Though I am already certain of the answer, I thought that I would ask an expert so I don't feel bad..
When I was out to dinner with my best man the other night, he said that his wife was surprised that she wasn't in the wedding because she was under the impression that the best man's wife is traditionally included in the wedding.
It was the first I've heard of this "tradition" and I haven't been able to find an answer to confirm it or deny it.
You have good instincts. No, there is no such rule as the best man's wife having to be a part of the wedding party. Your bride will choose her attendants by virtue of her relationships. Top Wedding Questions Forum Moderator - "Write your sorrows in the sand, your blessings in stone".
Thanks. Our wedding party has been set for quite a while now, so it wasn't like we were going to able to change anything. I just wanted to be sure in case apologies were in order.
I would like to tell my best man that I haven't found any support of his wife's "tradition" because my bride and his wife aren't the greatest of friends to begin with. I don't want his wife to have any hurt feelings when there shouldn't be in the first place.
Well, if you asked him to show you an etiquette book to support his theory I doubt he could. Top Wedding Questions Forum Moderator - "Write your sorrows in the sand, your blessings in stone".
Once again, thanks. I think I'll just be blunt with this one and tell him that I was worried that we breached etiquette and I checked it out with several sources and couldn't find anything about it.
If you really want to help smooth things over you can also say that your bride has many close friends and family and had a hard time choosing between all of those who were close to her. That may help bring out yourpoint, which is, only those close to the bride are chosen as attendants.
Good Luck... Top Wedding Questions Forum Moderator - "Write your sorrows in the sand, your blessings in stone".
That's pretty much what I said last week. She had plenty of choices beyond the people she picked for her bridal party.
Like I said, it's up to my best friend/man to deal with his wife on this issue. She tends to have an "always right" type of personality despite evidence to the contrary, so I'm really not worried about it (except worried enough to ask around obviously).
Best man's wife..
