So youâve finally plucked up the courage to pop the question. Congratulations! You are engaged to be married â and to become the proud joint-owner of a wedding rings photo frame.
As soon as your intended said, âI doâ, like it or not, you have a new role. Itâs official: you are a groom-to-be.
But what exactly does this role entail? If your answer is, âturning up and putting a ring on my belovedâs fingerâ, you certainly have the essentials covered. But aside from enjoying the day â and remember, it is your big day too â there are a few key duties you should give some thought.
The Best Man will be present and correct to keep your nerves at bay. Make sure you arrive at the ceremony earlier than the bride. She, on the other hand, will almost certainly choose to be (fashionably) late.
Consequently, donât panic if everyone is assembled in the church/register office/posh mediaeval castle you booked at great expense, and your bride seems intent on leaving you waiting at the altar for what appears to be days, looking a numpty, and sweating veritable champagne buckets, before she chooses to darken its doors.
After said ceremony is over, and you are pronounced Mr and Mrs, the next hurdle is to pose for the photographs. Enjoy creating your wedding album â the photos will become the subject of much lounge talk. Personalised wedding gifts make a great present for the members of your wedding party. Feel free to be your proudest and happiest ever (and not afraid to show it).
Come the reception, tradition states the bride and groom meet and greet the wedding breakfast guests as they arrive. That way, you get to speak to everyone, albeit briefly. This also gives your guests the chance to convey their congratulations.
The groomâs speech â which comes after the father of the brideâs, and before the best manâs â is probably the most daunting of your tasks. But with a little aforethought and planning , and half a dozen cue cards to hand, it will go swimmingly. Remember, the Groomâs speech should come from the heart. Tell your guests how you and your wife met â it might have been on a âdiscovering scubaâ experience day!
Thank your mother-in-law for having such a wonderful daughter. Â Giving flowers to the mother of the bride is usual â put them in a cut crystal vase that will last. Donât leave your mother out in the cold, but thank her, too, and give her a gift; a silver personalised compact, for instance.
Finish by toasting the bridesmaids and pageboys, and giving them presents (traditionally termed âfavoursâ) to thank them for their role in the wedding. Favours double up as keepsakes, and will be treasured for years.
There is a fantastic range of gift ideas to choose from as favours. Whatâs more, there is something for each and every member of the wedding party. Personalisise these gifts with the recipientâs name, the role she or he played at your wedding, the date of the wedding, and a little message of thanks.
Think engraved photo albums (a must-have for parents of the bride and groom), jewellery, cute little bears, candles or flutes for bridesmaids, father of the groom hip flasks or paperweights, etched tankards for ushers, and pint-sized versions for pageboys.
MJ
What follows in this video is the Zaffa, the “groom parade”, from the groom’s friend home to his home. The groom’s best man carries a decorated umbrella over him. All the males of the village participate, forming two lines and two singers take turns singing traditional songs in the middle. The groom brothers and relative cheer the men in the middle too. As the parade passes by the village homes, they stop and are offered drinks and sweets. Here, friends and family of the bride and groom clap and chant various phrases which praise the bride and groom and their qualities, talk directly to the groom telling him how lucky he is to be wedding ‘this’ bride and talk directly to the bride telling her how happy she will be with this groom. It is a chant because the men repeat the few phrases in their song over and over. At some point, those …