Age of the best man

thornbridge

I think i read on here someone asking is there a minimum age a best man can be. Apologies if not.

Me and my girlfriend are getting married next year it's our second time around after the split of our first marriages [Through no fault of our own may i add]My girlfriend went to the register office to book the date and asked if my Son could be the best man he will be 16 and she was told no. So a week later i went to pay the up front fee and asked the same question. It was a different registrar that interviewed me. So after the payment i asked the same question and he said. There is no upper or lower age limit in the law of England for a best man. He asked me is he sensible which he is, so he made a note on the back of the form saying the best man will be 16.

So any one who is thinking of having a younger best man. I think it all depends on who you speak to when booking.

flea72

a best man can be any age, but i think the registrar was saying that they prefer a witness (usually best mans task) to be over 18 - however some registry offices, do allow under 18s, as long as they know what they are signing to, ie prob why they asked if he was sensible lad

Flea

riggerz

My stepson was my hubbys best man and he was 12 at the time!

We used both mothers as witnesses to ensure the legality.

HTH

thornbridge

It just goes to show then. It depends on the registrar. My o.h was left under the impression that they had to be 18 according to the registrar she spoke to as that is what she told her. But i thought I'll ask if it is a different registrar o.h came with me and of course when the registrar was a man i knew it was a different one so i asked

carlislelass

our best man was my 14yr old son though he didn`t sign the register.

toriaterrier

When we got married my brother who was 18 at the time was our best man and my sister who was 16 at the time was my chief bridesmaids and they were both the witnesses, but I would double-check with who was marrying you. We were married in a church, which we attended regularly so that may have made a difference. Oh and we got married this year so it won't have changed much.

Congratulations!

coolcait

I think that the answers from other posters might indicate why you got different answers.

As far as I know, there's no legal requirement to have a best man, bridemaids, or even have the bride 'given away'. That's more to do with tradition.

There is, however, a legal requirement to have witnesses.

So, the registrar who spoke to your girlfriend might have been thinking 'best man = witness', and that's why she was told that he was too young.

The registrar who spoke to you might have been thinking "best man = tradition - but someone else will be acting as witness".

If it's the case that you have adult witnesses lined up, then you're probably OK. Otherwise, you might want to double-check that it's OK for your 16-year old son to act as a witness as well as best man.

thornbridge

We are having a very quite no fuss 2nd time around wedding.All that will be attending is obviously bride and groom.My girlfriends Son [My step Son] and my two Sons to act as best men and witnesses. Hence that's why i wanted my youngest who is 16 clarified he can sign on the day and the registrar made a note on the back of the form stating he would be 16. So hopefully that will be fine as we have not heard anything saying no

Minxy_Bella

My OH had his dad as his best man and he signed the register along with my 'best woman' and two of our kids. Our registrar was perfectly happy for the kids to sign, I suppose because two adults were signing too.

chaosweddings

Hi,
the registra prob said no as they thought he would be signing the register, the witnesses who sign have to be over the age of 18,
my 9 yr old was our bestman and my sister and her partner signed the register as our witnnesses

hth

thornbridge

chaosweddings wrote: »

Hi,
the registra prob said no as they thought he would be signing the register, the witnesses who sign have to be over the age of 18,
my 9 yr old was our bestman and my sister and her partner signed the register as our witnnesses

hth

Hi he is signing the register as he is best man as well as a witness.

We ex planed our wish for him to sign and that's why he asked is he sensible enough to know what he is signing for, made a note on the back and everything is fine