the groom take point on the bar and the music, but you are by no means confined to those categories. More spiritual than your significant other? Take charge of finding your officiant. Really into food? Offer to schedule tastings with caterers.

When it comes to who pays for what, the bride’s family has traditionally covered the wedding, while the groom’s family has covered the rehearsal dinner. However, anything goes in modern times. As couples marry later, they may opt to take on a bulk of the costs themselves, or they may receive contributions from their parents that can be spent however they choose: on the wedding, or, perhaps, on the down payment on a house. Regardless of if you’re a bride or groom, it’s your job to handle communications regarding any contributions received from your side of the family.

It is always a groom’s responsibility to work with his groomsmen. The first step, of course, is selecting them. “Pick people you’re still in close contact with,” says Eriks. “If you haven’t seen each other in a while, there’s no rule they have to be in your wedding just because you were in theirs.” Your final group should also include people you’ll be close with in the future, like your spouse’s siblings.

No matter who you ask, you’ll want to do the asking thoughtfully. “This is a big commitment,” says Eriks. “And there are costs involved. Do something nice to kick things off.” A card and bottle of whiskey are great, but, at the bare minimum, a phone call will do. When you ask is also important, especially if they’re going to need to travel, adds Walburn. “Asking six to eight months before your wedding is the sweet spot.”

The Morning of the Wedding

Finally, the big day has arrived! If you’re planning a morning-of activity like golf or brunch, it’s a nice gesture to include your spouse’s father or close family members. The groom can also use this time to pass out tips to vendors. Your biggest responsibility that morning, though, is making sure your guys are ready on time.

If you’ll be doling out groomsmen gifts, that can be done the morning of or the night before—whichever makes it easiest for them to get the gifts back to their rooms. “Gifts don’t need to be expensive, but they do need to be thoughtful,” says Walburn. “Think of your relationship and the moments that have really made it unique. If you and your best man grew up watching Boy Meets World every afternoon, find an autographed headshot of Ben Savage.”

The morning of your wedding is also the time to send over a thoughtful card and a gift for your partner. Jewelry is always a great choice, and another classic idea is something for your home, like a vase or a framed picture from your proposal or engagement session.

The Wedding Night

The vows have been said—now it’s time to play host! Your only responsibility for the rest of the night is to let your guests know how grateful you are they’ve come to celebrate. That’s traditionally handled in two ways:

  1. Going from table-to-table during dinner to personally greet attendees. 
  2. Giving a short toast at the end of the speeches. Thank guests for coming, and also those who contributed to the wedding—especially your spouse.

If you’d rather spend dinner actually, you know, eating, and the thought of public speaking fills you with dread, Eriks has a solution: “Split up with your partner, and try to say hello to as many people as possible during cocktail hour.”

Don’t forget your role on the dance floor! The mother-son dance will be when you take center stage but make sure to dance with the bridesmaids, maid or matron of honor, and your new mother-in-law, too.

After the Wedding

Though some traditionalists might say it’s the groom’s responsibility to handle the honeymoon, that’s definitely no longer the case. Tackle the trip like you tackled wedding planning: decide the big things (destination, budget, time of year) together, then divide the rest of the to-dos according to what you’re each passionate about. If your partner handled most of the wedding planning, it’s a nice gesture to coordinate the travel.

Writing thank-you notes is yet another part of the wedding process you’ll divide and conquer. “Split them between your guest list—you do your half, your spouse can do theirs—and work on them together at the coffee table over a bottle of wine,” suggests Eriks. Plan something fun for when you finish (hello, date night!) to keep you motivated and to help ward off post-wedding blues. “There can be a letdown after the big day is done, so it’s nice to have something to shift your focus to,” says Walburn. 

7,160 thoughts on “A Complete Guide to Traditional Groom Responsibilities”

  1. Its such as you learn my mind! You appear to understand a lot about
    this, like you wrote the ebook in it or something. I feel
    that you simply can do with a few % to power the message house
    a bit, but instead of that, that is great blog.

    An excellent read. I will definitely be back.

  2. I was curious if you ever considered changing
    the layout of your blog? Its very well written; I love what youve
    got to say. But maybe you could a little more in the way of content so people
    could connect with it better. Youve got an awful lot
    of text for only having one or two images.
    Maybe you could space it out better?

  3. Download wede303 di smartphone anda dapatkan bonus wede 303 dengan mudah dan terpercaya akses situs wede303 tanpa
    ribet anti nawala bersama kami

  4. I’m extremely impressed with your writing talents as neatly as with the layout in your blog.
    Is that this a paid subject matter or did you modify it your self?
    Anyway stay up the nice high quality writing, it’s uncommon to look a nice blog like this one nowadays..

  5. Attractive ѕection of content. I just stսmbled upon your
    web site аnd in accession сapіtal to assert that I acquire actually enj᧐yed aϲcount your blog
    posts. Any waʏ I will be ѕubscгibing to your feeds and even I achievement you
    acceeѕѕ consіstently rapidly.

    My homepage: the-hdrezka.com

  6. Hey! Someone in my Facebook group shared this site with us so I came to give it
    a look. I’m definitely enjoying the information. I’m book-marking and will be tweeting this to
    my followers! Outstanding blog and outstanding
    design.

  7. Ꭲhis is very intereѕting, You are a veгy skilled blogger.
    Ӏ һave joined уoսr rss feed and sit up for searching fоr more of
    your excellent post. Additionally, Ӏ have shared
    yоur website in mʏ social networks

    ᒪօoк intо my web site bola99 slot

  8. Thank you, I have just been looking for info about this subject for a long time and yours is the best I have found out so
    far. But, what concerning the bottom line? Are you
    sure about the supply?

  9. When I initially commented I appear to have clicked on the
    -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and from now on every time a comment
    is added I recieve four emails with the same comment.
    There has to be a means you can remove me from that service?
    Many thanks!

  10. Woah! I’m really digging the template/theme of this website.
    It’s simple, yet effective. A lot of times it’s hard to get that
    “perfect balance” between usability and appearance.
    I must say that you’ve done a excellent job with this.

    Additionally, the blog loads super fast for me on Firefox.
    Superb Blog!

  11. Thank you a lot for sharing this with all people you really understand
    what you’re talking about! Bookmarked. Kindly additionally talk over with my web site =).
    We can have a link change agreement among us

  12. You’re so cool! I don’t suppose I’ve truly read through something like that before.

    So great to discover another person with genuine thoughts on this subject.
    Really.. thanks for starting this up. This web site is something that’s needed on the web, someone
    with a little originality!

  13. I have been exploring for a little for any high-quality articles or blog posts in this
    sort of area . Exploring in Yahoo I finally stumbled upon this site.
    Reading this info So i’m happy to exhibit that I’ve a very excellent uncanny feeling I came
    upon exactly what I needed. I so much no doubt will make
    sure to do not omit this web site and provides it a look regularly.

  14. Wow, amazing blog layout! How long have
    you been blogging for? you made running a blog look easy.

    The total glance of your website is excellent, let alone the content!

  15. Nice post. I was checking constantly this blog and I
    am impressed! Very useful info specifically the
    last part 🙂 I care for such info much. I was seeking this certain info for a very long time.
    Thank you and good luck.

  16. A fascinating discussion is definitely worth comment.
    I believe that you should publish more about this issue, it might not be a taboo
    matter but usually folks don’t talk about these topics.
    To the next! Many thanks!!

  17. Pretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your weblog and wanted to say that I have truly enjoyed browsing
    your blog posts. After all I’ll be subscribing to your
    feed and I hope you write again very soon!

  18. My brother recommended I might like this web site. He was entirely right.
    This post actually made my day. You can not imagine simply how much time I had spent
    for this information! Thanks!

  19. Hi just wanted to give you a quick heads up and let you know a
    few of the pictures aren’t loading correctly. I’m not sure why but I think its a
    linking issue. I’ve tried it in two different
    web browsers and both show the same outcome.

  20. Does your site have a contact page? I’m having problems
    locating it but, I’d like to shoot you an email. I’ve got
    some ideas for your blog you might be interested in hearing.
    Either way, great site and I look forward to seeing it develop over
    time.

  21. Everyone loves what you guys are up too. This kind of
    clever work and reporting! Keep up the excellent works guys I’ve added you guys
    to our blogroll.

  22. Oh my goodness! Awesome article dude! Thank you, However I am experiencing issues with your RSS.
    I don’t understand the reason why I can’t subscribe to
    it. Is there anybody else having similar RSS problems?
    Anyone who knows the solution can you kindly respond? Thanks!!

  23. After looking into a few of the articles on your website, I
    really like your way of blogging. I saved it to my bookmark webpage list and will be checking back
    soon. Take a look at my web site too and let me know your opinion.

  24. I do not know if it’s just me or if everybody else encountering issues with your site.

    It appears like some of the text on your
    posts are running off the screen. Can someone else please comment
    and let me know if this is happening to them as well? This could be
    a problem with my browser because I’ve had this happen before.
    Thank you

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published.